Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Objectivist Roundup

Welcome to the latest Objectivist Roundup, hosted by me for the very first time! For those that are unfamiliar, this is what is known as a Blog Carnival, where links to various blog posts are compiled into one place for the easy viewing of those with a particular interest. The Objectivist carnival consists of people who follow Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism, a philosophy for living on earth.

Concisely, Ayn Rand's philosophy holds that existence exists independent of anyone and anything's consciousness or wishes (metaphysics), that man's reasoning mind is his mode of gaining knowledge (epistemology), that the good in life is that which enables one to achieve rational life-serving values (ethics), and that men should live together in society by respecting individual rights (politics). A lexicon can be found here.

A quick note of caution: It is not always the case that these authors may be entirely consistent with Objectivism, so don't consider them (or me) as representative. The only absolutely accurate representation of Objectivism can be given by Ayn Rand, so check out the works she personally authored for definitive accuracy.

Onto the carnival!:

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Kelly McNulty Valenzuela presents OCON on the Cheap posted at Rant from the Rock.

Peter Cresswell presents Pragmatism & Mr Nixon: The Car Crash that was Watergate posted at Not PC. He states: "A pragmatic New Zealand Prime Minister (John Key) who announced his affliction over the weekend gave me the opportunity to introduce Rand's and Peikoff's writing on Pragmatism to around 2000 readers, in three related articles. Here are all the three related pieces, in order: 1. 'Pragmatism & Mr Key' http://pc.blogspot.com/2010/07/pragmatism.html 2. 'QUOTE[S] OF THE DAY: Pragmatism' http://pc.blogspot.com/2010/07/quotes-of-day-pragmatism.html 3. 'Pragmatism & Mr Nixon: The Car Crash that was Watergate' http://pc.blogspot.com/2010/07/pragmatism-mr-nixon-car-crash-that-was.html"

Jane Eisenhart presents The Metrics posted at Hometown Grotesque. She states: "This entry focuses on height versus length as the most robust statistic for determining size of life, using Howard Roark from The Fountainhead as inspiration."

Tod presents Why I Hate Las Vegas posted at Tod.FM. He states: "You might wonder how an Objectivist could hate a place where people have freedoms they don’t have elsewhere..."

Jared Rhoads presents Meet the Recipients posted at The Lucidicus Project. He states: "We didn't post any new editorials this week, but I want to draw attention to this month's kit recipients. Based on a comment from someone who reads our editorials, I realized that not everyone knows that we also give out kits to med students. In fact, that's our primary purpose! For each recipient, we post a brief profile for everyone to read. Here's the link."

Diana Hsieh presents The Cult of Busy posted at NoodleFood. She states: " You're not 'too busy': you're just not willing to devote the time. And that might be okay."

Kelly Elmore presents Thoughts on the Hierarchy of Knowledge posted at Reepicheep's Coracle. She states: "This post is an exploration of the hierarchy of knowledge and a very few of its implications for education."

Kelly Elmore presents The Mistaken Goal Chart: The Swiss Army Knife of Parenting posted at Reepicheep's Coracle. She states: " This post introduces a positive discipline tool for parents who want to figure out the underlying causes of a child's behavior. "

Zip presents Applying Equity, Equally posted at UNCOMMON SENSE. He states: "You can have equality based on merit or you can ignore merit and satisfy physical, gender or racially based criteria. But you can not consistently claim to do both. "

Zip presents Being Dog Walked to the Ultimate Inversion posted at UNCOMMON SENSE. He states: " McGuinty and all those who think like him would have us behave like dogs on a chain, with the great hand of government holding the other end, ready to haul us up short should we happen to stray off their preferred path."

Ari Armstrong presents Hazlitt and Bastiat Answer Today's Economic Fantasies posted at Free Colorado. He states: " As Henry Hazlitt and Frederic Bastiat show, forcibly transferring wealth does NOT 'stimulate the economy' or 'create jobs.'"

John Drake presents James P. Hogan - Rest in Peace posted at Try Reason!. He states: " Recently, sci-fi author James Hogan passed away. His novels, a blend of hard science fiction and cultural commentary, display a respect for facts, a disdain for mysticism, and good old-fashioned heroism. This is my tribute to him."

Kelly McNulty Valenzuela presents Mexican Immigrants: Assimilation and Jobs posted at Mother of Exiles.

Paul Hsieh presents PJM OpEd: Berwick, Gun Control, and Paternalism posted at We Stand FIRM. He states: "My latest OpEd at PajamasMedia discussed the underlying similarities between the 'gun control' statists and the "health control" statists. This one got a nice Instapundit link!"

Amy Mossoff presents A Little Thing posted at The Little Things. She states: "My blog is filled with Little Things like this one."

Jenn Casey and Kelly Elmore presents Podcast #9: Positive Discipline Tool Cards posted at Cultivating the Virtues. They state: "In this podcast, we discuss how Jenn handled a potty regression, the Positive Discipline Tool Cards, and the difference between natural and logical consequences."

Mike LaFerrara presents OBushonomics vs. Gilliganomics posted at Principled Perspectives. He states: "A growing number of economists are calling, incredibly, for more government 'stimulus'. They could learn a basic thing or two from an old sit-com, Gilligan's Island."

Peter Cresswell presents QUIZ: Test your economic knowledge posted at Not PC. He states: "Try this provocative economics quiz. Just thinking about the answers could make you ten points smarter--or at least less ignorant about some common economic misconceptions."

Doug Reich presents Britain Runs Out of Health Care, but Walmart Doesn't Run Out of Shampoo posted at The Rational Capitalist. He states: "After over 50 years of disastrous socialized medicine, Britain begins to realize what anyone who has bought a Big Mac could have told them."

Edward Cline presents A Whiff of Perfume posted at The Rule of Reason. He states: "As a break from the compelling and often impetuous need to speak out on pressing issues, I offer here an excerpt from a novel that has nothing to do with current events. It is the first of two detective novels I completed before beginning work on Sparrowhawk."

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Thank you for reading this week's Roundup. Next week the carnival will be hosted at Reepicheep's Coracle .

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