Next week we’re going to reintroduce the basic ethical perspective of Objectivism discussed last semester so that way everyone can be on the same page. I think it’d be good if everyone read “The Objectivist Ethics,” pp. 13-20 in Ayn Rand’s The Virtue of Selfishness. Ritu lead a pretty lengthy discussion last semester, but I think it will be beneficial to go through this essay in a manner similar to last semester. This essay is online. If you plan to attend the meetings after break try to read a good chunk of “The Objectivist Ethics”.  So next week we’ll begin by establishing the basis of the Objectivist ethics.

Have a good break!

This Friday we will discuss the topic of the
meaning of altruism and its implications for action. Consider the
following quote from Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead where she contrasts
the ethics of altruism or “other”ism with the ethics of egotism,

“The egotist is the absolute sense is not the man who sacrifices
others. He is the man who stands above the need of using others in any
manner. He does not function through them. He is not concerned with
them in any primary matter. Not in his aim, not in his motive, not in
his thinking, not in his desires, not in the source of his energy. He
does not exist for any other man—and he asks no other man to exist for
him. This is the only form of brotherhood and mutual respect possible
between men.”

A cynical reader may ask whether or not altruists may even exist given
strict adherence to the Comte definition whereby altruists function
without regard to the self. In this discussion we may explore the
connection between the answer to this question and the moral worth of
the altruist doctrine. Further, we may question what differentiates an
act of altruism from an act of rational self-interest. At what point
does fitting into a group become altruistic? Is protecting the
environment rational self interest or altruism? What is the moral
status of a man who leaves his neighbors to die? Come Friday for more
detail. Some related content may be found below.

Reading
Ellsworth Toohey Speech -
http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=004FMp
Ayn Rand Lexicon on Altruism – http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/altruism.html
Related Youtube Videos
Altruism: Basis of Nazism – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcUeS3e1VNU
“This is John Galt Speaking” #12 -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQ0jFyBwC7A&feature=fvw

The Real Goal of the Green Climate Crusade
A lecture plus Q&A session about the anti-life, anti-man ideology of the green climate movement

A talk by Dr. Keith Lockitch of the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights
Thursday, February 4, 2010
7 p.m, 102 Thomas (map)

See the Facebook event page here.
See the flyer for the event here.

Description of event:

Environmentalists claim that our use of carbon-based energy is altering the climate, making us more vulnerable to climate disasters. Human survival, they insist, requires the immediate abandonment of fossil fuels in favor of carbon-free sources. So why do environmentalist groups vehemently oppose projects involving every alternative form of energy ever proposed to replace fossil fuels–including wind farms and solar power plants? And why do they ignore the dramatic degree to which industrial development under capitalism has reduced the risk of harm from severe climate events? Before we rush headlong into drastic climate policies and energy rationing, a critical examination of these policies is urgently needed. Dr. Lockitch will address these important issues and answer audience questions.

For more information, click here.

Hope to see you there! Bring your friends!!

The January 20th meeting ended early due to poor attendance, however we had a handful of interested newcomers asking questions about Objectivism. Next week we’ll return to our official meeting place in 127 Henderson South. We will be meeting there for the rest of the semester Wednesday nights 6:30-8:30. Its easiest to access this room from the parking lot adjacent to the HUB lawn.

It will be useful to have read last weeks short reading as well as this weeks excerpt on emotions.

Reading:  Emotions

Meeting Time: 7:00-8:30
Location: Starbucks
Reading: Excerpt from Atlas Shrugged
Listening: Question on Consciousness – Leonard Peikoff’s Podcast 1/28/08

We will be discussing several topics related to laissez-faire capitalism, further exploring the ideas proposed by Dr. Eric Daniels at the lecture event this Monday. These topics include antitrust legislation, income inequality, public education, foreign policy, etc.

We will also be watching some short interviews with Ayn Rand.

The title of the talk is “The Moral Defense for Unregulated Capitalism” and it will be given by Dr. Eric Daniels of The Clemson Institute for the Study of Capitalism.

See here for more information on the topic and the speaker.

Feel free to RSVP to the Facebook event here.

We will be watching The Fountainhead movie and also planning for the speaker event next week.

The title of the talk is “The Moral Defense for Unregulated Capitalism” and it will be given by Dr. Eric Daniels of The Clemson Institute for the Study of Capitalism.

See www.psuobjectivism.com/capitalism for more information on the topic and the speaker. Check back frequently for updates!

We will be discussing environmentalism. This is a topic that ranges from global warming and “clean” energy to animal “rights” and recycling. We are more than often told to make sure our actions do not harm the environment, that our carbon footprint should be as small as possible. Should this truly be our goal?

Ayn Rand didn’t think so. She saw environmentalism as anti-life and anti-man. In this next meeting, we will discuss Objectivism’s unique view on environmentalism and the real goal of the “green” agenda.

In Western Europe, in the preindustrial Middle Ages, man’s life expectancy was 30 years. In the nineteenth century, Europe’s population grew by 300 percent—which is the best proof of the fact that for the first time in human history, industry gave the great masses of people a chance to survive.

If it were true that a heavy concentration of industry is destructive to human life, one would find life expectancy declining in the more advanced countries. But it has been rising steadily. Here are the figures on life expectancy in the United States (from the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company):

■1900—47.3 years
■1920—53 years
■1940—60 years
■1968—70.2 years (the latest figures compiled)

Anyone over 30 years of age today, give a silent “Thank you” to the nearest, grimiest, sootiest smokestacks you can find.

-Ayn Rand in Return of the Primitive: The Anti-Industrial Revolution

Material to be Discussed
“No ‘Footprint,’ No Life” by Keith Lockitch, PhD
http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=22271&news_iv_ctrl=2457

“Animal ‘Rights’ vs. Human Rights” by Andrew Bernstein, PhD
http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5106&news_iv_ctrl=1084

“Reject Environmentalism, Not DDT” by Keith Lockitch, PhD
http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=13355&news_iv_ctrl=1084