The Objective Standard: Summer 2014, Vol. 9, No. 2

by Craig Biddle, Craig Biddle, Ari Armstrong

The Summer 2014 edition of The Objective Standard features:

Getting Lincoln Right
By Alexander V. Marriott
Addresses various claims of Lincoln-bashing libertarians and conservatives; presents crucial and oft-ignored facts about Lincoln, about the Founders he revered, about the state of the Union during his time, and about the Civil War; and provides the context necessary to judge Lincoln and his actions objectively.

Purpose, Value Hierarchies, and Happiness
By Craig Biddle
Zeros in on the nature and importance of purpose in good living, discusses how to organize and prioritize your values and goals with respect to their relative importance to your life and happiness, and offers tips and standing orders for making your life the best it can be.

Timothy Sandefur on the Conscience of the Constitution
Interviewed by Ari Armstrong
Discusses the essential purpose of the Constitution, the crucial role of the principles set forth in the Declaration of Independence in understanding that purpose, and related matters.

The issue also features reviews of Seven Pleasures, by Willard Spiegelman; and So Good They Can’t Ignore You, by Cal Newport (reviewed by Daniel Wahl), in addition to articles from TOS Blog.

The Objective Standard is a quarterly journal of culture and politics written from an Objectivist perspective (Objectivism being Ayn Rand’s philosophy of reason, egoism, and laissez-faire capitalism). The journal is based on the idea that for every human concern—from personal matters to foreign policy, from the sciences to the arts, from education to legislation—there are demonstrably objective standards by reference to which we can assess what is true or false, good or bad, right or wrong. The purpose of the journal is to analyze and evaluate ideas, trends, events, and policies accordingly.

We maintain that the standards of both knowledge and value derive from the facts of reality; that truth is discovered only by means of reason (i.e., through observation and logic); that the factual requirements of man’s life on earth determine his moral values; that the selfish pursuit of one’s own life-serving goals is virtuous; and that individual rights are moral principles defining the fundamental requirements of a civilized society.

We stand opposed to the notion that the standards of knowledge and value are not factual but subjective (feeling-based) or other-worldly (faith-based); that truth is ultimately dictated by majority opinion or a “supernatural” being’s will; that democratic consensus or “God’s word” determines what is moral; that sacrifice for “the common good” or in obedience to “God’s commands” is virtuous; and that rights are social conventions or “divine decrees.”

In stark contrast to these philosophic approaches, ours is a philosophy of reality, reason, egoism, and laissez-faire capitalism.

186 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 4, 2014

About the author

Craig Biddle writes and lectures on philosophical and political issues from an Objectivist perspective, Objectivism being the philosophy created by Ayn Rand. Craig also edits The Objective Standard, a quarterly journal of culture and politics. His first book, Loving Life: The Morality of Self-Interest and the Facts that Support It, is a highly concretized, systematic introduction to Ayn Rand's ethics.

The book in progress is an introduction to the principles of good thinking and the fallacies that are violations of those principles. He has lectured and taught seminars at universities across the country, including Stanford, Duke, Tufts, UVA, UCLA, UM–Wisconsin, and NYU. Also lecture regularly at Objectivist conferences.

For a brief elaboration on the nature of Objectivism, see my essay “Introducing The Objective Standard” or Leonard Peikoff’s essay “The Philosophy of Objectivism: A Brief Summary.” To learn more about the philosophy, I suggest beginning with Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged.