Category: The Atlasphere

The Objectivist Center is reminding students and scholars that the early application and travel stipend deadline for new “Graduate Seminar in Objectivist Philosophy and Method” is Saturday, May 17, 2004.
The Graduate Seminar is a week of lectures, discussions, and workshops designed for graduate students, junior faculty, and post-doctoral scholars of philosophy and related fields. David Kelley and William Thomas will lead this seminar focusing on the content of Objectivism, the relation of Objectivism to non-Objectivist scholarly literature and the history of philosophy, the distinctive Objectivist method of philosophical analysis, and writing and speaking skills.
The Graduate Seminar will be held July 31?August 7 at Marist College, in Poughkeepsie, NY, near TOC’s offices.
More information and application are available on the TOC website.

As announced earlier in this space, The Objectivist Center will be hosting a distance learning course on Objectivism. Entitled “Objectivism from the Source: Ayn Rand’s Philosophic System,” this weekly seminar will teach a systematic understanding of Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism, through a careful reading of core texts in which Rand explicates and applies it. It is open to students, activists, scholars, and club members who want to deepen their grasp of the key elements of the philosophy and will meet by a toll-free teleconference.
More information and the application are available from The Objectivist Center website.

Rand-influenced economist Walter Block will be participating in a debate over eminent domain at the University of Chicago next Monday:

The debate revolves around the question: Should government have a right to take anyone’s property for less that what the owner would freely and voluntarily agree to accept as payment? Or, more formally: Is the state’s power of eminent domain necessary in a free society?

The announcement for the event includes an interesting bit about Block’s background with Ayn Rand:

Block, too, is believed to have never shied away from a good debate. As a senior at Brooklyn College in 1963, Block found his way to a luncheon honoring novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand, and proceeded to the head of the table. He poked his head between Rand’s and that of her companion, psychologist Nathaniel Branden, and announced that there was a socialist present who wanted to debate someone on economic issues pertaining to capitalism. They politely asked him, “Who is this socialist?” and Block declared that it was him. Branden graciously took Block aside and agreed to debate, not only right then and there, but also thereafter, continuously, until one of them had changed the other’s mind on the merits of capitalism and socialism.
Today, Block is pleased to admit that he lost that debate.

His debate with Chicago Law School professor Richard Epstein will be held at 12:30 p.m. on Monday, May 10th at the Law School, and is sponsored by the Ludwig von Mises Institute. For more information, see the full announcement on the UChicago web site.

The Objectivist Center is reminding folks that the early registration deadline for The Center’s 15th Annual Summer Seminar is approaching. The seminar takes place the week of July 3-10, 2004 at The University of British Columbia.
On May 6th, the conference fee increases from $845 to $945. The conference fee includes your choice of over 60 hours of scheduled presentations, participant sponsored sessions, Seminar materials, lunch from Sunday through Friday (except Wednesday), coffee breaks, the opening cookout, and the closing banquet and dance. And, if you can’t make it for the entire week, this year there is a daily option being offered so that you can tailor the Seminar to fit your schedule. The $160 daily fee includes all scheduled presentations, participant sponsored sessions, seminar materials, lunch, and coffee breaks that day.
Jamie Dorrain, TOC’s Conference Director, says in an announcement about the early registration deadline:

We have an excellent program this year that includes lectures, courses, and workshops in philosophy, politics, art, and personal applications of Objectivism. Once again, the Seminar will feature two morning courses. Shawn Klein will teach a basic course, “The Basics of Objectivism,” and William Thomas will teach a new course “Analyzing the Harmony of Interests.” The seminar will feature lectures on political, ethical, and cultural topics. There will also be practical workshops in self-awareness, nutrition, acting, and physical fitness. And, as always, participants can look forward to insight and enjoyment of the arts: music, film and drama, poetry, literature.

For a brochure, call Erin Hill at The Center (800-374-1776). Brochure, secure online registration and more information are also available at TOC’s website.