Check Your Premises – Page 4 – the blog of the Ayn Rand Society

The History of Objectivity in Light of Rand’s Epistemology and Ethics

Over the years I've heard plenty of people wonder why Ayn Rand would have named her philosophy "Objectivism." Rand is best known in ethics for her advocacy of the virtue of selfishness, and many—especially the philosophically trained—have a hard time understanding why anyone would call this an objective approach to morality. The "objective," after all, is associated with the impersonal, whereas the "subjective" is associated with the self.

[![Daston book](/content/images/2016/01/Daston-book-2.png)](http://www.amazon.com/Objectivity-Lorraine-J-Daston/dp/189095179X)

Over the break I read a book that will help answer that question.

A Thought on Consequentialism

In a comment on Ben Bayer's recent post about the NDPR review of Sanford's Before Virtue, an anonymous person asks about the distinction between the consequentialist and teleological ethics.

In Ben's response, he mentions how I differentiated Rand's ethics from consequentialism in Ch. 6 of A Companion to Ayn Rand. I thought I'd take this opportunity to quote from that discussion:

Under the heading of “egoistic consequentialists,” I include Epicurus, Hobbes, and Chernyshevsky.

Three ARS Philosophers in a Panel on Rand

Back in November, ARS members recently spoke at a student conference in Atlanta: Gregory Salmieri (Rutgers/Anthem Foundation), Onkar Ghate (the Ayn Rand Institute), and Jason Hill (DePaul University). Hill will also be presenting a paper at the upcoming ARS meeting at the APA Eastern, where Salmieri will be commenting. A video of the panel is now on YouTube and you can watch it here.

Here you'll see panelists answering questions from students, often regarding the practical dimension of Objectivist ethics, especially as applied to career choice.

Upcoming Session on “Biological Collectivism and the Politics of Racial Identity”

As co-secretary of the Society and chair of this year’s session, I cordially invite people attending this year’s American Philosophical Association-Eastern Division meeting at the Washington D.C. Marriott Wardman Park Hotel to this year’s meeting of the Ayn Rand Society. The session will take place on Thursday, January 7th from 5:15-7:15 p.m. (The specific room has not been announced, but will be available at the meeting.) Details of the session are given below:

Title: "Biological Collectivism and the Politics of Racial Identity" Speaker: Professor Jason D. Hill (DePaul University) Commentator: Dr.

A Neo-Aristotelian Against Mainstream Virtue Ethics

Friends of mine who work on Rand's ethics often list Elizabeth Anscombe’s seminal 1958 article, “Modern Moral Philosophy” as a favorite. The paper is noteworthy for its sweeping condemnation of both consequentialist and deontological normative ethical theory and its allegation that both relied on concepts rooted in divine command morality.

Welcome to “Check Your Premises”

Welcome to Check Your Premises, the blog of the Ayn Rand Society. I am Ben Bayer and I’m honored that the ARS board has given me the opportunity to serve as blog editor. “Editor” is a misleading title. I’ll not be actively editing any posts other than my own, but I will manage the blog, solicit posts from ARS members, and review submissions from non-members.

Introducing “Check Your Premises” the Blog of the Ayn Rand Society

On behalf of the steering committee of the Ayn Rand Society, I am happy to announce a new initiative, in addition to our meetings at conferences of The American Philosophical Association conferences, and our book series, we will now be operating a blog named for Rand's principle piece of methodological advice: Check Your Premises.

The blog will feature posts by society members on topics pertaining to Rand's philosophy, Objectivism, especially as it relates to philosophy as it relates to philosophical issues currently being discussed within the philosophy profession. There may also be guest posts by non-members.

About

Check Your Premises is the blog of The Ayn Rand Society, a professional group affiliated with the American Philosophical Association Eastern Division.

The blog is edited under the supervision of the Society's Steering Committee. The editors can be reached at editor@checkyourpremises.org.

This blog is run on Ghost with a theme is based on Froyo by Adrian Norman.