Two upcoming events.

There are two upcoming events that are likely to be of interest to Ayn Rand Society members.

The first event—the one not put on by the ARS—is a panel at next week’s conference of the British Society for the History of Philosophy. The theme of this year’s conference is “Women in the History of Philosophy” and there will be a panel on Ayn Rand on Thursday (4/22) from 4 – 6pm BST (=11am – 1pm ET). 

Here are the speakers and talk titles:

James Lennox (University of Pittsburgh) – Introduction

Gregory Salmieri (University of Texas, Austin) – Ayn Rand and Aristotle on the Standard of Value

Lisa Downing (University of Birmingham) – An Unimagined Encounter: Rand with Foucault

Robert Mayhew (Seton Hall University) – Ayn Rand on Atheism, Religion, and Values

Ben Bayer (Ayn Rand Institute) – Ayn Rand’s Defense of Abortion Rights Vs. Contemporary Kantian Defenses

The second event will be this year’s ARS session. We usually put on sessions at the meetings of the American Philosophical Association, but this year we’ve decided to hold a stand-alone (online) session separate from the the (online) APA conferences. It will take place on the evening of 4/27 from 7–9pm ET, and feature a paper by Neera Badhwar on the Unity of the Virtues and a response by Ben Bayer. We expect versions of both papers (along with a response by professor Badhwar to Dr. Bayer’s comments) to appear in the next volume of our the society’s Philosophical Studies series, which will focus on the relationship between Rand and Aristotle.

The session information is as follows:

Topic: The Unity of Virtue

Neera Badhwar (University of Oklahoma / George Mason University), “Aristotle and Rand on the Unity of Virtue”

Ben Bayer (Ayn Rand Institute),  “Ayn Rand on Moral Virtue and Moral Character (comment on Badhwar)”

Chair:  Gregory Salmieri (University of Texas)

Zoom Link: https://utexas.zoom.us/j/91490632476.

Members of the society whose dues are current and contributors who have donated for the current year, should be able to download the papers by clicking on the above links (or from the relevant portion of the society’s website). The session will begin with the panelists reading abbreviated version of their papers. Then Professor Badhwar will reply to Dr. Bayer’s comments, and then we’ll have a period of open discussion.