Dennis Hardin

Understanding Objectivism was Leonard Peikoff’s first major teaching endeavor following Ayn Rand’s death in 1982. Like Nathaniel Branden’s 1971 book The Disowned Self—written after his break with Rand— the lectures addressed complaints reported by students of the philosophy, subject matter Rand may not have approved. Peikoff faults the common mistake of looking at Objectivism through the lens of traditional philosophy. He clarifies the distinct nature of objective methodology and shows how traditional philosophy is hostage to the pernicious mind-body dichotomy. Despite Peikoff’s gracious display of empathy, the promise of a more benign nascent Objectivist vanguard was short-lived.

ABSTRACT David Hume’s attacks on causality and induction along with his celebrated is-ought dichotomy dealt a blow to the human mind from which Western civilization has never fully recovered. Centuries after his death, Hume remains immensely popular among academic philosophers, which only bolsters the myth that his skeptical arguments are unanswerable. In fact, his arguments are seriously flawed. The first part of this paper clarifies the basics of Hume’s philosophy, focusing on the epistemology in the Treatise and Enquiry. The second part exposes the mistaken premises and assumptions in Hume’s arguments, demonstrating how Objectivism redeems the validity of human knowledge.

Leonard Peikoff’s “DIM Hypothesis” demonstrates that man’s cognitive need for integration is important historically. It reflects the motive power of philosophy, of man’s need to understand the world. But Peikoff’s theory lacks predictive power for America’s future. Today’s knowledge-based economy enables the average person to enjoy enhanced cognitive control over his life. Technology has transformed the American work experience in ways that teach one crucial connection: between the productive use of the mind (i.e., thinking, judgment) and human survival. This emerging cognitive self-confidence mitigates the philosophical void left by cultural nihilism and creates an intellectual barrier to authoritarianism.

In 1958, Nathaniel Branden founded what would become the Nathaniel Branden Institute and launched the Objectivist movement through a course of twenty lectures he called “The Basic Principles of Objectivism.” In 2009, that lecture series became a book and an important historical record. This review captures the essence of those lectures while also taking a close look at Branden’s philosophical odyssey. It attempts to recount whether and how far the man whom Ayn Rand saw as the living image of John Galt distanced himself from the guidance he had once given in the years after NBI closed its doors forever.