The author assures readers that Chris Matthew Sciabarra has met all Aristotelian requirements in full, providing not one but two definitions of “dialectics,” which, as the art of context-keeping, is indeed an essential part of Ayn Rand's philosophical method. He shows how Sciabarra's definitional process compares quite favorably in terms of timeliness, transparency, and benevolence to that of Rand and other Objectivists, and notes that Sciabarra's overriding concern, notwithstanding his obvious great respect for Rand's substantive philosophical achievements, has been to (...) identify and clarify the methods she and other thinkers have used to profound benefit. (shrink)

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. (shrink)

Sciabarra responds to critics of the second edition of his book, Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical: Wendy McElroy, who reviewed the book for The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies (July 2015), and Shoshana Milgram and Gregory Salmieri, whose most recent criticisms appear in A Companion to Ayn Rand (2016). Sciabarra defends both his historical and methodological theses, situating the book within a trilogy of works that define and defend “dialectical libertarianism,” which eschews utopian thinking and embraces a fully radical mode (...) of inquiry. Sciabarra argues that dialectics—the art of context-keeping—figures prominently throughout Rand's literary and philosophical corpus. (shrink)