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Index for this page...(Be aware some links below may have expired.)
All The Following Items Were Posted On February 1, 2005 1. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) German Idealist Philosopher
From Critique of Practical Reason. More information about Immanuel Kant in the Academy. 2. Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) French Existentialist Philosopher
From Huis Clos. More information about Jean-Paul Sartre in the Academy. 3. William of Ockham (c.1280-1349) Medieval English Philosopher
"Ockham's Razor": An ancient philosophical principle often used by Ockham in one form or another in his writings. More information about William of Ockham in the Academy. 4. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) English Political Philosopher
From Leviathan. More information about Thomas Hobbes in the Academy. 5. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) Ancient Greek Realist Philosopher
From Politics. More information about Aristotle in the Academy.
FOR THE RECORD
Born in Russia, she came to the United States as a young woman and made this country her home. She was a radical promoter of laissez-faire capitalism and individualism and promulgated a philosophy which she called "Objectivism." Regardless of one's personal opinions about Ayn Rand, she was a significant intellectual in modern American thought. In an article published Sunday entitled "The Appeal of Ayn Rand," Dr. Onkar Ghate, a senior fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute, states,
I think it is important to recognize Ayn Rand's contribution to contemporary literature and philosophy. More on this celebration can be found by clicking on the following links:
2. The Classy Comedy of Johnny Carson The legacy of late-night innovator Johnny Carson includes a brand of comedy that many of today's venues sure could use. Although Carson's show was on in the late evening time slot and sometimes included a discussion of sophisticated topics, Johnny invariably maintained classy standards. Kids and teens who happened to be awake could watch with parents and not suffer the kind of assault on the senses that's routinely taking place today. A few tidbits about his legendary life you may not have heard:
As reported by NewsMax, Letterman producer Peter Lassally recently indicated that Carson had contributed material for Letterman's monologues. The Left Coast Report gives a golf swinging salute to the man who brought us sweet cheer as we entered into dreamland. You can almost hear the announcement at the Pearly Gates: "Heeeeere's Johnny." (Thanks to The Left Coast Report by James L. Hirsen and the staff of NewsMax for the above information. If you would like a free subscription, please visit http://NewsMax.com/email.shtml) 3. Top Homeland Security Official: "We Have To Abridge Individual Rights" "We have to abridge individual rights, change the societal conditions, and act in ways that heretofore were not in accordance with our values and traditions, like giving a police officer or security official the right to search you without a judicial finding of probable cause." No, that's not King George III speaking. Those are the words of U.S. Army Lt. Gen. (Retired) Patrick M. Hughes -- the top intelligence official of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Gen. Hughes made his anti-Fourth Amendment comments eight months before President Bush appointed him to his DHS post, though they were not reported until a few weeks ago when Congressional Quarterly magazine obtained a transcript. He made them during a March 2003 Harvard University forum on "Future Conditions: The Character and Conduct of War, 2010 and 2020." "Things are changing, and this change is happening because things can be brought to us that we cannot afford to absorb," Hughes also said. "We can't deal with them, so we're going to reach out and do something ahead of time to preclude them. "Is that going to change your lives? It already has." At the time of his statement, Gen. Hughes was a private consultant whose clients included the CIA, the FBI, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, DIA, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, SRI International, Anteon, Boeing, Rand Corp., and others, according to Congressional Quarterly. In his current position, Hughes heads up DHS's intelligence analysis efforts and coordinates with the other members of the intelligence community, as well as with such interagency intelligence efforts as the Terrorist Threat Integration Center. According to Congressional Quarterly, the White House, the Department of Homeland Security and Gen. Hughes have not responded to questions about these remarks. Source: Congressional Quarterly at http://www.cq.com/corp/show.do?page=crawford/20041027_homeland (Thanks to James W. Harris of the Advocates for Self-Government and The Liberator Online for the above information. If you would like a free subscription to the Liberator Online, visit: http://www.self-gov.org/liberator/maintain.html.) 4. China, EU Preparing to Challenge the U.S. You probably didn't see this on the nightly news ... But China is fast becoming the prime mover and shaker in challenging America's superpower status. The interesting development, we have from sources in Europe, is the new understanding between China and the EU that they must seriously work together to challenge the United States and her sole-superpower status. The goal of the two giants is to create "a multi-polar" world. "Multi-polar" is the new buzzword of the global elites who fear the U.S. The EU-China development was not lost at the meeting of the global elites this past week at the World Economic Forum, held in Davos, Switzerland. The International Herald Tribune days ago noted the new China dynamic:
Unsaid but understood is that the shift in power is away from the United States. China, thanks to American trade, investment and the hundreds of thousands of Chinese students who have trained in the U.S., is fast becoming an economic tiger. Already, China and the European Union are each other's largest trading partners. And recently, China surpassed the U.S. as Japan's largest trading partner. The developments in China would not be so ominous if Beijing were a free country, but communists -- who believe that America remains their mortal enemy -- still dominate. Source: Insider Report from NewsMax.com (If you are not an e-mail subscriber, get Insider Report and other breaking news alerts by Clicking Here.) "The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home." -- James Madison, fourth President of the U.S., co-author of the Federalist Papers, sometimes called "The Father of the Constitution."
Some interesting & provocative articles on other websites: NASCAR nannies, by Doug Bandow: NASCAR racing has long sported a blue-collar reputation. But the organization's decision to accept liquor advertising has energized the usual national nannies. Beer marketing is everywhere. Yet few complaints are heard. Try to sell spirits like any other legal product, however, and expect to be attacked. She's blinding me with science, by Selwyn Duke: One curious thing about scientific pronouncements is that they often seem to accord more with the spirit of the age than fact and reason. Thus, a Nazi researcher in 1930's Germany would analyze data from only one angle and state, "You see, this vindicates our assertion that the Aryans are the master race." Now, lest you think that such provincial thinking doesn't plague our enlightened age, I can assure you, it's alive and well -- only the ends have changed. No certainty about Africans and HIV, by Vin Suprynowicz: There's been a predictable wave of outrage (perhaps real; one can never tell) at a recent column on this page by economist Thomas Sowell of the Hoover Institution at Stanford, in which he asked whether the legal institution of marriage is really a "right" that can be bestowed on gay couples, or whether it isn't in fact a set of commonly accepted restrictions on the rights of the partners, adopted to facilitate support of the children resulting from (hetero) sexual unions. Do you want Gonzales as Attorney General?, by Josh Rosen: George W. Bush has nominated Alberto R. Gonzales to be Attorny General. Speculation is the nomination is a way to flesh out Gonzales' resume before nominating him to the Supreme Court. This speculation is well founded. While Governor of Texas, Bush made Gonzales his General Counsel. Then made him Secretary of State to polish up his resume so Bush could put him on the Texas Supreme Court. This nomination looks to be a repeat of that stratigy. The question is, do we want Gonzales as either Attorny General or as a Supreme Court Justice? Some people who do, may not when thy learn more about Al Gonzales. France's fashionable philosopher under fire, By Henry Samuel: France's love affair with its highest-profile living philosopher, Bernard-Henri Lévy, appears to be at an end after the publication of a number of books attacking his writings and methodology. The latest critique, by the investigative journalist Philippe Cohen, brands Lévy intellectually "incoherent". His book, BHL - a biography, published this week, coldly sets out to unmask the philosopher. Paid Enough to Buy the Product, by William Anderson: In the past several years, a virtual industry has been created in bashing Wal-Mart. From leftist church groups to the AFL-CIO to the Chronicles, Wal-Mart has been the favorite whipping boy of people on all sides of the political spectrum. Thus, it was no surprise when I recently received an emailed article from the quasi-Marxist Sojourners magazine not only attacking Wal-Mart for the usual set of "sins" that the critics claim, but also a new transgression: Wal-Mart's business practices, on net, make our economy worse off and leave us poorer. The Capitalist Response, by John Clark: I would like to thank Mr. Sharpe for his rebuttal to my recent article in The Latin Mass Magazine. I would also like to take this opportunity to say that I appreciate all of the many reviews that my article has received. It is refreshing to know that so many Catholics have such an interest in economics. Seeing an attack on capitalism appear on the Internet is like hearing a sermon on the evils of flying from the cockpit at 40,000 feet. Using capitalist tools to spread anti-capitalist thought is a strange irony. A Half-Century-Old Attack on Ayn Rand Reminds Us of the Dark Side of Conservatism, by Robert W. Tracinski: National Review's online counterpart rehashes an old attack on Ayn Rand--and reminds us why the philosophy of conservativism is ultimately hostile to liberty. Why the giant waves were acts of a benevolent God, by Paul Johnson: Things are stirring on the God front. A leading atheist recants his disbelief, provoking cries of anguish from the Darwinian fundamentalists crowded on to their isolated bandwagon, now stuck in the mud of events. On the other hand, the giant waves in the Indian Ocean shocked the Archbishop of Canterbury -- not one whom Jane Austen would have called 'a sensible man' even at the best of times - into doubting the existence of a deity, or at least a benevolent one. The question of whether the notion of God is compatible with the existence of evil or calamitous events in the world is a very ancient one, and was pondered by Plato and the Stoics, and most of the early Christian philosophers -- such as Origen -- and later by Thomas Aquinas. The Manichees got worked up about it, believing as they did that the universe was governed by evil as well as noble forces; obviously, a major earthquake would tend to suggest that evil has got the upper hand, if only pro tem. Communism for kids, by Trevor Bothwell: Any parent with a child in a public school has likely discovered that our education system is little more than a vehicle through which liberals indoctrinate our children with socialist ideology. If this sounds like a radical assertion, I assure you it is not. In fact, examples abound indicating just how accurate it is. THE COMING WARS, by SEYMOUR M. HERSH: George W. Bush's reëlection was not his only victory last fall. The President and his national-security advisers have consolidated control over the military and intelligence communities' strategic analyses and covert operations to a degree unmatched since the rise of the post-Second World War national-security state. Bush has an aggressive and ambitious agenda for using that control&emdash;against the mullahs in Iran and against targets in the ongoing war on terrorism&emdash;during his second term. The C.I.A. will continue to be downgraded, and the agency will increasingly serve, as one government consultant with close ties to the Pentagon put it, as "facilitators" of policy emanating from President Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney. This process is well under way. How Kinsey Ruined Sex for the Rest of Us, by Shmuley Boteach: Did the famous researcher and subject of a Hollywood biopic launch a soulless sexual revolution? The movie "Kinsey," starring Liam Neeson, vividly portrays the idiosyncrasies and sexual amorality of the famed sex researcher, Alfred Kinsey. What it misses, however, are the damaging repercussions of Kinsey's work on sexual attitudes throughout the Western world and the corrosive effect his research had on male-female relationships. Creationist - Atheist Philosopher Has Taken a Small Step Towards Truth, By Mary Rettig: A lecturer with Answers in Genesis, a creation apologetics group, says a recent declaration of belief in intelligent design by a former atheist is a move in the right direction. Antony Flew, a British philosopher who was a leading champion for atheism for more than 50 years, said in an article published last month that he has changed his earlier beliefs about the origins of the cosmos. He went on to explain that he now believes the universe was created by some sort of intelligent being. Classical Economics vs. The Exploitation Theory, By George Reisman: For more than a century, one of the most popular economic doctrines in the world has been the exploitation theory. According to this theory, capitalism is a system of virtual slavery, serving the narrow interests of a comparative handful of businessmen and capitalists, who, driven by insatiable greed and power lust, exist as parasites upon the labor of the masses. Presidential idealism possibly at odds with conservatism, By Paul M. Weyrich: Michael Newdow must have had his hands over his ears. The President mentioned God repeatedly in his second inaugural speech. The argument of Newdow and outfits such as the ACLU is that any mention of God constitutes the establishment of religion. Fortunately, the President and his speechwriters have read the Constitution and The Federalist Papers as its commentary. A critique of Einstein, by Fred Hutchison: Discover Magazine had a special Einstein issue for September 2004. Fifty-eight pages of glossy magazine space was devoted to Einstein! Einstein seems to be growing as an American cult hero. He is not only a dominating figure in the sciences but he has a profound influence on the culture. His theory of relativity sends the message that all things are relative in the cosmos, with the strong implication that the realms of morality, truth and culture are relative. I dissent. I disagree that morality, truth and culture are purely relative. And I deny that the physical world is what Einstein says it is. Philosophy for Schoolkids: According to one academic, a course in philosophy can help youngsters get a better grasp of subjects like maths and English at school. Scotland Today's Shereen Nanjiani met one class which was grappling with Descartes' philosophical theory of mind-body dualism. While the subject may be beyond many people, that does not matter. It is also over the heads of the youngsters in the class, but the idea is not to make them into great philosophers in ivory towers but instead to develop their skills of critical thinking.
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Newsletter Front Page |
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Tomorrow,
February 2nd, marks the hundredth anniversary of
the birth of Ayn Rand, who has to be considered one
of America's great novelists and, for many, a great
philosopher. Although largely ignored by academics
(so what else is new?), she has influenced young
thinkers for over fifty years. All of her most
important books have been continually in print and
sell in the tens of thousands every year. The book
for which she is most famous, of course, is
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