Free Republic

A glimpse of the analysis in Dr. Leonard Peikoff's forthcoming book, The DIM Hypothesis. At the 2010 Objectivist conference/OCON, Dr. Leonard Peikoff was presenting material from his forthcoming book, The DIM Hypothesis, in which he analyzes Western culture and history from the perspective of the epistemological process of integration. I was surprised to learn that, according to Peikoff’s analysis, Barack Obama is not, as I and others have been saying, a socialist or communist. Socialists or communists are examples of what Peikoff calls “misintegration,” or integration by non-rational means. Obama, Peikoff thinks, is anti-ideological, and as such has no...

Objectivist Leonard Peikoff supports John Kerry! You have to go to his site to listen to his endorsement -- he didn't express it in text, but in audio, so you need Real Audio to hear it. I didn't listen yet, but I'm guessing that it's because of Peikoff's insanely anti-Christian hatred. Objectivists hate Christians, unlike libertarians, many of whom are either Christian or tolerant of Christians (e.g. LewRockwell.com, Liberty magazine). Note that Peikoff, like Ayn Rand, is a pro-war Objectivist, and not an anti-war libertarian. Objectivists have traditionally hated libertarians, have hated the Libertarian Party, and usually endorsed Republicans. Rand...

America's response to the recent spate of international terrorist attacks has been to tighten our security—better luggage screening and passport checks. But can such defensive measures actually protect us? Is this the way to combat terrorism? Imagine the following situation: A roving homicidal maniac runs amok in your neighborhood, spraying bullets in all directions, killing your wife and wounding you. Frantically, you call the police. "This is terrible," they say. "We will take drastic new steps to increase your security. We are going to distribute flak jackets and bullet-proof helmets to all citizens." A week later, the homicidal maniac launches...

  PerceptionA Mistake at the Heart of Objectivist Epistemology Is Objectivism a closed or open system? The entire controversy over this question, which generates a lot of heat, but not so much light, seems a bit silly to me. I personally regard Objectivism to be the specific contribution to philosophy made by Ayn Rand, nothing more, and nothing less.The argument that philosophy is not a closed field is certainly correct but with regard to Objectivism, is irrelevant. Objectivism is not philosophy, it is a philosophy, it is not even a complete philosophy, it is only a contribution to the field....