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Peter Schwartz

Goodreads Author

Website

http://www.PeterSchwartz.com

Twitter

PSchwartzIDS

Genre

Nonfiction, Philosophy

Influences

Ayn Rand

Member Since

October 2014

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/goodreadscompeterschwartz

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Peter Schwartz is the author of the book In Defense of Selfishness: Why the Code of Self-Sacrifice Is Unjust and Destructive (Palgrave Macmillan, June 2015).

He's a former Chairman of the Board, and currently a Distinguished Fellow, of the Ayn Rand Institute in Irvine, CA. He writes and lectures extensively on topics ranging from ethics and political philosophy to environmentalism and multiculturalism. He's been frequently interviewed on radio and TV, by such personalities as Geraldo Rivera and Thom Hartmann.

Other books he's written: The Foreign Policy of Self-Interest: A Moral Ideal for America (ARI Press), Libertarianism: The Perversion of Liberty (ARI Press) and The Battle for Laissez-Faire Capitalism (Intellectual Activist).

He was the ...more

82 posts
Peter Schwartz's Blog

The Nature of Fundamentals

Our culture seems incapable of thinking in fundamentals. It is infested with the creed of Pragmatism—the creed which holds that generalizations are “simplistic” because what seems true today may not be true tomorrow, because no two situations are ever the same, because judgments can be made only on an ad hoc, case-by-case basis. Consider the following example.

The American Enterprise Institute, a

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Peter Schwartz’s books

Average rating: 4.06 · 439 ratings · 58 reviews · 7 distinct works • Similar authors

	Return of the Primitive: The Anti-Industrial Revolution by Ayn Rand, Bernadette Dunne (Narrator), Peter Schwartz (Goodreads Author) 4.15 avg rating — 792 ratings — published 1971 — 16 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Art of Nonfiction: A Guide for Writers and Readers: A Guide for Writers and Readers by Ayn Rand, Marguerite Gavin, Peter Schwartz (Goodreads Author) (Introduction) 3.98 avg rating — 537 ratings — published 2001 — 21 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	In Defense of Selfishness: Why the Code of Self-Sacrifice is Unjust and Destructive 3.85 avg rating — 215 ratings — published 2015 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Ayn Rand Column by Ayn Rand, Peter Schwartz (Goodreads Author) (Editor) 4.31 avg rating — 119 ratings — published 2015 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Objectively Speaking: Ayn Rand Interviewed by Marlene Podritske (Editor), Peter Schwartz (Goodreads Author) (Editor) 4.12 avg rating — 41 ratings — published 2009 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Foreign Policy of Self-Interest: A Moral Ideal for America 4.17 avg rating — 23 ratings — published 2004 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Battle for Laissez-Faire Capitalism 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Peter Schwartz wrote a new blog post The Nature of Fundamentals Our culture seems incapable of thinking in fundamentals. It is infested with the creed of Pragmatism—the creed which holds that generalizations are “s Read more of this blog post »
May 14, 2025 03:15AM · 1 like · like

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Quotes by Peter Schwartz (?)

“What altruism demands is the payment of a debt—an unchosen moral debt you owe to others.”
― Peter Schwartz, In Defense of Selfishness: Why the Code of Self-Sacrifice is Unjust and Destructive

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“If people believe they have unmet needs, you are legally required to meet them. You may not insist that a person’s actual interests are not advanced by irrational means—by coercion, by fraud, by injustice. You may not tell the needy that what they truly need is the opposite: a system in which individual rights are respected, force and deception are outlawed and justice is upheld. You may not admonish them to live off their own efforts rather than mooch off the work of others. You may not tell them they are harming themselves by seeking the unearned. If they believe they are entitled to your sacrifices, it is selfish of you to value your judgment over theirs.”
― Peter Schwartz, In Defense of Selfishness: Why the Code of Self-Sacrifice is Unjust and Destructive

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