adammcguk

Having read through a lot of journal articles and books on the subject, I've refined my basic approach to the essay to the following: What is Objectivity? Essentially it is an epistemological issue dealing with the fact that man does not have automatically have perfect knowledge and therefore has to resort to a process of logic in identifying the facts of reality. Reality is not objective as such, it sets the standard, and objectivity is man's means of grasping it. The Randian Trichotomy The most common form of moral "objectivity" has been intrinsicism. Rand rejects this as a false alternative to subjectivism and as Tara Smith points out in her essay "Look-Say Ethics", ultimately collapse into subjectivism. This is because any attempt to claim that a natural or non-natural (e.g. Plato, G.E. Moore) object in and of itself has value must rely on intuition or "knowledge" of a most dubious source. Intrinsicism fails to be objective because it cannot be objectively validated. Rand had just cause therefore in reforming the traditional subjective-intrinsic dichotomy into a subjective-intrinsic-objective trichotomy. Natural End Ethics Although I rely here on many Neo-Aristotelian authors, it ultimately revolves around Rand, her explanation of the concept of "value" and how a moral code can be objective - namely man's flourishing based on the requirements of his specific nature. Some common counter arguments to objective natural end ethics such as Hume's Is-Ought problem (answered in 2 ways - 1. An ought is not a given because man has to volitionally choose life before morality is binding on him. Once he has accepted life as his ultimate value, then every fact implies an ought e.g. Peikoff's essay on Fact & Values 2. Rand's morality does not rely on deductive reasoning but is inductive). This is a very simplified overview of my approach. Remember my essay is to be very short (around 2000 words) and brevity requires that I focus on a limited scope. At a glance, can anyone offer some criticism? As before, your help is greatly appreciated. Adam

I had a look in my university library at the various 'The Personalist' periodicals but they start from 1972. If anyone has any relevant articles on ethics from these journals prior to 1972 (or others), I would really appreciate it if you could email me a scanned copy. I know this is a lot of ask but if anyone has the articles handy and it isn't a burden, that would be fantastic. Best, Adam

Thanks for all the suggestions. I've just purchased Liberty and Nature (Thanks George) & Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical (Thanks Jerry). I already have Atheism: The Case Against God and think it's a great reference book for the task. I've used it before in dissecting epistemological scepticism. Also forgot to mention that I have the original Branden lectures on tape so no need to buy the book. Edit: Just checked my uni, we have The Personalist Periodicals but I think it's from the 1980s. I'll take a closer look tomorrow. I'm currently taking a look through the rest of the recommendations to see what I should buy. Thanks for all the really useful suggestions.

I'm currently researching for a piece of philosophy coursework on how ethics can be objective. I'm going to try and defend the Objectivist position and currently have the following relevant books: Tara Smith - Viable Values, Tara Smith - Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics, Ayn Rand - The Virtue of Selfishness, Peikoff - OPAR. I have most of Rand's fiction and non-fiction. Are there any books you would recommend? Thanks

Thanks, I had seen the short 2 minute clip but I'm still looking for the full programme. If you've realised how I've spelled "programme" then you'll realise i'm a Brit and that's why it was of interest to me.

I'm really sorry to bump up an old discussion thread but I was wondering if anyone has a copy of the radio broadcast available? I've tried both the BBC link and the mp3 link on Michael's website. Thanks in anticipation, Adam