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Optional Courses
All optional courses are available in both Session 1 and Session 2, so attendees
can maximize the number of courses they plan to attend. Optional courses are letter-coded (A–D, see our
Conference Schedule) by daily time slot and
duration. For instance, "A" courses meet three times during each session, 8:30–10 AM, for a total of four hours
and thirty minutes of class time. Remember that you can only select one course from each letter group, A–D, per
session, so if you want to attend two "A" courses, for example, you must attend one in Session 1 and one in Session
2.
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Course Descriptions
A1S1, A1S2
The Triumph and Tragedy of the Oil Industry
Alex Epstein
Born out of scientific and inventive genius, and brought to the masses by entrepreneurs like
John D. Rockefeller, the oil industry took a seemingly useless substance and transformed it into an incalculable value to
men's lives. And yet with all the glory it has brought man, the oil industry has been vilified, strangled, looted since its
inception.
"The Triumph and Tragedy of the Oil Industry" tells the story of how scientists, inventors,
engineers and, above all, businessmen transformed black glop into black gold—into the fuel that would power man's
transportation by car, boat, truck, airplane, space shuttle. It tells the story of how this glorious achievement has been
undercut by bad philosophy and bad politicians cashing in on its spoils. Finally, Mr. Epstein chronicles the oil industry's
own role in its destruction, and how it has managed to keep producing and profiting despite huge regulations against it.
A2S1, A2S2
Global Warming: The Science, Politics and Philosophy
Keith Lockitch
Decades of environmentalist activism have entrenched in the general public a widespread
belief in global warming; it is now widely assumed to be a proven scientific fact that human activity is causing an
unnatural, catastrophic warming of the earth that will have devastating consequences for human life. In this course, Dr.
Lockitch examines the global warming phenomenon, including the scientific status of the theory, the demands for political
action that are made on its basis, and the philosophical issues underlying the science and the politics.
A3S1, A3S2
Ayn Rand's Conception of Valuing
Greg Salmieri
In her fiction and early journal entries, Ayn Rand frequently refers to valuing as an
action that one must "know how to" perform. Such formulations represent the first form in which she grasped the point
that she would later formulate by saying that values (and concepts) are objective rather than intrinsic or subjective.
In this course, Mr. Salmieri traces the development of Rand's conception of valuing.
In the process, he discusses a number of central tenets of the Objectivist ethics, including the values of reason, purpose
and self-esteem, the virtues of productiveness, pride and integrity, the argument that Man's Life is the standard of value,
and the role played by Rand's view of free will in her new conceptions of egoism and objectivity. Considering these points
in the context of Rand's novels and the development of her thought makes them easier to grasp and to apply to one's own
life.
A4S1, A4S2
Health-Care Activism: Saving the Life Savers
Lin Zinser
How can we best advance political change? Using health care as the model, we will probe
this question with examples from the history of modern health care, which has been riddled with government intervention
from its beginnings. Efforts to limit government involvement have met with minimal success and attempts to socialize health
care are escalating across America. Ms. Zinser discusses Objectivist principles applied to political action in health care
and examines the underlying reasons for the failure or success of various writing campaigns, speeches, media reporting and
coalitions. Finally, the course examines such questions as when and how can one build coalitions, how to respond to
"extremism" charges and how to integrate moral and practical arguments. The goal is to see, from history and in practice,
the best ways to promote morally principled political change in today's culture.
B1S1, B1S2
Two, Three, Four and All That: The Sequel
Pat Corvini
Science shelves of bookstores are today awash in accounts of modern extensions of the idea
of number, including infinity and the continuum, set theory, transfinite numbers, and the like. Many of these ideas, and the
"mysteries" that proceed from them, figure prominently in modern philosophy and in popular discussion of the nature and
limits of reason.
In this course, Dr. Corvini explains and evaluates some of the most influential of these
ideas, using as a frame of reference both their historical context and the view of number as objective developed in her
earlier courses. By identifying the fundamental nature of the ideas and of the errors involved, we see again the importance
of a proper theory of concepts, and clarify the differences between an objective approach to mathematics and the more
traditional views. (Dr. Corvini will summarize here, and expand on, the ideas of number and infinity introduced in her earlier
courses.)
B2S1, B2S2
Freedom of Speech in American History
Eric Daniels
Freedom of speech is fundamental to maintaining American political liberty. Increasing
government controls over speech—from McCain-Feingold to FCC regulations—are damaging one of America's most
important freedoms. To use freedom of speech effectively to change the culture, one must know the proper basis of free
speech.
From the colonial struggle against the British imperial system to the tumultuous history
of the First Amendment, this course investigates the Alien and Sedition Acts, the slavery debates, the battle over
obscenity, and recent developments in online speech. It identifies how the proper defense of freedom of speech has
paralleled Americans' understanding and misunderstanding of the proper basis of rights. Dr. Daniels also examines how the
concept "censorship" has been corrupted, what "symbolic speech" means for our rights, why property rights and speech are
intimately connected, and why modern courts do not understand and cannot fully defend the freedom of speech.
B3S1, B3S2
Motivation and Pedagogy: Facilitating the Childhood Choice to Know
Ray Girn
Because thinking is a volitional activity, a child in a classroom always has a choice about
whether or not to exert cognitive effort. Since learning requires such effort, the importance of proper motivation in education
cannot be overstated.
This course examines two major questions about motivation: (1) How should educators motivate
the learning of particular subjects in particular academic settings, given a child's general underlying motivation to learn?
and (2) What are the nature and limits of this general motivation? Is it different from adult motivation—and if so, in what way?
How should parents and educators nurture, reward, direct, protect, heal it?
The course investigates both educational philosophers' views on motivation and examples of
well-motivated class lessons. From these, we will draw conclusions about the relationships between motivation and free will,
motivation and hierarchy, motivation and effective teaching methodology, and about motivation in today's cultural context.
B4S1, B4S2
Russian Short Stories
Lisa VanDamme
In this course, Ms. VanDamme analyzes three timeless Russian short stories, by authors
such as Turgenev, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and Pushkin. Each of the stories is philosophically corrupt but, nevertheless,
definitively worthwhile. As in her course "Gems of Short Fiction," the goal of this course is to demonstrate the lasting
positive value to an Objectivist of well-crafted literature that has ideas and values at odds with those of an
Objectivist.
Ms. VanDamme uses the method of analysis presented in The Romantic Manifesto and in
Leonard Peikoff's "Eight Great Plays" to discuss the plot, plot-theme, characterization, theme and underlying philosophy
of each work. All the while, she emphasizes the over-arching theme of all her discussions of literature—the intense
personal value to be gained from reading.
C1S1, C1S2
The Renaissance (part 1): 1300–1450
Andrew Lewis
The fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries were a transitional time in history, a
gradual and turbulent shift from the entrenched mysticism of the Medieval period to the emerging secularism of the
Renaissance. The few advocates of reason fought a long and difficult struggle against the established powers of faith
and force.
Mr. Lewis identifies the clash of cultural products of the early Renaissance: the
legacy of medieval religion and politics against the new ideas and practices made possible by Aquinas's liberation of
reason. The course examines the changing nature of the arts and politics in mainland Europe as the increasingly
corrupt Catholic Church struggled to maintain its stranglehold on life in Europe.
While this course overlaps and integrates with earlier courses: "The Foundations of
the Renaissance" and "The History of England (part 3)," it focuses on political and cultural events in Europe.
C2S1, C2S2
Rome's Punic Wars: Three Victories and Their Lessons
John Lewis
From 262 through 146 BC, Rome fought three major wars with Carthage. These Punic
Wars ended in different kinds of victories: the first, a short and unstable armistice; the second, a long-term peace;
and finally, the unjust obliteration of Carthage. These victories illustrate the need for rational military goals and
a sound strategy for achieving them. More deeply, this course considers the cultural background to the political
decisions made in these wars. At their moment of greatest victory—the destruction of both Carthage and Corinth
in 146 BC—the Romans had begun to turn from the rule of law to unconstitutional military rule, which would end
in the next century with civil war and dictatorship. Studying the Punic Wars can help us to understand the ideas that
led the Romans to such triumph and disaster—and show us the dependence of political action on ideas.
C3S1, C3S2
The Art of Introspection
Edwin A. Locke
Ayn Rand wrote, "If men identified introspectively their inner states one tenth as
correctly as they identify objective reality, we would be a race of ideal giants." (Introduction to Objectivist
Epistemology, p. 227) She also noted that most people are poor at introspection and unmotivated to do it. The
goal of this course is to help build more ideal giants. The course (1) defines introspection and differentiates it
from extrospection; (2) explains the meaning of Ayn Rand's statement by showing: why introspection is critical for
insuring the validity of one's methods of mental functioning (psycho-epistemology); for identifying one's mental
contents; for building mental health; for fostering success in one's work; and for building happiness (including
romantic happiness); and (3) provides a series of exercises to develop skill at introspection, including skill at
understanding emotions. Special emphasis is placed on identifying and correcting psychological defenses.
C4S1, C4S2
Looking Up to Sinclair Lewis: Ayn Rand's Admiration for It Can't
Happen Here
Shoshana Milgram
Ayn Rand, who rarely praised contemporary literature, made an exception for It Can't
Happen Here (1935). In it, vicious ideas—allied with physical force—threaten American freedom:
"the men of ritual and the men of barbarism are capable of shutting up the men of science and of silencing them forever."
After receiving an inscribed copy, she wrote to the author: she worshipped him, she said, as a hero. She cherished the
chance, at the dawn of her career, to look up to Sinclair Lewis.
Dr. Milgram focuses on Ayn Rand's respect for the book, along with its colorful history:
Lewis's decision to write an anti-totalitarian novel (after his wife, a crusading journalist, interviewed Hitler); the
nationwide production of the stage adaptation (opening simultaneously in twenty-two cities); and the suppression of the
screen adaptation (deemed too controversial for release).
(There is no required reading. A list of suggested readings will be provided.)
D1S1, D1S2
Philosophic Issues in Economics
Harry Binswanger
Over the last thirty years, economists have improved their views significantly in
regard to content—but not in regard to method or to economics' basic concepts. Economics as a science desperately
needs the application of a proper epistemology. This course explores the application of Objectivist principles of
methodology to economics, refuting prominent anti-concepts and proposing the proper conceptualization. Dr. Binswanger
covers such topics as: the proper definition of "economics"; is economics "value free"?; what "reduction to the
perceptual level" means in economics; "scarcity" and "the Garden of Eden premise"; capitalism and "socially objective
value"; the "natural selection" of productive ability; "consumer sovereignty" as altruism; the epistemological meaning
of money; the proper definition of "inflation"; "externalities"; "market failure"; the proper concept of "monopoly";
the answer to the "free rider" argument; the "Laffer Curve" as appeasement; the rampant "reification of the zero" in
economics.
D2S1, D2S2
The Islamic World and the West Today
Elan Journo
The West today faces passionate and violent hostility from Muslims in the Middle East
and within Europe and America. Jihadists have engaged in murderous attacks on New York, Madrid, London—and continue
to plot further atrocities. Many people blame U.S. foreign policy; the Arab-Israeli conflict—and Washington's
supposedly zealous backing of Israel—is often cited as a major source of animosity.
Meanwhile, many Muslims living throughout Europe demand that Islamic precepts be elevated
above the principles of secular society; prominent among these cultural skirmishes was the Danish cartoon crisis.
How should the West respond to Muslim demands for instituting Islamic laws? Is U.S.
policy to blame for Muslim hostility? Are there any common denominators among these different arenas of conflict? In
addressing these questions, Mr. Journo examines American policies (especially in regard to Iran and to Israel), and
explores the cultural clash between the West and Muslims living within it.
D3S1, D3S2
Objectivism and the Future of Art
Sandra Shaw
Kant's philosophy of subjectivism has ruled Western art since World War II in the form
of the "modern art" movement. Over the last twenty-five years, a significant trend of realist visual art has emerged in
opposition to modern art. What has caused this resurgence of realist art? Does it have a future? In what way does the
future of realist art depend on the philosophy of Objectivism?
Ms. Shaw addresses these questions from the perspective that art is an embodiment of a
culture's philosophy. The visual presentation includes examples of the art of our times, realist and modern, as well as
masterworks from more rational periods. Students will see how art dramatizes the core metaphysics of a culture, and better
grasp the foundational role of philosophy in the content and quality of art.
D4S1, D4S2
The Timelessness of The Scarlet Letter
Kara Zavarella
In The Romantic Manifesto, Ayn Rand identified The Scarlet Letter
as one of the greatest single works of Romantic literature. Ms. Zavarella examines why Miss Rand believed this, and
analyzes the main characters' motives and actions, identifies the plot-theme and theme, and observes certain key
stylistic elements of structure and symbolism in order to grasp how the novel achieves its unity. In so doing,
emphasis is placed on the particular Romantic features of The Scarlet Letter, especially its integration of
a fundamental moral theme with a superlatively dramatic plot conflict. By the end of the course, attendees will have
a deeper appreciation for how and why Hawthorne's mastery of Romantic principles transforms a nineteenth-century tale
of antiquated Puritan life into a universally relevant literary experience.
Register now!
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