From: betsy@quake.sylmar.ca.us (Betsy Speicher)
Subject: Re: mindwalking buddhists, oh
Organization: Quake Public Access, Sylmar CA
Date: Sat, 2 Jan 1993 00:14:10 GMT

Jeffrey Pikul (ACPS7204@RyeVm.Ryerson.ca) asks --
 
>       On a somewhat more serious note, is there anybody out there in
>the philosophical (or any other) "community" who actually takes Ayn &
>co. seriously?
 
Although Ayn Rand is definitely an outsider in Academia, the situation
is changing.  The Ayn Rand Institute, the Center for the Advancement of
Objectivism, placed ads is several leading academic journals inviting
professional philosophers to order Rand's _Introduction_to_Objectivist_
_Epistemology_ and Leonard Peikoff's recently published textbook,
_Objectivism_: _The_Philosophy_of_Ayn_Rand_.  So far, they have
received _several_hundred_ orders.
 
Outside of the universities, in the "real world," Ayn Rand's influence
is growing, too.  Last year the Library of Congress and the Book-of-
the-Month Club commissioned a survey of "lifelong readers" and asked
them which book had most influenced their lives.  Ayn Rand's _Atlas_
_Shrugged_ came in second only to _The_Bible_.  (Not bad, considering
_The_Bible_ had a 2000 year head start!)  Rand's _The_Fountainhead_ came
in 11th.  This has prompted the Book-of-the-Month Club to make _Atlas_
_Shrugged_ a monthly selection -- 35 years after its original
publication.
 
>I've been looking...and looking...and looking... for
>good books on philosophy, economics, history, etc. that don't have a
>highly existentialist/postmodern/PC bent to them.  Do you have any
>suggestions in this regards? (Besides Ayn, of course...)
 
You might try the Second Renaissance Book Service, run by Objectivists,
which has all of the above and more.
 
>           Has any Objectivist written a concise essay on what
>postmodernism is about?  Do the postmodernists know what postmodernism
>is about?
 
I heard a wonderful lecture given by Gary Hull at The Jefferson School
called "The Black Hole of Contemporary Philosophy" which analyzes
Post-Moderninsm and Deconstruction from an Objectivist point of view.  I
believe a tape of it is available from Second Renaissance.
 
>P. S. Do you know anything about a publication called the _Intellectual
>Activist_?
 
Send a postcard with your name and address to --
 
OBJECTIVISM
Box 177
Murray Hill Station, NY 10157
 
This will get you on the mailing lists for the Ayn Rand Institute, the
Second Renaissance Book Service, Lectures on Objectivism, The
Intellectual Activist magazine, and the summer conferences offered by
The Jefferson School and Conceptual Conferences.
 
I also want to recommend Cantique Connection, an upbeat, breezy monthly
newsletter about Objectivists "up close and personal".  Cantique covers
the activities of the many college campus Objectivist clubs, the
regional adult organizations (like my own 300-member Southern
California Objectivist Association), and the associations of
Objectivist professionals -- lawyers, teachers, businessmen, medical
professionals, etc.  Write for a sample issue mentioning my name to --
 
Cantique
Dept. 263-SC
P.O. Box 6700
Lawrence, MA  01842
(e-mail address is cantique@mcimail.com)
 
There is also an electronic mailing list for SERIOUS students of
Objectivism called "OSG" -- the Objectivism Study Group.  The Internet
address for information is --
 
INFO@OSG.COM
 
I hope this answered some questions.
 
                                 Best wishes,
                                 Betsy Speicher
 
P.S. I find Stephen Grossman to be a major pain, as do most of my
Objectivist friends who have encountered him.  He makes Objectivist
sounding noises, but any resemblance with his unfocused emotional
ramblings and REASON, in the Objectivist sense, is purely coincidental.
 
0004920191@mcimail.com
Betsy_Speicher@mcimail.com
Newsgroups: sci.philosophy.meta