suggested reading
sam dellaria
I'm a relative newcomer to the objectivist philosophy. I'm currently
making my way through Rand's _Capitalism: the Unknow Ideal_ and I'm
rather pleased with most of what I've found there. My question is can
anyone suggest some further reading? Who are some other major authors on
objectivism and capitalism? Most of the specifics in _the Unkown Ideal_
seem pretty dated to me and I'm wondering if there are some more
current, relevant sources of infromation, or books that deal with
current issues from an objectivist point of view. I'm sure there are
plenty, but I've no clue where to start. Thanks in advance.
Edward O'Connor
First off, I'd like to recommend _The Road to Serfdom_ by F. A.
Hayek. Definitely a must-read.
Sam> Who are some other major authors on objectivism and capitalism?
George Reisman's _Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics_ is a massive
work (literally, this book is *big*) on economics from an Objectivist
perspective.
I highly recommend just about anything by Nathaniel Branden, in
particular _The Six Pillars of Self Esteem_ and _The Art of Living
Consciously_.
The late Ron Merrill's _The Ideas of Ayn Rand_ is a fascinating look
at Rand's work.
Frequent poster David Friedman recently published _Hidden Order: The
Economics of Everyday Life_, a delightful tromp through the field of
economics.
Sam> Most of the specifics in _the Unkown Ideal_ seem pretty dated to
Sam> me and I'm wondering if there are some more current, relevant
Sam> sources of infromation, or books that deal with current issues
Sam> from an objectivist point of view.
For an Objectivist look at the welfare system, check out _A Life of
One's Own: Individual Rights and the Welfare State_ by David
Kelley. It's probably available at a bookstore near you (I picked up
my copy at a Barnes & Noble.)
For public policy issues facing us today, the "Cato Jorunal" is
typically very informative and interesting.
--
Edward O'Connor
$(B%*%3!<%J!<!&%(%I%o!<%I(B
t...@oconnor.cx
http://oconnor.cx/
Brad Wilson
news:38551E...@tigger.cc.uic.edu...
> I'm a relative newcomer to the objectivist philosophy. I'm currently
> making my way through Rand's _Capitalism: the Unknow Ideal_ and I'm
> rather pleased with most of what I've found there. My question is can
> anyone suggest some further reading?
I've heard many good reviews on "Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics" by
George Reisman. Myself, I haven't had an opportunity to read it. The ISBN
number is 0915463733. It carries a $95 suggested retail price, but it's a
hardcover book of nearly 1050 pages. I'm sure Amazon.com significantly
discounts the price.
Chris Cathcart
dell...@tigger.cc.uic.edu wrote:
> Greetings,
> I'm a relative newcomer to the objectivist philosophy. I'm currently
> making my way through Rand's _Capitalism: the Unknow Ideal_ and I'm
> rather pleased with most of what I've found there. My question is can
on
> objectivism and capitalism? Most of the specifics in _the Unkown
Ideal_
> seem pretty dated to me and I'm wondering if there are some more
> current, relevant sources of infromation, or books that deal with
> current issues from an objectivist point of view. I'm sure there are
> plenty, but I've no clue where to start. Thanks in advance.
I think if you are talking about sources for books online, Laissez
Faire Books - http://www.laissezfaire.org - might be the place to go,
or Amazon.com.
I don't know of any writings dealing with current issues that I'd
recommend that come to mind right off, though there are some more
recent books that are useful reading.
With regard to economics, people here have already mentioned Reisman's
_Capitalism_ but it is a huge tome and requires much time and
dedication to read. The books by Menger, Hazlitt and Mises in the
suggested readings list are good enough for a basic education, though
other interesting books on economics would include Murray Rothbard's
_Man, Economy, and State_ (which functions as a nice primer to _Human
Action_, Mises' most important work), and two books by David Friedman,
_Hidden Order_ (presenting economics from a more mainstream
neoclassical framework) and _The Machinery of Freedom_ (an entertaining
read whatever you might think of the infamous Part III).
Two other major, well-known advocates of generally free markets are
Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek. Friedman's _Free to Choose_ isn't
bad, though he defends a more "moderate" version of capitalism; it is
similar in various ways to Hazlitt's _Economics in One Lesson_ (which
should be your first read in economics if you haven't yet studied the
subject). Though Objectivists often don't care for the works of Hayek,
perhaps his most tolerable and useful work is _Individualism and
Economic Order_. And yes, the two Friedmans are related.
In terms of advanced works in Objectivist philosophy, David Kelley's
_Evidence of the Senses_ is the most advanced work on Objectivist
epistemology written to date. Tara Smith is working on an advanced
work in the area of ethics and value theory, and has also written a
book on rights theory. Harry Binswanger has written a work titled _The
Biological Basis of Teleological Concepts_. George Smith's _Atheism:
The Case Against God_ is the full-scale work on that subject from an
Objectivist perspective. Kelley and Will Thomas are currently working
on a book about Objectivism with similar ambitions as that of Peikoff's
OPAR.
In political philosophy, the best book written so far from a basically
Randian perspective is Douglas Rasmussen and Douglas Den Uyl's _Liberty
and Nature: An Aristotelian Defense of Liberal Order_. And while it
isn't generally Randian, Loren Lomasky's _Persons, Rights, and the
Moral Community_ is an enjoyable read in rights theory. Eric Mack's
work on rights theory is also very good but until he publishes a book,
it is available only in essays scattered throughout many different
journals and anthologies, though a place to start might be his essay in
(the still-in-print) _The Philosophic Thought of Ayn Rand_ edited by
Den Uyl and Rasmussen, for the most part a nice anthology of pieces
contributed by professional philosophers on Rand's philosophy.
Most of these are fairly recent, written within the past 20 years or
so, and I believe all are still in print and available from LFB or
Amazon. I may have left something off, but this list is reasonably
thorough for what you are probably looking for. Hope this helps.
--
Chris Cathcart
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Selfish4
>From: sam dellaria dell...@tigger.cc.uic.edu
>Date: Mon, 13 December 1999 11:29 AM EST
>Message-id: <38551E...@tigger.cc.uic.edu>
>
>Greetings,
>I'm a relative newcomer to the objectivist philosophy. I'm currently
>making my way through Rand's _Capitalism: the Unknow Ideal_ and I'm
>rather pleased with most of what I've found there. My question is can
>anyone suggest some further reading? Who are some other major authors on
>objectivism and capitalism? Most of the specifics in _the Unkown Ideal_
>seem pretty dated to me and I'm wondering if there are some more
>current, relevant sources of infromation, or books that deal with
>current issues from an objectivist point of view. I'm sure there are
>plenty, but I've no clue where to start. Thanks in advance.
>
>-Sam
>http://www.geocities.com/area51/dreamworld/3618/
>
>
>
>
>
>
Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal does not seem dated to me. Maybe it would be a
good thing to re-read it, if it seems dated to you. Sometimes I read a work,
and it strikes me as trite, or unworthy in some other manner; and this is a
danger signal to me, because perhaps I was not paying attention, and the
meaning escaped me. So I go back, and do it over, just to make sure. Often,
it is me that is wrong the first time, and the re-examination makes a
difference. I have noticed some other people who have this problem of reading
without READING, like for example, Whittaker Chambers who said that he read Ayn
Rand's Atlas Shrugged, but his review of the book shows that he may have read
it, but that he did not READ it.
Take another look at Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, it may be worth your while.
jp
You belong to you; I belong to me.
Owl
> I'm a relative newcomer to the objectivist philosophy. I'm currently
> making my way through Rand's _Capitalism: the Unknow Ideal_ and I'm
> rather pleased with most of what I've found there. My question is can
> anyone suggest some further reading? Who are some other major authors
I recommend Hazlitt's _Economics in one Lesson_ and Friedman's _Machinery
of Freedom_.
John Alway
>Greetings,
>I'm a relative newcomer to the objectivist philosophy. I'm currently
>making my way through Rand's _Capitalism: the Unknow Ideal_ and I'm
>rather pleased with most of what I've found there. My question is can
>anyone suggest some further reading? Who are some other major authors
>on objectivism and capitalism? Most of the specifics in _the Unkown
>Ideal_ seem pretty dated to me and I'm wondering if there are some
>more current, relevant sources of infromation, or books that deal with
>current issues from an objectivist point of view. I'm sure there are
>plenty, but I've no clue where to start. Thanks in advance.
If you haven't read The Fountainhead, and Atlas Shrugged, two must
reads, then you might try Dr. Peikoff's "Objectivism: The Philosophy of
Ayn Rand", which systematically lays out the philosophy.
On capitalism you can try Richard Salsman's "Gold and Liberty",
which may be available through Second Renaissance at
www.rationalmind.com. Actually, you might want to visit Second
Renaissance books, which is loaded with works by Objectivists.
Dr. Reisman also has out his magnum opus "Capitalism", which is
about one thousand pages and could fill two thousand pages, given the
size of the book.
...John
* Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet's Discussion Network *
The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet - Free!
Ken Gardner
> The late Ron Merrill's _The Ideas of Ayn Rand_ is a fascinating look
> at Rand's work.
What happened to him? I thought that he was relatively young. I agree
that this book is very interesting, although not necessarily appropriate
for someone who is merely trying to learn Objectivism.
Ken
Ken Gardner
> If you haven't read The Fountainhead, and Atlas Shrugged, two must
> reads, then you might try Dr. Peikoff's "Objectivism: The Philosophy of
> Ayn Rand", which systematically lays out the philosophy.
OPAR is the single best book on Objectivism. Period. Bar none. I would
suggest only that the person read Atlas Shrugged before reading OPAR.
Ken
Ernest Brown
The Big C
Wisdom's Children: A Virtual Journal of Philosophy & Literature
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/billramey/wisdom.htm
Submissions welcomed.
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Ken Gardner
> > > The late Ron Merrill's _The Ideas of Ayn Rand_ is a fascinating look
> > > at Rand's work.
> > What happened to him? I thought that he was relatively young. I agree
> > that this book is very interesting, although not necessarily appropriate
> > for someone who is merely trying to learn Objectivism.
> The Big C
The Big C? What's that? How old was he?
Ken
Paul Zrimsek
*The Armchair Economist* and *Fair Play*. The second is, as the title
suggests, more concerned with ethics, and would probably be more
interesting to the average Objectivist.
Paul Zrimsek pzri...@earthlink.net
---------------------------------------------------------
"It's a fair cop, but society's to blame."
"Agreed. We will be charging them too."
J. Kendrick McPeters
>I'm a relative newcomer to the objectivist philosophy. I'm currently
>making my way through Rand's _Capitalism: the Unknow Ideal_ and I'm
>rather pleased with most of what I've found there. My question is can
>anyone suggest some further reading?
Certainly. The most important book you will ever read, regarding
Objectivism qua movement, is:
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060916125/
qid=945485458/sr=1-1/002-0996765-8858051>
Happy reading!
---Kendrick
Ed Paige
>I'm a relative newcomer to the objectivist philosophy. I'm currently
>making my way through Rand's _Capitalism: the Unknow Ideal_ and I'm
>rather pleased with most of what I've found there. My question is can
>anyone suggest some further reading?
> Certainly. The most important book you will ever read, regarding
> Objectivism qua movement, is:
>
> <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060916125/
> qid=945485458/sr=1-1/002-0996765-8858051>
Discrimination against the browser-impaired must not prevail.
Following the above URL, you will find:
The True Believer : Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements
by Eric Hoffer
--
My weapon of choice, at this juncture, is my keyboard and computer.
Give me Internet or give me death. -- Bob Kolker