 Philosophical Roots of Quantum Theory and the Problem of Nonradiation
by Brett Holverstott
A historical narrative of the origin of quantum theory is offered. It is shown that quantum theory was motivated by a philosophic position which rejected the role of unobserved natural processes in physical theory. As such, quantum mechanics should not be interpreted (as is often done) in terms of underlying physics, but as a computational tool for predicting observable quantities. Further, in the eighty years since its inception, the original problem of nonradiation of the bound electron has been solved, classically, as given by Mills (Mills, 2001). The implications are discussed. (Read more...)
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Impossible? A 'Village Poet' on the Right?
by Walter Donway
For a century, "Greenwich Village" has been synonymous with "experimental" poets, the drug-inspired art scene, and the counter-culture, from Allen Ginsberg's "Howl" to William Burroughs's "Naked Lunch." Now, a Village poet has published a book of poetry inspired by Ayn Rand, and with a title taken from John Galt's speech. The publisher is the Atlas Society and sales, even before publication, are making it a best-selling first poetry book. (Read more...)
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Atlas Shrugged: The 50th Anniversary
by Walter Donway
Walter Donway, a founding trustees of the Atlas Society, wrote this for the 50th anniversary celebration of the publication of Atlas Shrugged. (Read more...)
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Rights, Games, and Self-Realization - Part II
by Stephen Boydstun
[Editor's Note: Stephen long ago posted parts 2 and 3 of his essay in the discussion area of part 1 http://rebirthofreason.com/cgi-bin/SHQ/SHQ_FirstUnread.cgi?Function=FirstUnread&Board=2&Thread=1912 I'm adding them both now so that they come up if one searches for his articles.] Property rights are now taken up, first for two in isolation, then with wider social surroundings. Property rights in land, in the general economic sense of the term land, are center stage. (Read more...)
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Rights, Games, and Self-Realization - Part III
by Stephen Boydstun
[Editor's Note: Stephen long ago posted parts 2 and 3 of his essay in the discussion area of part 1 http://rebirthofreason.com/cgi-bin/SHQ/SHQ_FirstUnread.cgi?Function=FirstUnread&Board=2&Thread=1912 I'm adding them both now so that they come up if one searches for his articles.] The concept land state is reached as the core of all political states. The possibilities for justice in that core and its extensions are discussed, including the just forms of financing. (Read more...)
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Themes of Ethics
by Joseph Rowlands
The first question of ethics, which is the starting point of it all, is why do we need ethics in the first place? Can we live without it? The answer Objectivism gives is that we need a code of values in order to make our decisions. Since we're beings of volitional consciousness, we don't have an automatic means of knowledge. We don't have an automatic way of deciding what to do. We have to figure out a way of making choices. And that's the role ethics fills. (Read more...)
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Certainty
by Joseph Rowlands
Certainty is a topic that confuses a lot of people because they use an unrealistic standard. The typical problem is that they mean certain in a way that doesn't allow for any possibility of being wrong. The typical line is that if you can't know everything, you can't know anything. So as long as you don't know everything, you can't really be certain, can you? Obviously that kind of standard would be impossible to meet unless you were omniscient. And we're not. (Read more...)
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Volition, Focus and Evasion
by Joseph Rowlands
I mentioned that Objectivism supports the position of Free Will. There is still a question of how this is manifested. Yes, we can choose between different actions, or different ideas, etc., but how? Is there a basic kind of choice?
The answer is volition. According to Objectivism, volition is the choice to focus or not to focus, and it is the fundamental choice. It amounts to choosing to think or not to think. To examine, or to not examine. Since consciousness is awareness, it's really a choice to be aware or not. That's as fundamental as you get. (Read more...)
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The Refueling of our Power for Creation
by Manfred F. Schieder
Ayn Rand, I, and the Universe, Part 7 and 8 (Read more...)
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The Logically Resulting Type of Society
by Manfred F. Schieder
Ayn Rand, I, and the Universe, Part 6 [Editor's Note: Last week I accidentally clipped two sections out of the end of this article. Here it is with those two sections restored.] (Read more...)
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The Required Change of Ethics
by Manfred F. Schieder
Ayn Rand, I, And the Universe, Part 5 (Read more...)
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Visualizing the Complex Relationship Between Truth and Falsehood
by Paul Hibbert
This essay presents a possible alternative way of conceptualizing how truth and falsehood interact. Geographical information can be transmitted verbally but a map can do the same thing holistically and much more intuitively and efficiently. In much the same way, the relationship between true and false statements can be transmitted verbally but it is proposed that it might be possible to create a visual depiction of the same data. This concept is developed as an analogy of the Mandelbrot set — a mathematical construct that is integral to Chaos Theory. It would be possible to demonstrate, visually, that there are no so-called "grey areas" in the matter of truth and falsehood; moreover, Rand's dictum of "Examine your premises" can take on a new, graphical meaning. (Read more...)
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Towards an Integrated Moral Standard
by Joseph Rowlands
The critical function of ethics is to provide a means of choosing between various choices. Morality is essentially a method of decision making. Morality is inescapable. Everyone must have some means of making choices. But not everyone identifies their method explicitly. They may end up with a hodgepodge of differe... (Read more...)
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Wednesday
October 17, 2007 |
Atlas Shrugged & Ethics
by Tibor R. Machan
[This essay formed the basis of a talk at the Atlas Society celebration of the 50 th anniversary of the publication of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, in Washington, DC, on October 6, 2007] When Ayn Rand titled her collection of writings on ethics The Virtue of Selfishness, she also provided a clear clue to what... (Read more...)
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Our Capacity To Think
by Manfred F. Schieder
Ayn Rand, I, And the Universe, Part 4 (Read more...)
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Time and Value
by Joseph Rowlands
This was a speech given in 2003. (Read more...)
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Erasing Impossibilities
by Manfred F. Schieder
Ayn Rand, I, and the Universe: Part 2 (Read more...)
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Rights, Games, and Self-Realization Part 1
by Stephen Boydstun
In Part I we shall uncover, for two socially isolated people, some semblance of rights against personal injury and some semblance of rights to liberty. (Read more...)
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Rights, Games, and Self-Realization
by Stephen Boydstun
Individual rights are those moral claims of one person upon another for which enforcement is morally permissible. The question of whether the use of deliberate force is morally justified turns upon the value to be secured and the strategic implications of resorting to force. What value could justify the use of force and in what circumstances? A short answer would be that only the defense of individual freedom can justify the use of force, that freedom can only be abridged by force, and that, therefore, no one has the right to initiate the use of force against another. The initiation of force becomes the hallmark of the violation of a right. In this essay, I offer an answer closely related, but informed by game theory and reaching a new view of rights in land and the nature of government. (Read more...)
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Acceptance
by Alexander Butziger
Why can't we just get along? Why can even apparently reasonable people sharing many fundamental values sometimes not agree on fundamental moral questions? Is reason limited, after all? Or are all human beings inherently irrational subjectivists, no matter what claims to reason and objectivity they may make? Is our faith in reason misplaced? (Read more...)
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Human Certainty: The only kind there is.
by Ed Thompson
The subtitle to this essay hints at the fact that human certainty is something special. Now, there are 2 ways to be certain:
1) psychologically (whenever any animate, perceptual being is "convinced" of things being a certain way)
2) philosophically (whenever any conceptual being has discovered an identifiable and potentially-measurable difference among the existents in the world)
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Mark Skousen on Ayn Rand and 'Atlas Shrugged'
by Andre Zantonavitch
A brief look at libertarian Mark Skousen's views of Ayn Rand and Atlas Shrugged. (Read more...)
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From Objectivism to Neo-Tech and Back
by Luke Setzer
Disclaimer: I no longer have anything to do with Neo-Tech. I post this article only as a historical account of my past involvement with them and to enlighten those who may want to learn more about it. I confess some embarrassment at supporting them as long as I did but, as the saying goes, "Better late than never." (Read more...)
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Wednesday
November 29, 2006 |
Rand and Ethical Objectivity
by Tibor R. Machan
This is a short discussion of an issue that arises in Objectivist meta-ethics, that is to say, the foundation of ethics according to Ayn Rand. It is an attempt to quite briefly but accurately show why Rand believed that ethical knowledge is objective, that human beings can know what is morally right and wrong. (Read more...)
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Concepts
by Joseph Rowlands
Ayn Rand wrote a series of articles called Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, which eventually became a book. It was only ever designed as an introduction, not even covering many aspects of epistemology. The one issue she thought was most critical was the nature of concepts. And that's what we'll discuss on this thread. (Read more...)
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