Once we put aside the emotionalism, it becomes apparent that there is no rational or moral basis for banning human cloning.
Harry Binswanger
Dr. Binswanger, a longtime associate of Ayn Rand, is an professor of philosophy at the Objectivist Academic Center of the Ayn Rand Institute. He is the author of How We Know: Epistemology on an Objectivist Foundation and is the creator of The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism from A to Z.Dr. Binswanger blogs at HBLetter.com (HBL)--an email list for Objectivists for discussing philosophic and cultural issues. A free trial is available at: HBLetter.com.
Rush Limbaugh’s “Offended” Critics are Wrong
You probably have heard about Rush Limbaugh having to resign from ESPN for having made an allegedly racist remark on the air. Limbaugh's remark was about black quarterback Donovan McNabb. Here is what is up on the CNN website: "Before McNabb led the Philadelphia...
Howard Dean’s Proposal for Economic Regress
Last month, the WSJ had an opinion piece written by Howard Dean, the Democrat presidential contender. One paragraph exhibited the fundamental fallacy of bad economics: the belief that consumption, not production, is the key to wealth. "As president, my economic...
Jimmy Carter and North Korea
This disgraceful moral treason by Carter is, among other things, the Marxist notion that ideology and politics is determined by “the mode of production.”
Treason, by Ann Coulter
Treason, by Ann Coulter, is a book of great value and great danger. For Objectivists, who are immune to its horrendous philosophical claims, its integration of the political events of the last 50 years will be of great value. But the excellence of those very points...
What Will They Think?
The discussion of how we set up a new government in Iraq has been dominated, as has so much during this war, with the question: what will THEY think? "We can't let it look like the new government is our puppet," say the commentators. Why not? It should be our puppet....
Grasping the Essence of the Republican Victory: A Philosopher Analyzes the 2002 Elections
The election results were good. The outcome was, in all modesty, what I had expected for a year: Republican control of the Congress. I expected this because of 9/11, and that is in fact the explanation of the outcome. I agree with those commentators who say that the...
Greenspan on “Infectious Greed”
[Previously], I wrote: "Those on the moral code of altruism have to view all businessmen as guilty, guilty by nature, since their life's work is to seek selfish gain. The current legislative frenzy is just the latest manifestation of the altruist premise: the attempt...
The Anti-Capitalist Offensive
At the same time that John Walker Lindh is allowed to cop a plea, getting who knows how few years in prison, the media and a segment of the public are demanding to get the heads on a platter (the phrase actually used) of a number of CEOs of business firms who have yet...
Concession to the Environmentalists’ Premise Killed the ANWR Drilling Program
The Senate has just voted against opening up the Alaska ANWR site for drilling. Technically, what happened is that the Republicans were unable to vote to end the Democrats' filibuster against the drilling, but the news services agree that since the Republicans were...
Philosophy and Journalism: Intrinsicism in Reporting
The smartertimes.com [December 20, 2001] makes an interesting point which bears philosophical analysis. Smartertimes.com catches the New York Times labeling conservative groups, such as The Heritage Foundation, as being conservative, while liberal groups, such as...
Value Judgments, Ideology, and Writing Editorials
There's an interesting methodological difference between Ayn Rand Institute (ARI) op-eds and the usual ones you read by non-Objectivists (and boy, there sure are a lot of non-Objectivists around, aren't there?). I can best illustrate the difference by a kind of...
Immoral to Ban Human Cloning
The actual opposition to human cloning springs from something primordial, the fear of the unknown, the fear captured in the catch-phrase: “We can’t play God.” But why can’t we? We can and we must.
Immoral to Ban Human Cloning
Stem-cell research holds the promise of major breakthroughs in saving actual human lives–yours and mine.
A Double Standard at CNN
Pardon me for taking this opportunity to vent my anger.
Best Novel of the 20th Century: Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged or James Joyce’s Ulysses?
What is the best English-language novel of the 20th century? One of these novels is a stylistic masterpiece, and the other is trash. The fighting is over which is which.
A Tale of Two Novels: Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged vs James Joyce’s Ulysses
It is not really fair to ask if Ulysses holds similar meaning for the Platonists, because the book is practically impossible to read — the reason for its snob appeal. Ulysses recalls the saying, “We muddy the waters to make them appear deep.”
“Buy American” Is Un-American
Government interference with free trade is un-American. Sacrificing one’s standard of living in order to subsidize inefficient domestic producers is un-American. The tribal fear of foreigners is un-American. Resentment at others’ success is un-American. A patriotic American acts as a capitalist and an individualist: he buys the best, wherever it may be found.
What is Objective Law?
An objectively derived law is one stemming not from the whim of legislators or bureaucrats but from a rational application of the principle of individual rights.
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