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General Sessions
All of our General Session options are available with one convenient registration.
(Note: the July 5 ARI Presentation and the July 8 Academic Panel are both free; see our
events page for details.)
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Session Descriptions
No Tributes to Caesar: Good or Evil in
Atlas Shrugged
Tara Smith
Atlas Shrugged vividly dramatizes the inescapability of, and the stakes involved in,
making value choices. This lecture examines the mutually exclusive nature of the alternative between good and evil in order to
illuminate the action of the novel and the “extremism” of Ayn Rand’s moral code.
Why does Galt declare that “man’s reason is his moral faculty?” What does it mean, truly, to
love life? Or to accept the death premise? By tracing pivotal elements in the protagonists’ progressive understanding of the
essential nature of their alternatives, Dr. Smith makes us appreciate why man’s existence permits “no tributes to Caesar.” She
shows how the heroes’ deeper knowledge of their alternatives influences their actions—in particular, actions that
initially strike many readers as unduly harsh. More broadly, the lecture makes clear how the mutually exclusive, do-or-die
character of the alternative between good and evil dictates the absolutist character of Rand’s moral code.
Note: This lecture is a version of an essay in Essays on Ayn Rand’s
“Atlas Shrugged.”
Saturday, July 4, 2009; 10:15–11:45 AM
Hallmarks of Objectivism:
The Benevolent Universe Premise and the Heroic View of Man
Allan Gotthelf
The benevolent universe premise and the heroic view of man are hallmarks
of Objectivism. While not among the defining essentials of the philosophy, they are direct and dramatic consequences of
these essentials and are signs of the philosophy’s greatness.
This lecture examines the meaning and interconnection of these two propositions, the ways in
which Miss Rand presents or dramatizes them in both her fiction and her nonfiction, and the manner in which their truth
depends on more fundamental truths of Objectivism.
The lecture uses as evidence the plot resolutions in each of her novels, and the
characterizations of Roark and Dominique in The Fountainhead and of Galt and Dagny in Atlas
Shrugged—including the fundamental affinities that make Galt Dagny’s “final choice” (and Dagny Galt’s). It also
makes wide use of the nonfiction, giving special attention to the Introduction to the 25th anniversary edition of The
Fountainhead.
Saturday, July 4, 2009; 1:20–2:50 PM
The Separation of Church and State
Onkar Ghate
With religion on the rise in America, maintaining the separation of church and state is now
a pressing issue. This talk will examine some of the history behind, as well as the arguments for and against, the principle
of separating religion from government. It will consider contemporary ways in which the principle is being attacked and why
even well-meaning Americans are increasingly unable to mount a defense. Finally, it will define what a proper, philosophical
argument for the need to separate church from state looks like.
Sunday, July 5, 2009; 10:15–11:45 AM
“Humanity’s Darkest Evil:” The Lethal
Destructiveness of Non-Objective Law
Tara Smith
In Atlas Shrugged Judge Naragansett condemns non-objective law as “humanity’s
darkest evil.” This lecture explores exactly how destructive non-objective law is.
Rand’s view of the purpose of government, Dr. Smith shows, is essential to understanding
the nature and value of objectivity in law. Her identification of individual rights as moral claims to freedom and of the
indispensability of freedom to the exercise of reason shows why (contrary to the claims of anarchists) proper government
is a necessary good, but also why government’s tremendous power must be held in check through a strictly objective legal
system. By drawing on examples from Atlas and from history, Dr. Smith makes plain the material and spiritual
ravages of non-objective law, demonstrating how the injection of any elements of non-objectivity into a legal system
necessarily contaminates other aspects of law, ultimately undoes the rule of law, and thereby undermines the protection of
freedom.
Note: This lecture is a version of an essay in Essays on Ayn Rand’s
"Atlas Shrugged."
Monday, July 6, 2009; 8–9:30 PM
The Objective vs. the Intrinsic and the
Subjective
Harry Binswanger
Today’s world crisis is a frenzied oscillation in the ever-narrowing gap between the false
alternatives that have chained man throughout history: mysticism vs. skepticism, mind vs. body, self-sacrifice vs.
other-sacrifice, statism of the left vs. statism of the right. The grandfather of all these false alternatives is the
intrinsic vs. the subjective—and Ayn Rand’s deepest contribution to philosophy is to cut through these false
alternatives by grasping and defining the real alternative: a new concept of objectivity. This is the concept for which
Objectivism is named.
These two lectures present and “chew” her concept of objectivity, integrating it with the
primacy of existence, the law of identity, and free will, and contrasting it with the intrinsic and the subjective schools
in the fields of epistemology, ethics, politics, art and economics.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009; 10:15–11:45 AM
Saturday, July 11, 2009; 10:15–11:45 AM
Atlas Shrugged on the Role of the Mind in
Man’s Existence
Greg Salmieri
Ayn Rand identified “The role of the mind in man’s existence” as the theme of Atlas
Shrugged. In this talk Dr. Salmieri discusses three essential aspects of this role as they are dramatized in the novel.
First, the mind, or reason, is the faculty that makes possible the production of the material values we need to survive.
Second, as the faculty by which we conceive and pursue the values that give meaning and direction to our lives, reason is
the spirit or soul. The third aspect is an extension of the second: reason discovers and defines the proper morality. In
connection with each of these aspects, attention is paid to Rand’s conception of reason as a volitional faculty that
“identifies and integrates the material provided by man’s senses.”
Wednesday, July 8, 2009; 10:15–11:45 AM
Principled Leadership
John Allison
A number of the critical problems we are facing today are the result of failed leadership
in all types of organizations. Mr. Allison will outline how the Objectivist virtues are the foundation for principled
leadership and organizational success. He will show how to communicate these virtues to audiences with a wide variety of
backgrounds.
Objectivists will benefit from improving their understanding of how to use the virtues in
their everyday lives leading to their personal success and happiness. By grasping the practicality of the virtues, you will
be able to better convey the importance of these principles to non-objectivists.
Mr. Allison has made this presentation to over 100,000 individuals including BB&T employees,
business and community leaders and many college students. The BB&T values are based on these virtues and have been the
fundamental source of BB&T’s success.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009; 1:20–2:50 PM
Free Minds and Free
Markets
Peter Schwartz
“A free mind and a free market are corollaries,” Ayn Rand writes. What is the full connection
between the value of reason and the value of capitalism? Would freedom be necessary, or even possible, if man lived not by
reason, but by blind faith or by blind emotions? And what is the relationship, in practice, between our culture’s view of how
the mind functions and its attitude toward the free market?
Mr. Schwartz examines the philosophic underpinnings of freedom. He discusses the liberals’
growing opposition to intellectual freedom, and the conservatives’ growing opposition to economic freedom—and explains
how both stem from a rejection of the idea of man as a fully volitional being. This lecture shows why a proper defense of
capitalism not only requires, but is, a defense of the free mind.
Friday, July 10, 2009; 10:15–11:45 AM
Objectivist Corporate Culture Is a Durable
Competitive Advantage
Wayne Fortun
Long-term business success requires an organization to develop a durable competitive
advantage—one that offers unique value to the marketplace and differentiates one’s product from the
competition.
In this lecture, Mr. Fortun will argue that the only way to maintain a durable
competitive advantage is to be flexible, adaptable and have the ability to continuously develop new offerings and
capabilities. Since no single technology or product will be able to remain differentiated in the market long range, it
is ultimately the culture of an organization which enables continuous improvement and innovation.
This lecture will show how the Objectivist philosophy, with its key virtues, is the
only foundation that nurtures a reality-based, value-oriented culture—a culture that maintains personal and
corporate integrity in a demanding market and at the same time satisfies Wall Street.
Friday, July 10, 2009; 8–9:30 PM
Register now!
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