Peter Schwartz (writer)

Last updated
Peter Schwartz
Peter Schwartz.jpg
Born1949
Alma mater Syracuse University (MA)
Subject Philosophy
Notable worksIn Defense of Selfishness
Website
PeterSchwartz.com

Peter Schwartz (born 1949) is an American journalist. He is an Objectivist and writes opinion pieces and books from that viewpoint.

Contents

Career

A former chairman of the board, and currently a distinguished fellow, of the Ayn Rand Institute, Schwartz writes and lectures on a variety of topics, including environmentalism, foreign policy, political philosophy and ethics. [1] He received a Master of Arts in journalism from Syracuse University and has taught advanced writing classes at the Ayn Rand Institute's Objectivist Academic Center.

He is the author of In Defense of Selfishness: Why the Code of Self-Sacrifice Is Unjust and Destructive; The Foreign Policy of Self-Interest: A Moral Ideal for America; Libertarianism: The Perversion of Liberty; and The Battle for Laissez-Faire Capitalism. [2] He also writes on current issues for his blog, PeterSchwartz.com.

His articles have been published in The Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, ForbesOnline, Huffington Post and the Hartford Courant. [3]

He was the founding editor and publisher of The Intellectual Activist (1979–1991), a periodical that covered political and social issues from a pro-individual rights perspective. From 1987 to 2003, he was president and editor-in-chief at Second Renaissance Books, a book publisher and distributor.

Schwartz edited two collections of essays by Ayn Rand: The Ayn Rand Column and Return of the Primitive: The Anti-Industrial Revolution , for which he was also a contributing author. He was also co-editor, with Marlene Podritske, of Objectively Speaking: Ayn Rand Interviewed. [2]

Published works

Lectures

Schwartz lectures on college campuses and at various conferences. He has been interviewed on radio and TV by such personalities as Geraldo Rivera and Thom Hartmann. His lectures include: [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ayn Rand</span> Russian-born American author and philosopher (1905–1982)

Alice O'Connor, better known by her pen name Ayn Rand, was a Russian-born American author and philosopher. She is known for her fiction and for developing a philosophical system she named Objectivism. Born and educated in Russia, she moved to the United States in 1926. After two early novels that were initially unsuccessful and two Broadway plays, Rand achieved fame with her 1943 novel The Fountainhead. In 1957, she published her best-selling work, the novel Atlas Shrugged. Afterward, until her death in 1982, she turned to non-fiction to promote her philosophy, publishing her own periodicals and releasing several collections of essays.

In ethical philosophy, ethical egoism is the normative position that moral agents ought to act in their own self-interest. It differs from psychological egoism, which claims that people can only act in their self-interest. Ethical egoism also differs from rational egoism, which holds that it is rational to act in one's self-interest. Ethical egoism holds, therefore, that actions whose consequences will benefit the doer are ethical.

Objectivism is a philosophical system named and developed by Russian-American writer and philosopher Ayn Rand. She described it as "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathaniel Branden</span> Canadian-American psychotherapist (1930–2014)

Nathaniel Branden was a Canadian–American psychotherapist and writer known for his work in the psychology of self-esteem. A former associate and romantic partner of Ayn Rand, Branden also played a prominent role in the 1960s in promoting Rand's philosophy, Objectivism. Rand and Branden split acrimoniously in 1968, after which Branden focused on developing his own psychological theories and modes of therapy.

The package-deal fallacy is the logical fallacy of assuming that things often grouped together by tradition or culture must always be grouped that way. False conjunction refers to misuse of the and operator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leonard Peikoff</span> Canadian-American philosopher (born 1933)

Leonard Sylvan Peikoff is a Canadian American philosopher. He is an Objectivist and was a close associate of Ayn Rand, who designated him heir to her estate. He is a former professor of philosophy and host of a nationally syndicated radio talk show. He co-founded the Ayn Rand Institute (ARI) in 1985 and is the author of several books on philosophy.

Libertarian perspectives on foreign intervention started as a reaction to the Cold War mentality of military interventionism promoted by American conservatives like William F. Buckley Jr. which had supplanted Old Right non-interventionism. The Vietnam War split the uneasy alliance between growing numbers of self-identified libertarians and the Cold War conservatives. Libertarians opposed to the war joined the draft resistance and peace movements and created organizations such as Students for a Democratic Society. The split was aggravated at the 1969 Young Americans for Freedom convention where the burning of a draft card sparked physical confrontations among convention attendees, a walkout by many libertarians, and the creation of antiwar libertarian organizations. Left-libertarians generally oppose foreign military intervention on anti-imperialist grounds, while right-libertarians also generally oppose foreign military intervention and generally oppose all government foreign aid as well. In the United States, the Libertarian Party opposes strategic alliances between the United States and foreign nations.

This is a bibliography for Ayn Rand and Objectivism. Objectivism is a philosophical system initially developed in the 20th century by Rand.

David Christopher Kelley is an American philosopher. He is a professed Objectivist, though his position that Objectivism can be revised and influenced by other schools of thought has prompted disagreements with other Objectivists. Kelley is also an author of several books on philosophy and the founder of The Atlas Society, an institution he established in 1990 after permanently dissociating with Leonard Peikoff and the Ayn Rand Institute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ayn Rand Institute</span> American-based non-profit organization

The Ayn Rand Institute: The Center for the Advancement of Objectivism, commonly known as the Ayn Rand Institute (ARI), is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit think tank in Santa Ana, California, that promotes Objectivism, the philosophy developed by Ayn Rand. The organization was established in 1985, three years after Rand's death, by businessman Ed Snider and Leonard Peikoff, Rand's legal heir.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Binswanger</span> American philosopher (born 1944)

Harry Binswanger is an American professor and author. He is an Objectivist and a board member of the Ayn Rand Institute. He was an associate of Ayn Rand, working with her on The Ayn Rand Lexicon and helping her edit the second edition of Rand's Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology. He is the author of How We Know: Epistemology on an Objectivist Foundation (2014).

The Objectivist movement is a movement of individuals who seek to study and advance Objectivism, the philosophy expounded by novelist-philosopher Ayn Rand. The movement began informally in the 1950s and consisted of students who were brought together by their mutual interest in Rand's novel, The Fountainhead. The group, ironically named "The Collective" due to their actual advocacy of individualism, in part consisted of Leonard Peikoff, Nathaniel Branden, Barbara Branden, Alan Greenspan, and Allan Blumenthal. Nathaniel Branden, a young Canadian student who had been greatly inspired by The Fountainhead, became a close confidant and encouraged Rand to expand her philosophy into a formal movement. From this informal beginning in Rand's living room, the movement expanded into a collection of think tanks, academic organizations, and periodicals.

Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism has been, and continues to be, a major influence on the right-libertarian movement, particularly libertarianism in the United States. Many right-libertarians justify their political views using aspects of Objectivism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yaron Brook</span> Israeli-American entrepreneur, activist

Yaron Brook is an Israeli-American entrepreneur, writer, and public intellectual. He is an Objectivist, a former finance professor at Santa Clara University, and the current chairman of the board at the Ayn Rand Institute, where he was executive director from 2000 to 2017. He is also the co-founder of BHZ Capital Management LP.

<i>The Virtue of Selfishness</i> 1964 book by Ayn Rand

The Virtue of Selfishness: A New Concept of Egoism is a 1964 collection of essays by the philosopher Ayn Rand and the writer Nathaniel Branden. Most of the essays originally appeared in The Objectivist Newsletter. The book covers ethical issues from the perspective of Rand's Objectivist philosophy. Some of its themes include the identification and validation of egoism as a rational code of ethics, the destructiveness of altruism, and the nature of a proper government.

Ayn Rand, author and developer of Objectivism, held controversial views regarding homosexuality and gender roles. Although Rand personally viewed homosexuality negatively, considering it immoral and disgusting, she endorsed non-discrimination protection for homosexuals in the public sphere while opposing laws against discrimination in the private sector on the basis of individual rights.

<i>Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal</i> 1966 book by Ayn Rand

Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal is a collection of essays, mostly by the philosopher Ayn Rand, with additional essays by her associates Nathaniel Branden, Alan Greenspan, and Robert Hessen. The authors focus on the moral nature of laissez-faire capitalism and private property. They have a very specific definition of capitalism, a system they regard as broader than simply property rights or free enterprise. It was originally published in 1966.

<i>For a New Liberty</i> 1973 book by Murray Rothbard

For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto is a book by American economist and historian Murray Rothbard, in which the author promotes anarcho-capitalism. The work has been credited as an influence on modern libertarian thought and on part of the New Right.

<i>The Passion of Ayn Rand</i> 1986 biography by Barbara Branden

The Passion of Ayn Rand is a biography of Ayn Rand by writer and lecturer Barbara Branden, a former friend and business associate. Published by Doubleday in 1986, it was the first full-length biography of Rand and the basis for the 1999 film of the same name starring Helen Mirren as Rand.

<i>The Psychology of Self-Esteem</i> Non-fiction book by Nathaniel Branden

The Psychology of Self-Esteem is a book by Nathaniel Branden, first published in 1969. It explains Branden's theories of human psychology, focusing on the role of self-esteem. Most of the book was written during Branden's association with Ayn Rand, and it reflects some of her philosophical ideas. The book's success helped to popularize the idea of self-esteem as an important element of self-improvement.

References

  1. "Experts: Peter Schwartz". Ayn Rand Institute. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Books". PeterSchwartz.com. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
  3. "Other Writings". PeterSchwartz.com. 4 November 2013. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
  4. "Talks". 4 November 2013.