Donovan A.

Hello all, I am requesting that we add an Ayn Rand corner to OL. I think it would be appropriate and there is much work of Ayn Rand's that could be discussed there. It would be a more specific folder, focused on lectures she gave, interviews and writings.

Michael, This is a reminder that I'd still like to see that chat function added to OL and that I plan on bugging you about it. :afro: Take care. Donovan

Quite true, but I was only quoting what Dr. Branden has said in the tapes that I have.

Do you mean Ayn Rand's comments in the Q/A portion of "The Moratorium on Brains"? I purchased a copy of The Ford Hall Lectures recently from ARI, and those negative comments on homosexuality have not been removed, nor do I think they should be. I do not know anything about Mayhew. Please feel free to comment more. I would like to hear the Q/A portions from The Basic Principles of Objectivism and Efficient Thinking Courses. From my understanding, Ayn Rand joined Barbara Branden and Nathaniel Branden to answer questions after their lectures. As far as I know, this is not available to the public any longer. In the taped seminars Nathaniel Branden states: " I believe that most or all of you are students at the University of Southern California here in Los Angeles"

My mother has some cassette tapes from a Nathaniel Branden Seminar. We have up to 12 lectures of the series, it was given in California and not long after the break with Ayn Rand. Unfortunately, I do not have a title to these seminars, nor a specific date as to when the lectures were given. The structure of the seminars is to answer audience questions. Does anyone have any ideas as to what the title of these seminars could be and or when the lectures were given? Any information would be appreciated! - Donovan

I am requesting that TAS host its 2010 summer seminar in Dallas, TX. I have written TAS to see if they would be interested in working with me on this. I am going to collect signatures from people that are interested in attending to submit to TAS. Do any of you have thoughts about TAS hosting its summer seminar in Dallas? I know a few people that work in the Hotel industry and I think I can get a good deal in that respect. I also am confident that I can sell the summer seminar here in Dallas to my current and future students over the year. I think this would be a great opportunity for CRC as well. On a side note, I think it would be more efficient for TAS to invest in their own building and host the summer seminars there. During the year, they could even hold classes, and sell products, which would help to establish a community and create a foundation of local members to work with. To travel across the country and host summer seminars annually seems expensive, difficult to organize, and perhaps not even profitable.

http://edithpacker.com/ I just listened to the first lecture of The Art of Introspection by Edith Packer. I thought it was quite excellent. Does anyone know anything about Dr. Packer? What does she have her doctorate in? Does she still lecture? Looking forward to hearing from everyone. - Donovan

Roger, Thanks for the lead. It seems I misjudged the situation due to the link I posted and the fact that a lecture is missing from the UO course. It appeared as if the lecture was deleted because Peikoff changed his mind philosophically. It may be that Peikoff agrees with the content in the withdrawn lecture, but no longer wishes to endorse Edith Packer. That being the case, I must withdraw my previous statement. I would like very much to obtain the missing lecture. Could you help me out with this? Thank you so much, Donovan

Hi Bill, How do you know this? Why would Peikoff delete the lecture if it's valid and representative of Objectivism? I can understand adding a bonus CD explaining the error, or deleting parts of the lecture (again with an explanation), but it seems like two CDs worth of content were removed. One can say a lot in 2 hours!

Thanks Mikee, I already posted that link though.

Post Withdrawn.

I have also read this: http://rous.redbarn.org/objectivism/Writin...ingPeikoff.html

I recently purchased Leonard Peikoff's Understanding Objectivism Course from ARI. There should be 12 lectures but there are only 11 provided. At the end of Lecture 10 (Disc 2), there is a statement: "Dr. Peikoff has requested that lecture 11 be withdrawn from this program. Therefore, this course proceeds directly to the final lecture at this point." The next CD in the case is labeled Lecture 11, but obviously it is not. Lecture 11 on the back of my case is labeled: Judging Intellectual Honesty. I would like to hear the deleted lecture (#11). From what I understand this lecture series was given in 1983. Does anyone have a copy of this deleted lecture? If you do, could you please contact me. Thank you!

I just want to let everyone know that I really like OL and appreciate the support and the show of goodwill by seeing your posts. It can be very discouraging to go to all the work of hosting these functions, to advertise and not see anyone care. Thank you.

The Culture of Reason Center (CRC) 2008 Achievements CRC offered its first course, The Basic Principles of Objectivism, on January 8th 2008. The Basic Principles of Objectivism by Nathaniel Branden was endorsed by Ayn Rand and was the first formal lecture series developed to teach her philosophy. January 8th The Role of Philosophy Part 1 and 2 January 15th What is Reason? / Logic and Mysticism January 22nd The Concept of God Part 1 January 29th The Concept of God Part 2 February 5th Free Will Part 1 February 12th Free Will Part 2 February 19th Efficient Thinking Part 1 February 26th Efficient Thinking Part 2 March 4th Self-Esteem March 11th The Psychology of Dependence Part 1 March 25th The Psychology of Dependence Part 2 April 1st The Psychology of Sex April 8th The Objectivist Ethics Part 1 April 15th The Objectivist Ethics Part 2 April 22nd Reason and Virtue April 29th Justice vs. Mercy May 6th The Evil of Self-Sacrifice Part 1 May 13th The Evil of Self-Sacrifice Part 2 May 20th Government and the Individual May 27th The Economics of a Free Society June 3rd Fallacies About Capitalism Part 1 June 10th Common Fallacies About Capitalism Part 2 June 17th Romanticism, Naturalism, and the Novels of Ayn Rand Part 1 June 24th Romanticism, Naturalism, and the Novels of Ayn Rand Part 2 July 1st The Nature of Evil July 8th The Benevolent Sense of Life On January 19th 2008 we offered Villainy: The Nature of Evil by Andrew Bernstein. On February 12th 2009 we offered Reason and Emotion by Edwin Locke. In August we began listening to Barbara Branden's Principles Efficient Thinking series which complements The Basic Principles of Objectivism course. August 22nd An Introduction to Thinking (50:15) August 29th An Introduction to Thinking Part 2 (50:54) September 5th Focusing and Problem Solving (49:30) September 12th Focusing and Problem Solving Part 2(45:50) September 19th Automatic Mind Functions (49:50) September 26th Automatic Mind Functions Part 2 (46:50) October 3rd Conceptual Level of Consciousness (47:09) October 10th Conceptual Level of Consciousness Part 2 (46:15) October 17th Conceptual Level of Consciousness Part 3 (49:10) October 24th Conceptual Level of Consciousness Part 4 (48:00) November 7th Emotions As Tools of Cognition (50:50) November 14th Emotions As Tools of Cognition Part 2 (49:58) November 21st Language and Definitions (50:00) December 5th Language and Definitions Part 2 (46:20) December 12th Common Aberrations in Thinking (50:07) December 19th Common Aberrations in Thinking Part 2 (45:35) – In addition to the lecture, we hosted a pizza party and played ping pong to celebrate our achievements and intellectual growth. Due to the length of this course, it will not be completed until January 23rd 2009. We have offered 42 audio-lecture events in 2008. Our largest participation was on January 8th The Role of Philosophy Part: I & II with 16 participants, and on April 1st The Psychology of Sex attracted 14 participants. CRC began its website in February, 2008 offering free samples of audio-lectures. The website expanded offering a small bookstore and vitamin sales later that month. CRC has an email list contact list of 47. In October, CRC started a facebook group which has grown to 54 members in 85 days. Students that participated this year have helped fund the expansion of CRC. In 2009, we plan on offering a wide variety of audio-lectures and products that further the growth of our local community and provide invaluable insights to understanding the philosophy of Objectivism and a personal foundation for living. CRC is committed to aiding the preservation of historical materials relevant to the study of Objectivism. We provide an environment hospitable to learning and discussion. Thank you for choosing CRC as your local resource for studying Objectivism. Happy New Year!

Donovan, I'll be happy to help in any way I can. Please feel free to contact me by email. The book is moving along fairly well. I've been plagued lately by some health problems that have slowed me up a bit, but I hope they are pretty much behind me. I haven't written for the magazine, not out of lack of interest but out of lack of time. Barbara Is there anything I can do to help you? I'm really looking forward to your work.

I have had a few communications with the current operator of the Rattigan Society. I was wondering if anyone knows the history of the organization? I am very interested in reaching out to the Gay community in Dallas to spread Objectivism there and also to bring in new students to CRC. http://www.rattigan.net/

Hi Adam, Thank you for your encouragement and support. I will be working on my curriculum for February soon. In late 07, I decided that I needed to dig into the history of Objectivism, and that I also needed on a personal level to obtain a deeper understanding of the philosophy. I originally purchased Nathaniel Branden's course on Objectivism for me to study alone, but then I realized the possibility that people I know might be interested in joining me on this quest for history and knowledge. I opened The Culture of Reason Center (CRC) in January of 08, because it became obvious that so many people I know and don't know may like to participate. Since opening CRC I have been racing to expand and I am constantly encouraging new membership. I've been very excited to be making so many new friends who share my intellectual and political interests. Because CRC is open to the public, and because I realize that so many students are very new to the ideas, I only require that people show respect to me and my fellow guests and of course that they pay for the services I host. I'm extremely thankful to my older brother, who started The North Texas Objectivist Society (NTOS) about 3 years ago, which rekindled my interest in studying Ayn Rand's ideas. I also cannot help but mention the support I have received from my parents who introduced me to Objectivism and are instrumental by providing an outstanding environment for me to host these courses. I will post a detailed list of CRC's achievements in a few days. I have also created a facebook group for those that would like to join: CRC facebook

Barbara, I have noticed how often people get confused between methodology vs. content. As far as I can tell, NBI offered an excellent format for spreading Objectivism. I am doing my best in Dallas to offer as many audio-lecture series as possible. Your course on Efficient Thinking will end in a few weeks. Our participation is growing and I am pleased to see students that support either TAS or ARI are participating with benevolence and respect for one another. Michael, I am very sorry to see that due to the schisms and poor behavior of so-called Objectivists that you feel more comfortable working with/trusting non-Objectivists. All I can say to that is that such people are probably and quite sadly confused, misguided or immature. There is no doubt in my mind that the world in general is suffering from poor self-esteem, poor psycho-epistemology, poor philosophy, etc. It always seems more easy to find faults in others than in ourselves though. I honestly don't like to waste my time with offensive people, they are desperate for attention.

Chat is very popular with younger people. Not to say that I am young or that anyone here is old! Also, the chat function on OO.net seems to be pretty popular. I consider 10 people chatting to be busy though.

Hey Michael. Do you have any technical/IT helpers?

Barbara, It's so good to hear from you! I'd like to see TAS follow the formula of NBI very sincerely. I am doing quite a lot of work on my own to study Objectivism and I would like so much to have added guidance. I am hoping to one day become a speaker or teacher of Objectivism myself. I just finished listening to your efficient thinking course. How is the book coming along? I suppose I have different tastes when it comes to the appearance of political/philosophical magazines. Thus my only real compliant is esthetic. Have you written any articles for the magazine, Barbara?

Oh, god no. I am no fan of his. But why vandalize his books? The first thing I do when I buy Rand is rip out that indulgence. To be honest, I haven't read Goodkind's books. I have no idea how consistent his books are with Objectivism. If Goodkind's books are not consistent enough with Objectivism, it would be inappropriate to even ask him if TAS flyers could be included. It certainly would not happen if Goodkind does not approve of TAS. Perhaps TAS flyers could be added to books like The Art of Reasoning or The Evidence of the Senses, etc. The point is that Ayn Rand's books are a premium source of growth for ARI. There is no reason why TAS could not capitalize on this same idea whenever possible. No, I am not a critic of Goodkind. I oppose ruining good fiction with advertising! I'm unclear as to how a flyer for TAS (as a resource for studying Objectivism) would be ruining any book, fiction or otherwise. Could you explain how exactly it would ruin a book? I personally have never judged a movie based on the selections of previews or advertisements which are shown before the film.

So as far as we know, this course in its original form was not recorded, and if it was, it is no longer available, i.e. lost.