References and Links
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Links are arranged topically:
Also see the MonoRealism & Objectivism page for a link into "The Objectivism WebRing", an extensive web ring of objectivism-related sites from a wide variety of perspectives.
The Ayn Rand Institute: The Ayn Rand Institute is the official "center for the advancement of Objectivism, Ayn Rand's philosophy of reason, egoism, individualism, and laissez-faire capitalism." Highly recommended.
The Ayn Rand Institute's MediaLink site has a range of articles on current affairs from an Objectivist perspective. So if you are interested in the application of Objectivist philosophy to particular problems and issues, it is a good place to look.
The Intellectual Activist: Web page of The Intellectual Activist, "a monthly magazine analysing current political, cultural and philosophic issues from a pro-reason, pro-individualist perspective." You can subscribe to both "TIA Daily", a daily commentary on the news as it happens, and their monthly print journal, which has a longer-term analysis, and buy other related items such as back-issues and recommended art.
The Objective Standard, launched in 2006, is "is a quarterly journal of culture and politics 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." Like The Intellectual Activist, I highly recommend TOS for the quality of its writing and thinking. See for example this introductory essay summarising the philosophy behind the site.
A Philosophy of Reason is dedicated to publishing works that explore philosophical issues that equip men to live according to reason. Particular subjects of interest are the philosophy of Objectivism and its applications, Aristotle, the relationship between philosophy and human life, and new discoveries in rational philosophy. APOR publishes articles, Q&As, and quotes, as well as offering guidance and recommendations for further study. The featured material covers a broad range of philosophical subjects, with the form of presentation aiming to be objective, analytical, and comprehensible. Style and tone is customarily formal. APOR hopes to provide a valuable resource for people to whom rational philosophy is a serious concern, including academics and non-academics alike, and plans to steadily expand the quantity, range and depth of its material.
The Center for the Advancement of Capitalism is devoted to the moral defence and advancement of capitalism, using philosophic arguments for individualism and freedom by focusing on the contemporary political questions of the day, and providing the means for like-minded individuals to do the same.CAC is not just a think tank, but is a activist group leveraging grassroots supporters to advance their overall arguments.It provides numerous resources and daily comment on current events.
Objectivism Study Group: This is the home page of OSG, a discussion group run by long-time Objectivist Bob Stubblefield. If you want to learn more about Objectivism by discussion with Objectivists, try it out. It costs money to join, but there is a free one-month trial period. Be warned: you don't have to be an Objectivist, but only people who are interested in learning about Objectivism are welcome. If you want to push some other barrow, forget it. And anyone the owner decides is a "pseudo-Objectivist" will be booted out. Recommended if it suits your needs, but walk softly! Click here for an article on tolerance prompted by my personal experience in OSG.
Prodos: Prodos Marinakis believes in philosophy for the active minded, and he certainly fits the bill himself. His site covers entertainment, arts, the Ayn Rand Club of Australia (ARCOZ), IRC, and philosophical activism for the advocation of individual rights, capitalism and rational values. Not to mention film study groups and his own successful radio show which has been running for years in Melbourne, Australia, and features interviews with Objectivist intellectuals and related topics.
Prodos also runs the American Ideals moderated e-mail list for discussion of anything related to the ideals behind the founding of the USA, and related philosophical issues. Open to everyone who supports such ideals, not just Objectivists.
Cybernet, by Betsy Speicher, provides monthly updates on the web or via e-mail on Objectivist news, events (local, national and international), publications, activism and related items of interest such as relevant TV shows and the "You'll know Objectivism is winning when..." section. Good for a monthly dose of information and encouragement. Cybernet also has extensive useful links, to Objectivism in general, Objectivist campus clubs and community clubs.
NationWeb has community resources in several countries and other information on Objectivism.
The Objectivism Reference Center provides resources for people seeking information about Ayn Rand and her ideas.
What is Objectivism? This is "a primer for beginners" by Francois Tremblay, in an "attempt to disseminate Objectivism at large with simple explanations." Aimed especially at people new to philosophy in general or Objectivism in particular. Numerous links.
Diana Mertz Hsieh has a web site with numerous articles and a blog on philosophical issues from an Objectivist (Kelleyite) perspective
The Daily Objectivist: A well-presented e-zine with lots of news and links to "alternative" objectivist sites, and pro-freedom sites in general.
The Objectivism WWW Service: An extensive site with lots of links to web pages, articles, and forums. Note that a number of its links are to people rather vehemently opposed to "core" Objectivism such as Branden and Bidinotto. These people are frowned upon by "core" Objectivists, and I must say that though both Branden and Bidinotto come out with some useful stuff, overall I'm not that impressed (in my opinion, often their facts are distorted and their reasoning is faulty, for example [for an analysis and refutation of Branden's criticisms of Ayn Rand, see the book by James Valliant entitled "The Passion of Ayn Rand's Critics." Take it all with a grain of salt: as with everything, use your own judgment.
Dr Ellen Kenner's speciality is the rational basis of happiness, on which she has a popular call-in radio show. Her show and site cover many issues such as parenting, romance, friendship, career, family, obstacles to happiness and many more.
Dr Michael Hurd is another radio-show Objectivist psychologist and author whose website includes articles, essays and information on his publications, radio show etc. Features the "Daily Dose of Reason" consisting of pithy commentary on current affairs and psychological questions.
Letters to My Suicidal Daughter: a mother's thoughts, correspondence and analysis of her teenage daughter's attempted suicide. The article gives some philosophical analysis and insights into the problems of teenage suicide, dealing with "difficult" teenagers, and the importance of living in reality and valuing your own life.
Susan Crawford started the Rational Parenting List, a moderated email discussion group that includes discussion of parenting issues, answers to questions, book recommendations for parents and children, and childrens' movie recommendations. Click here to receive a free trial membership.
Also see Dr Ellen Kenner's show, described above.
Interested in alternatives to flavour-of-the-century socialism? Or are you a health professional who realises that government control of medicine is counter-productive and a violation of your and your patients' rights? Americans for Free Choice in Medicine are dedicated to free-market alternatives to socialised medicine.
Capitalism Magazine is a free online web-zine devoted to Capitalism and the moral principles which make it possible.
Objective Science promotes a rational, reality based foundation for the sciences.
The Astronomical Society of the Pacific has brief discussions and extensive links to web sites and books on skeptical analyses of a wide variety of astronomical pseudo-science, from creationism to UFOs.
If you are interested in creationism/ID/intelligent design, Talk Origins has a remarkably thorough site addressing just about every creationist/ID claim. The brevity of most of the answers is balanced by references supplied for further investigation. If you need ammunition against creationists or want to evaluate their claims, this is a good starting (and often, stopping) place.
Skeptics are not Objectivists and indeed, can be its enemies. However they share with Objectivists a concern for the truth and a generally rigorous opposition to pseudo-science and unjustified beliefs, and are a useful resource for that purpose.
The Skeptic's Dictionary is "a collection of strange beliefs, amusing deceptions and dangerous delusions (and how to think critically about them)." It contained 443 entries when this link was inserted, covering a broad sweep from alien abductions to zombies. It is not restricted to the nonsensical, including entries on general terms of interest (such as "anomaly") as well.
Winning Credibility: This book is a practical “how-to” guide for overcoming the hurdles that entrepreneurs face when starting and growing a business.
Sam's Ideological Web Page on Human Freedom and the Laissez-Faire Republic. "This webpage is dedicated to the principles of individual human rights, private property, free markets and limited constitutional government". It has numerous selected links to freedom-oriented sites including Objectivism, Libertarianism, free-market economics, and much more. He as also compiled a list of links to some of the key Anglo-American antecedents in the struggle of private rights & freedoms through constitutionally limited government, from Magna Carta to the U.S. Bill of Rights.
The Independent Institute has a wide-ranging program to study political reform. Their platform: "In order to fully understand the nature of public issues and possible solutions, the Institute's program adheres to the highest standards of independent scholarly inquiry. The Institute's program is pursued to rigorous standards without regard to any political or social biases." This site has many parts, many publications, and many links to information and sites of interest to people interested in economic and political reform, from a scholarly rather than purely philosophical angle.
Associated with the Independent Institute is The Independent Review, a Journal of Political Economy.
LibertyTree, a source of many books related to individual rights, politics and economics, have a wide-ranging Liberty Links page with links to other Web sites that also deal with the concepts of personal liberties, free markets, government reform, and limited government.
The New Australian is a web "newspaper" supporting freedom, individual rights and limited government. It is somewhat philosophically mixed but a useful site for pro-freedom polemics and links to sympathetic groups.
Ayn Rand Bookstore (formerly Second Renaissance Books): If you're interested in "ideas for the rational mind", then SRB is an excellent source of mail-order books (see below for more details). They also run high-quality Objectivist conferences.
Capitalist Toys: Capitalist caps and other pro-capitalist goods. This site "promotes and glorifies Capitalism and asserts the moral high ground of individual self interest. Practice Capitalism - and enjoy YOUR life."
LibertyTree sells a wide range of books related to political and economic reform and individual rights.
The MonoRealism site is an associated site of Alibris, "the ultimate source for used, rare, and hard-to-find books."
ART: American Renaissance for the Twenty-first Century (ART) is an organisation devoted to promoting beauty, meaning and excellence in all the arts - as opposed to the worship of the ugly, mindless and incompetent that characterises the modern art establishment. ART''s activities include a quarterly magazine, ART Ideas; art exhibits, perfomances and readings; grants; education; and other activities to promote art as "a celebration of the world at its most beautiful and man and woman at their best."
Romantic Realism Fine Art is an online gallery of Romantic Realism art with articles on the subject and links to compatible sites (Photo: Birth from the Heart by Martine Vaugel (bronze)).
Check out Quent Cordair Fine Art if you want to buy some value-based art, "the finest in contemporary Romantic Realism".
Van Oostrom Fine Art is another source of Romantic Realist art. You can also subscribe to a newsletter with information on the latest additions to the gallery, items for sale and up-to-date news.
Art Renewal is dedicated to real art, with a firm and uncompromising stand against Modernism - and has been recommended as "a WONDERFUL web site to browse, with tons of high quality images! I registered as a dues paying member after two minutes." You can custom print an incredible quality poster on demand from any one of the planned 50,000 images on their site. Your purchase will help keep this major cultural resource available to the world free of charge.
We also recommend AllPosters.com as another online source of posters of all kinds including art of all kinds:
(You can also earn commissions by becoming an affiliate of AllPosters.com. Click on this link to find out more:
Stephen's Guide to the Logical Fallacies: a handy reference describing deductive and inductive fallacies, with examples and explanations. Good for a mental tune-up.
Bjorn's Guide To Philosophy: A good general site on philosophy, with links and information on a host of different philosophers (including Ayn Rand). A professional-looking site.
Philosophical Humour: If you like a good laugh at philosophers' expense, check out this extensive philosophical humour site compiled by David Chalmers. If you never thought philosophy could be funny, you're in for a pleasant surprise. Includes such gems as a definition of a Utilitarian as "one who believes that the morally right action is the one with the best consequences, so far as the distribution of happiness is concerned; a creature generally believed to be endowed with the propensity to ignore their own drowning children in order to push buttons which will cause mild sexual gratification in a warehouse full of rabbits."
Life's Insights - Your Verse in the Book of Life - What verse would YOU add to the book of life? This site lets you share your insight into what is truly important in life and browse the contributions of others. Find compatible thinkers, challenge your own ideas, or put your finger on the pulse of how people are thinking.
Jason Rudd is an author in philosophy. His first book, The Self: An Ontological Study of Psychology, is an attempt to create a philosophical system based on human occupation (activity), applying these principles to philosophical topics such as free will vs. determinism, the problem of meaning, ethics and personal identity.
Bill Birdsall is an "unaligned" reality-based thinker and inventor living in the wilds of Puerto Rico, with some interesting writings including essays such as "The Nature of Information", "Mind and Mega-mind" and "In Search of Reality".
Rafe Champion is interested in philosophy and science, particularly the work from the Austrian school, Karl Popper, F A Hayek and William Bartley. He is also interested in scepticism and the promotion of critical and imaginative thinking. This site has numerous articles on these topics.
Mind Matters Review has a wide range of articles on many topics related to religion, politics, language, and economics. It was begun "in 1989 with the intention of exploring the gap between the theory of mind and actual practice where our basic social institutions of government, economics, education, media, religion and mental health are rooted in uncritical beliefs about the role of mind in how individuals and society perceive reality."
MIT Open Courseware is not given here as a philosophical resource, but as a learning resource: it has online courses on a large range of topics from aeronautics to writing. It describes itself as "a free and open educational resource for faculty, students, and self-learners around the world. OCW supports MIT's mission to advance knowledge and education, and serve the world in the 21st century. It is true to MIT's values of excellence, innovation, and leadership."
Zonpower: Hey, I like Monty Python: so how could I resist a link to Zonpower? This is Objectivism on LSD, and must be seen to be believed. Zon is aiming for a Civilization of the Universe and they're already pretty much off the planet already. Amazing stuff. (The Zonpower information seems to be gone but Neo-Tech remains.)
For the most famous reference encyclopedia and the latest in current affairs, what beats Encycopedia Britannica (whose editors "have selected this site as one of the best on the Internet when reviewed for quality, accuracy of content, presentation and usability")?
And if you want to do some more exploring on your own through the eternally changing Web, why not try the Keoz8.com - Society Vertical Portal or Starting Point:
Search for:
Yes, analog Information Technology in non-virtual reality (gasp!).
A source of relevant books that I highly recommend is the Ayn Rand Bookstore (formerly Second Renaissance Books). They carry books on practically everything related to rational philosophy, both theoretical and practical: including philosophy from introductory to advanced, history, economics, fiction, art and science.
All the books below (and quoted elsewhere in this web site) can be obtained from the Ayn Rand Bookstore or from our own bookstore (powered by Amazon books). Some, such as Ayn Rand's novels, can also be obtained easily from general bookstores.
Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand. Her masterpiece. Not a dry philosophy tome, but an exciting novel with science fiction elements. A long novel, but worth it: overall the best book I have ever read. If you want the ideas of Rand's philosophies illustrated, dramatised and concretised, start here. Rand's view of art was that it should show what men and life can and ought to be: and this novel is an excellent illustration of that view.
The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand. Her other major novel, focussing on the self-sufficient, self-motivated creators vs those who live through others. Well worth a read, but Atlas Shrugged is more centrally grounded in her philosophy. When I first read The Fountainhead, I thought its characters were rather weird, but the untouchably self-powered Howard Roark especially has grown on me with time.
Anthem, by Ayn Rand. A much shorter novel, very lyrical in style. A much easier read than Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, but you'll get less philosophy out of it.
We the Living, by Ayn Rand. A gripping and passionate novel set in early Soviet Russia illustrating the difference between those who want to live life, and those who kill it. Sad but compelling.
Philosophy: Who Needs It, by Ayn Rand. A collection of essays by Rand (and some others) that is a good sampler of her philosophy. This was the first Rand book I ever read, and I found it compelling reading. A real eye-opener, and highly recommended if you aren't an Objectivist: like it or hate it, it will challenge your beliefs to the root.
On Ayn Rand by Allan Gotthelf is a short (100 pages), essentialised presentation of Objectivism, covering all its key elements. Part of a newly published series on major philosophers.
Beyond that, browse through the catalog of Ayn Rand Bookstore. I'd recommend any of Rand's other non-fiction of course, but the other choices are too numerous to mention.
Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand, by Leonard Peikoff. An excellent summary of the philosophy from an academic viewpoint. This is a systematic treatment that starts from the beginning and develops things in their logical sequence, covering everything from metaphysics to aesthetics, from epistemology to sex. Good stuff.
Economics is of interest to objectivists because Objectivism's aims are so contrary to conventional wisdom on the subject -- such as the supposed economic benefits of government intervention. There are lots of books to choose from here, from general to specialist, from economic theory to specific examples such as the supposed "robber barons" of the 19th century. For sheer readability and intellectual ammunition for the layman in today's statist economies, I'd recommend Henry Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson, The Failure of the New Economics: An Analysis of the Keynesian Fallacies, and The Conquest of Poverty. Another very good book is The State of Humanity, edited by J.L. Simon: it contains a wealth of easily-digested facts that show the benefits of industrialism and technology to human life.
A recent book which I strongly recommend for its readable style and wealth of concrete examples on the difference between those who create wealth and those who merely want to take it is Makers and Takers by Edmund Contoski. It takes aim at all sorts of government interference including environmentalism, taxation, safety regulations and so on and shows how they spring from an "invader" mentality which sees wealth as a static quantity to be seized - and which are at best inferior to the actions of free people, and at worst (and usually) actually counterproductive to their own stated aims.
Finally, The Skeptical Environmentalist by Bjorn Lomberg is an excellent analysis of environmentalist claims about how things are getting worse and worse due to human activity. Controversial - but make up your own mind.
For more, see our Economics and Environmentalism bookstores.
