Fall Issue of The Objective Standard

Dear Reader,

The print edition of the Fall issue of The Objective Standard is at press and will be mailed shortly; the online (html), ebook, and Kindle editions have been published; and the audio edition will be posted on August 28 (my apology for the delay on the audio).

Enjoy the issue, and be sure to let your friends know about the journal for people of reason.

The contents of the Fall issue are:

DEPARTMENTS
From the Editor
Letters to the Editor

FEATURES
Moral Diversity: Asset or Liability for Liberty?
A Debate between Craig Biddle and Max Borders
As the pro-liberty movement across America (and the world) continues to expand—especially among college students and young adults—and as more and more intellectuals, pundits, and politicians grapple with the ideas associated with the movement, the importance of identifying and upholding the moral foundations of liberty becomes increasingly clear. Is liberty morally correct? If so, why? What exactly is the moral case for it? Is there more than one moral case for it? Is each argument for freedom equally sound, equally observation-based, equally noncontradictory? Do moral objectivity and logical consistency even matter in defense of liberty—and are they possible? Such questions, and the corresponding answers supplied by advocates of liberty, will determine the future of freedom in America and across the globe. Thus, it is vitally important that we who care about liberty get the answers right.

In May, at a conference cosponsored by The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) and the Clemson Institute for the Study of Capitalism (CISC), Craig Biddle and Max Borders debated the question, “Moral diversity: asset or liability for the liberty movement?”—and the discussion was, by all accounts, profoundly interesting. We present here the transcript of that debate, which the moderator, C. Bradley Thompson (director of CISC) calls “the model of what a debate ought to be and what a serious, high-minded conversation should be.” More »

Donna Hassler on the Sculptures of Daniel Chester French
Interviewed by Joseph Kellard
Donna Hassler, the executive director of Chesterwood, the summer home and studio of Daniel Chester French, discusses the artist's sculptures and the mission of Chesterwood. The interview includes images of French’s works and of Chesterwood.

“Daniel Chester French was an American Beaux-Arts sculptor. Trained in Florence and later Paris, he was inspired by the ideal beauty of Greco-Roman art and architecture early in his career. In fact, he didn’t even stay around for the unveiling of the Minute Man sculpture in Concord, Massachusetts, in 1874, because he had accepted an invitation from the prominent American neoclassical sculptor Hiram Powers to stay with his family in Florence and study sculpture with another American artist, Thomas Ball. The artist looked to nature in modeling his figurative works but improved upon her in the classical tradition. Allegory and symbolism also played a more important role in his sculpture, especially when he memorialized individuals without portraying them in a realistic manner. . . .” More »

BOOK REVIEWS
The Dictionary of Human Form, by Ted Seth Jacobs
Reviewed by Daniel Wahl

The Rape of the Masters: How Political Correctness Sabotages Art, by Roger Kimball
Reviewed by Daniel Wahl

The Martian, by Andy Weir
Reviewed by Ari Armstrong

FILM REVIEWS
Edge of Tomorrow, directed by Doug Liman
Reviewed by Ari Armstrong

Star Trek: First Contact, directed by Jonathan Frakes
Reviewed by Ari Armstrong

FROM TOS BLOG
Richard Salsman’s Plan to Immediately End Social Security
Ari Armstrong

The Illegitimacy of Pope Francis’s “Legitimate Redistribution” of Wealth
Natalie Ogle

Lincoln versus the “Monstrous Injustice of Slavery”
Ari Armstrong

Egalitarianism versus Rational Morality on Income Inequality
Ari Armstrong

Lincoln and Race
Alexander V. Marriott

Leftists Shamefully Exploit California Murders on Behalf of Collectivism
Ari Armstrong

The California Murderer’s “Selfishness Without a Self”
Ari Armstrong

Rand’s Ethics and Say’s Law
Craig Biddle

On the Right Not to Bake a Cake
Ari Armstrong

No, Denver Post, Businessmen Should Never “Put Moral Judgments Aside”
Ari Armstrong

“White Privilege”: Myths and Facts
Ari Armstrong

Dave Brat and Ayn Rand on Rights and Government
Ari Armstrong

Check Your Statist Privilege
Ari Armstrong

Dave Brat, Ayn Rand, and Purpose in Political Commentary
Ari Armstrong

Ayn Rand Was Right: Cats Are Objectively Valuable
Ari Armstrong

Dave Brat on Church and State
Ari Armstrong

Economists’ “Subjective Value” and Ayn Rand’s Objective Value Reconciled
Ari Armstrong

Altruism: The Fuel of Jihad
Craig Biddle

Auberon Herbert: Advocate of Reason, Individual Rights, and Limited Government
Craig Biddle

Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby Decision: Good Outcome, Mixed Reasoning
Ari Armstrong

Rational Morality Requires Amnesty for Rights-Respecting Illegal Immigrants
Ari Armstrong

The Left’s Dishonesty Regarding “No-Cost” Birth Control
Ari Armstrong

After Hobby Lobby Ruling, How About Government Protect the Rights of Everyone?
Ari Armstrong

Rights-Respecting Immigration Policy and Muslims
Ari Armstrong

Mass Illegal Immigration of Central American Children: A U.S.-Created Crisis
Ari Armstrong

Myths and Facts about a Rights-Respecting Immigration Policy
Ari Armstrong

Jason Brennan Joins the Brigade of People Misrepresenting Ayn Rand’s Views
Daniel Wahl

Kristen Bell’s Spoonful of Coercion
Ari Armstrong

AEI Writer Invokes “Implicit Contract” and other Fantasies to Excuse Government Coercion
Ari Armstrong

Hamas and The Left’s Pretense about the Deaths of Innocents in Gaza
Craig Biddle

The Environmentalists’ War on People
Ari Armstrong

Government Properly Protects Freedom of Religion and Freedom from Religion
Ari Armstrong

If you’ve not yet subscribed to The Objective Standard, you can do so here. The journal also makes a great gift for your active-minded friends and relatives. Subscriptions start at just $29 and are available in Print, Online, Ebook, and Audio editions.

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Enjoy the issue, let us know what you think about the articles, and have a joy-filled fall!

Cheers,

Craig Biddle, Editor

About Craig Biddle

Craig is cofounder and editor of The Objective Standard, cofounder and director of education at Objective Standard Institute, and executive director of Prometheus Foundation. He is the author of Loving Life: The Morality of Self-Interest and the Facts that Support It; Rational Egoism: The Morality for Human Flourishing; and the forthcoming Moral Truths Your Parents, Preachers, and Teachers Don’t Want You to Know. He is currently working on his fourth book, “Thinking in Principles.”

View all articles by Craig Biddle →