Pt 2/4: Objectivism Resource Guide (ORG)
J. Allen
Murray Hill Station, New York NY 10156
(G) The Objectivist Newsletter; The Objectivist; The Ayn Rand Letter
(All Defunct)
These were the magazines owned and edited by Ayn Rand. They are all
available in bound format from Second Renaissance Books (see below,
section 3. )
-- THE OBJECTIVIST NEWSLETTER (1962-1965): Many of the articles have
been reprinted in Ayn Rand's books, particularly in
_Capitalism:_The_Unknown_Ideal_ and _The_Virtue_Of_Selfishness_. It
does contain, however, many book reviews and interesting answers to
reader's questions that have never been published elsewhere.
-- THE OBJECTIVIST (1966-1971): This 1,120-page book is perhaps the
richest of the three in content. Included: Ayn Rand's essays on
epistemology, reprinted as _Introduction_To_Objectivist_Epistemology_;
"Metaphysics in Marble" by Mary Ann Sures, an essay applying Objectivist
esthetics to the art of sculpture; "To Whom It May Concern," Ayn Rand's
explanation of why she broke all intellectual ties with Nathaniel Branden.
The bound volume comes with a six page essay, "The Rational Faculty,"
which is Ayn Rand's thinking out loud" about the philosophical link
between individualism and reason.
--THE AYN RAND LETTER (1971-76): This volume is best known for applying
philosophical principles to international issues of the day.
-(3.5) PRODUCTS AND SERVICES FOR OBJECTIVISTS -
(A) American Renaissance for the Twenty-First Century (ART)
ART, founded by art critic and exhibit curator Alexandra York, describes
its purpose as follows: "To promote and _advance_ established western art
forms; realism in painting and sculpture; melody and harmony in music;
grace in dance; structure, coherence, and meaning in theatre, poetry, and
literature -- and the expression of Beauty in all." It is a staunch
advocate of Romantic Realism in the arts.
One of its best products to date is a catalog highlighting pieces from an
exhibition called "ROMANTIC REALISM: Visions of Values," given to anyone
who makes a $10 contribution to ART.
To find out more about ART, contact:
ART
F.D.R. Station
P.O. Box 8379
New York, NY 10150-1919
(B) Peikoff Lectures (Out of Business)
Peikoff Lectures rented Dr. Peikoff's taped lecture courses. Lectures
included "Introduction To Logic," "Ancient Philosophy: Thales To Hume,"
"Modern Philosophy: Kant to the Present," and the perennial "Understanding
Objectivism," a great course for those trying to overcome bad methods of
thinking that stand in the way of understanding Objectivist ideas. It
also rented Ayn Rand's Lectures on Fiction Writing, given by her in her
apartment in the early 60's.
Though Peikoff Lectures is now out of business, the lectures are steadily
being made available for sale through Second Renaissance Books (see
below). Contact them for more information.
(C) RIC Trading Company
"RIC Trading Company offers products that support and encourage
rational conversation about the principles of Objectivism. The
RIC Symbol (the company's trademarked logo) is a unique, visual
reminder of an objective view of mankind and his relationship to
the universe, including his relationship to himself and others."
(Written by Kevin Watson, President, and Mark A. Hurt, CEO, RIC
Trading Co.)
RIC (which stands for: Reason, Individual Rights, Capitalism) sells
shirts, pins, and other products bearing a unique logo: two human
figures, side by side, holding a dollar sign in mutual comradery. For
information on available products, contact:
RIC Trading Company
P.O. Box 270743
Nashville, TN 37227-0743
Phone: 615-781-0080
Fax: 615-781-0083
E-mail: r...@attmail.com
(NOTE from Kevin Watson and Mark Hurt: The RIC logo is not the official
logo of the philosophy of Objectivism.)
(D) Second Renaissance Books -- Ideas For the Rational Mind
Second Renaissance, an Objectivist book service, sports the largest
selection of Ayn Rand's writings and taped lectures available anywhere,
and carries an extensive selection of books which, in the words of editor-
publisher Peter Schwartz, "present...the efficacy and value of reason --
the benefits of free scientific inquiry and technological progress --
the virtues of individual achievement and its guarantor:
individual rights -- the practicality of freedom and capitalism."**
For the latest copy of their quarterly catalog, contact:
Second Renaissance Books
110 Copperwood Way
P.O. Box 4625
Oceanside, CA 92052
Customer information phone #: (619) 757-6149
(*Taken from "Our Editorial Standards," printed in every edition of the
SRB catalog.)
(E) Values Mind Products
Founded in Israel by Ohad Kamin, Values is "an international organization
dedicated to the spreading of esthetic values and applications of
Objectivism to various fields." **
In addition to proselytizing activities, Values sells prints of works of
Romantic art. For a catalog and more information on Values, contact:
Yaron Brook
Values U.S. Representative
5829 Recife Way
San Jose, CA 95120
(408) 268-6854
(**From a description in *Atlantean Press Review 1992*)
-(3.6) OBJECTIVISM AND THE INTERNET-
(A) Internet Relay Chat, Channel #AynRand
The Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a world-wide electronic forum which
supports conversations in real time (as opposed to posting to a bulletin
board). It supports an unlimited number of "channels," which can be
formed and joined at will by the user. One of those channels is #AynRand,
originally started by Mark J. Gardner for the purpose of discussing the
philosophy of Objectivism.
The channel is usually active between 9pm and 12am (often later) Eastern
time every day of the week. For more information on the channel, including a
brief description of
basic IRC commands, check out the #AynRand FAQ, maintained by Mark
J. Gardner, at:
ftp://ftp.rahul.net/pub/aradmin/Objectivism/info/aynrand-channel-faq.txt
Recently, as the channel has become more active, other channels have
popped up on an on-again off-again basis, all of them claiming to offer
discussion of Ayn Rand's philosophy. However, the #AynRand channel is the
only one I can fully endorse. Only it offers a growing amount of on-line
information, as well as an intense and honest intellectual environment
for the discussion of Objectivism.
(B) Objectivism E-mail Archive
Many of you have heard about the Objectivism activity that has been
occuring on the Internet lately. You have heard about things like
the IRC Friday discussion transcripts and the other information
stored in the VORTEX FTP site. However, those of you on such services
as Compuserve or MCIMail only have -gateway- access to the Internet;
you are limited to electronic mail and, in some cases, Netnews, leaving
a vast realm of the Internet--FTP, IRC, etc.--off limits.
To help compensate for this lack, I have established the Objectivism
E-mail Archive. This service lets you use your e-mail account to access
files previously available only via FTP. You can retrieve IRC
Friday night discussion transcripts, documents like Chris Walker's
Objectivism FAQ and my Objectivism Resource Guide, essays written for
public distribution, and information about other electronic services
like Mark J. Gardner's VORTEX mailing list.
Here's how you do it. Say that you want to retrieve the IRC #AynRand
discussion transcript for February 25, on "How Does One Live a Rational
Life in an Irrational Society." Since that file's name is
disc.2-25-94.txt, all you need do it send mail to <auto...@oms.com>
with the subject "autofile/disc.2-25-94.txt" and with NO TEXT in the
message body. Any text may be retrieved like this--all you need do
is type "autofile/" (no quotes) immediately followed by the appropriate
filename. If your request is successful, you will receive the file in
a matter of minutes.
To receive a list of all available files, send a message with the subject
"autofile/files.list" (no quotes).
(C) Objectivism FTP Directory
The administrators of IRC channel #AynRand have recently established an FTP
directory for documents and essays relating to Ayn Rand's philosophy.
Currently, it houses my ORG file, Chris Walker's Objectivism FAQ, and
transcripts from the Friday night discussion on the IRC channel #AynRand.
The site is ftp.rahul.net; all Objectivism documents are
located in the /pub/aradmin/Objectivism directory. The URL for the site is:
ftp://ftp.rahul.net/pub/aradmin/Objectivism
If you have a document relating to Objectivism that you would like
to place at the site, send e-mail to <org-s...@oms.com> containing a
short summary of the document. Everything from informational files to
original essays will be accepted.
(D) Objectivism Study Group
The purpose of this e-mail discussion group is to provide a forum for
individuals to discuss Objectivism with others who are also seriously
interested in ideas. The owner of this service, Bob Stubblefield, expects
list members to adhere strictly to its charter. Although members need not
be Objectivists, pseudo-Objectivists are excluded. The charter should be
read, accepted, and *understood* before subscribing.
To get a copy of the charter, send a message to info...@osg.com. You
will also receive a membership form; if you qualify and want to join,
fill out the form and e-mail it back to the appropriate address.
Membership will begin soon afterwards. The first month is free;
afterwards, the cost is $48 for one year ($24 for full-time students).
(Write-up by Jay Allen, with editing by Bob Stubblefield)
(E) VORTEX
VORTEX is the Voice of Reason Textual Electronic eXchange. It is a free
electronic mailing list administrated by Mark J. Gardner. A relatively
new service, its members tend to be new to Objectivism, and the level of
discussion is more informal than that of OSG. However, the same level of
decorum and intellectual respect that exists on OSG is demanded on VORTEX.
For more information on VORTEX. check out the FAQ at:
ftp://ftp.rahul.net/pub/aradmin/Objectivism/info/vortex-faq.txt
Or write <VORTEX-...@oms.com>.
- (3.7) INDIVIDUALS SELLING ESSAYS RELATED TO OBJECTIVISM -
Anyone who has written a quality essay relating to an aspect of
Objectivist philosophy or discussing a "current topic" from the
standpoint of Objectivist philosophical principles may have their essay
advertised for sale here. Send me your name, address, the price of the
essay, and a brief (max. 50 word) description of the essay's content.
Also include a brief (max. 10 word) description of the essay's
appearance, including number of pages and type of cover.
NOTE: I care deeply about what I support and sanction. If I am not
familiar with any other work you have done (i.e., if I don't know you
from OSG, VORTEX, or Usenet), then I will have to see some part of the
essay to ensure its quality. "Quality" does not necessarily mean
agreement, but it DOES mean: clear writing style, logical development of
one's argument, and respect for the minds of others. You can either mail
me a copy of the essay, or send me a two-or three-screen selection of its
key paragraphs via e-mail. These selections should include a summary and
an argument; in other words -- show me _what_ you are arguing for and
_how_ you intend to do it.
Any valid submissions to this section will appear in the next update of
the ORG. All submissions should go to <org-s...@oms.com>.
- (3.8) OBJECTIVISM CONFERENCES AND EVENTS -
The major Obje!SEEN-BY: 100/1 0