YEAR: OPEN VS CLOSED OBJECTIVISM –WITH STEPHEN HICKS & CRAIG BIDDLE

Watch here by using QR Code:

What is Objectivism? Is it limited to the philosophic ideas that Ayn Rand identified, developed, and integrated in her lifetime? Or is it open to revisions, additions, or subtractions—and, with such revisions, still properly called Objectivism?

Moreover, should Objectivists shun opportunities to discuss the philosophy with non-Objectivists—as tantamount to providing “moral sanction” to opposing views? Or, as Founder David Kelley has argued, should they commit to reasoned, nondogmatic discussion and debate, and adopt a policy of benevolence toward others, including fellow travelers and critics?

For decades, proponents of Closed Objectivism have refused to debate this topic. That changed on April 11th, when Senior Scholar Stephen Hicks, Ph.D., and Craig Biddle, Director of Education at The Objective Standard Institute, took the stage in a monumental event to explore Rand’s philosophy and its implications from these two differing points of view. Isidora Kolar, CEO of Ayn Rand Center Europe, moderated the discussion at her organization’s New Intellectuals Conference 2023 in Belgrade, Serbia.