Alfonso Jones

This is an actual, published statement? Does anyone have the page number? Ted - As Barbara said, it's in Peikoff's course on The Art of Thinking. I have the CDs, and remember that. I'm not saying it is a verbatim quote, but it agrees in meaning with my memory from listening to the CD. Regards, Bill P

I am glad to read that you are making this available via download. The course is excellent, and in fact bears repeated listening. Bill P

I'm also a Kindle owner. The problem of pagination is a serious one. For purposes of citation, it is a real difficulty to not be able to refer to page numbers in a specific edition. Regards, Bill P

In somebody's words, "check your premises." Bill P

And a happy birthday to Robert Campbell! Good guy, and contributor of substance. Bill P

Excellent post, Ed. It is ironic how the phrasing in We the Living so often gets echoed by the denouncers. When it is phrasing which Rand had spoken by those she abhorred. Comrade Sonia and more... Bill P

I just received the following in an email - an interview with Daniel Pipes I would say there are three interpretations of the current state of affairs. One is what I call the establishment view, which is what you just described. People say, "Islam has been hijacked; the problem is terrorism; Islam is a religion of peace." A denial of the problem. The second is what I call the insurgent view: "Islam itself is the problem. Islam has always been a problem, with jihad, honor killings, and the like. Islam is itself evil and problematic. Muslims are inherently a problem." I think that is too broad-based and wrong. And then there is the middle position, which I subscribe to. It would be summed up by saying, "Radical Islam is the problem, and moderate Islam is the solution." I believe there is a possibility for Islam to evolve in a way that is moderate, modern, and willing to live in harmony with others. I think it is possible for non-Muslims and moderate Muslims to work together to achieve that. Even if you believe the insurgent approach, that Islam itself is evil, there's no policy you can pursue. What can you do if you're president [of the United States] and you believe that? Are you going to throw out freedom of religion? Are you going to exclude Muslims? Are you going to fight wars abroad to promote Christianity? It's not who we are. It requires such fundamental changes that I'd say it's just not possible. So I think it's a dead-end approach. Even if you believe that, and I'm sure some of your listeners do, I'd say you have to join me in seeing Islamism as a political ideology comparable to fascism and Communism because we have tools to defeat that. We have won wars against them: the Second World War and the Cold War. We can do it again. But if we see the problem as religion, we don't have tools; we can't win. Bill P

Or what? What's going to happen if he comes within five meters? That's the strangest thing I've ever read by Dan. Does it have something to do with an anarchist"s ethos? --Brant I'd love to video the encounter--catch the tears or whatever: "Michael's now within eight meters, seven, six ...." "Stop the insanity!" "Can't we all just get along!" "We hold these truths to be self-evident ...." Stranger and stranger . . . Bill P

I get the message: This item has been removed due to a copyright violation! when I click on the link... Bill P

Sadly, an excellent analogy. (I'm not sad because you made a good analogy, but because of the treatment of the American Indians.) Bill P

Thanks for the substantial report, Dennis! Bill P

I am quite familiar with Peikoff's history of philosophy courses, and the 5 volume W. T. Jones series. No need for oneupmanship games. If you have something specific in one of these to cite as relevant, do so. Otherwise, remember something I often remind my students of . . . . purchasing the textbook and attending class will not confer knowledge on one, if they do not choose to think. Learning is not by osmosis, or by leaning one's head sideways and hoping the professor will pour knowledge into your ear. Bill P

Philip - I have compared your posts to his. That is why your attempted one-upmanship left me aghast. Thinking in essentials is tricky, and requires maturity and breadth of perspective. The danger is that of confusing oneself by ignoring all the evidence / examples which does/do not fit with an attempted integration/generalization. In such a case, one is left claiming to have "thought in essentials" when in fact what they did was to make unwarranted generalizations, jumping to unwarranted conclusions. Bill P

Philip - - - This post of yours is laughable. Do you really compare yourself favorably to GHS in philosophical acumen, in particular the area of thinking in essentials? What would be the objective basis of this judgment on your part? Bill P

Gulch - Are you serious? Bill P

Robert - You just cast a net which will catch more than a few fish in orthodox Objectivist-Land. Bill P

I haven't heard them in many, many years. But one example of what this set of discs included is the following: at some point in 1973, I asked Nathaniel if he thought one or two Seminars might be profitably devoted to discussion of aesthetic questions. He said he thought that would be worth doing. I wrote the questions for the two sessions and recruited the other participants - one of them was Wendy McElroy - and we gathered at Nathaniel's house in Beverly Hills to record. I'd love to hear those discussions again. JR I'll send Leigh an email in a week telling her people are interested. Right now it's the Fourth weekend and then everybody's going to Sin City. In his prime Nathaniel could speak extemporaneously at length with such quality the material was practically ready for publication. Ayn Rand could too in the early 1960s. This material is both good and important and an historical record of Objectivism's main mind at the time. --Brant Brant - Agreed. Please advise Leigh of strong interest in these materials being made available. Bill P

I wonder what really goes on in the heads of people like that. They certainly do not value precision. Here is what I wrote about this person's posting restrictions: That's not a ban. It can't even be "interpreted" as a ban. So, Mr. Leonid either practices a very sloppy form of rhetoric, has a horrible memory or he is a liar. I suspect all three. But no matter what the case, my policy stands as I presented it. Nothing has changed. I have been relieved, though, that he has stopped posting on his own. Let me tell ya', being a traffic cop in charge of a nonstop barrage of sloppy irrationality mixed with cherry-picked facts is a barrel of laughs. A person with Mr. Leonid's form of epistemology can only drag a discussion of ideas on a very difficult issue (like the Israel-Palestine issue) into the gutter of bigotry, whether he is a bigot or not. And trying to keep that from happening is not the easiest task I have ever set for myself. A person needs to make a commitment to precision if he wants his ideas to be taken seriously on a forum like OL. Just mouthing off and trying to piss people off doesn't cut it. Ideas are serious. And so are the people who discuss them here. I intend to keep that spirit alive on OL. Michael Michael, Michael --- You're casting pearls before swine if you expect reform from Leonid. Don't expect a pork chop in return. Bill P (smiling)

<br /><br />Steve,<br /><br />This is not what Microsoft claims about PowerPoint files. They are supposed to be the same in the Mac OS and in Windows.<br /><br />In practice, I've found some problems with foreign language characters and logical symbols. But there aren't any of either in the PowerPoints from my talk.<br /><br />Robert Campbell<br /><br /><br /><br />I pass PowerPoints from Office 2008 for Mac to and from Windows Office 2007 and Windows Office 2003 several times per week - - as a Mac user who has about 200 students of whom 90% are using Windows. Two types of problem can occur: 1) Minor formatting differences (items moving slightly on the slide - - if you have created a slide where exact placement of items on the slide is vital, better check it!) 2) If items are not saved in proper format (PowerPoint X - 2004, NOT 2007) then those who use Office 2003 and have not downloaded and installed the free viewer can't open the presentation. That's about it for problems - and I receive presentations from students several times per week and send them presentations at least once per week. No problems, given that I always "save down" into the 2004 version of PPT as noted above. Bill P

I understand that you wrote to Riesman with your advice. What I don't understand is why you seem surprised that he didn't respond with profuse gratitude. Here's a tip that will prevent you from acting like an egghead in the future: Authors generally don't respond well to unsolicited advice, especially when that advice is given after a book has been published and it's too late to do anything about it. Ghs George - I'd like to suggest a refinement of what you say: Authors generally don't respond well to unsolicited advice. The exceptions, when they occur, tend to be when the advice comes from an author they respect, with a formidable track record of publishing. If one wants to be taken seriously in giving advice to an author, the first piece of advice is to wait until one's advice is solicited. The second piece of advice is to make certain that you are highly successful at publishing. Bill P

Sarah - Welcome to OL. You'll find that you can spend hour after hour just exploring old threads. I urge you to follow your interest - and post per your interest. Don't worry about how old a thread it. If you have something interesting to say, others will likely respond. Bill P

Just watched the show (in the Air France courtesy lounge at Paris/CGD airport). Anyone expecting long speeches from Yaron Brook (or Vince Flynn, for that matter) is surely disappointed. What happened - a push for viewers to engage with Term Limits and Atlas Shrugged. Not that bad of an idea, after all. Bill P

Character in We the Living. Diana H.'s behavior has caused some to term her "Comrade Sonia." Read We the Living to see why. Bill P

Somewhere, pigs are flying. Also, rumors are that temperatures in hell have dropped precipitiously. Bill P

For more on Crèvecœur, see the Wiki article. Ghs Letter XII is described as including his views on American Indians. Anything interesting in that one? Click on the link to the Wiki article to find where the book of letters is available online. Letter XII can be found at http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/CREV/letter12.html Regards, Bill P