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Optional Courses
All optional courses are available in both Session 1 and Session 2, so attendees
can maximize the number of courses they plan to attend. Optional courses are letter-coded (A–D, see our
Conference Schedule) by daily time slot and
duration. For instance, "A" courses meet three times during each session, 8:30–10 AM, for a total of four hours
and thirty minutes of class time. Remember that you can only select one course from each letter group, A–D, per
session, so if you want to attend two "A" courses, for example, you must attend one in Session 1 and one in Session
2.
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Course Descriptions
A1S1, A1S2
Moral Rights and Metaphysical Law
Craig Biddle
To uphold and defend the principle of individual rights, one must grasp, as Ayn Rand did,
that “the source of man’s rights is not divine law or congressional law, but the law of identity.” However, a great deal
of observations, conceptualizations and generalizations lie between the principle of rights and the law of identity. This
course concretizes and clarifies these crucial connections, zeroing in on the facts that give rise to rights, identifying
the precise nature of rights, differentiating objective from “natural” and “intrinsic” rights, elucidating the moral and
political implications of these principles, and demonstrating that one’s right to life, liberty, property and so on is as
absolute as the fact that you are reading these words.
Attendees will expand or fortify their understanding of the source, nature and meaning of
rights, and thereby enhance their ability to speak and write cogently toward the establishment of a fully free
society.
A2S1, A2S2
Religion in American History
Eric Daniels
Despite the secular basis of our government and the constitutional separation of church
and state, religion has exerted enormous influence on American life from the importation of Puritan theocracy in the
seventeenth century to the growing influence of evangelical religion in the twenty-first century.
This course investigates the historical development of religion in America. It examines
the influence of religion as an institution, and religious ideas in the culture. By assessing the impact of religion on
American politics and law, it highlights throughout how religion has acted to erode both capitalism and political freedom.
The course evaluates the claims that America’s Founders were religious and that religious ideas helped ameliorate various
social ills.
Without an understanding of how religion has featured in American life historically, one
cannot fully defend America today from those who would revive a religious government or, worse, a modern
theocracy.
A3S1, A3S2
Art as a Concretization of Metaphysics
Barry Wood
A work of art captures a whole view of existence for our contemplation. But just how is
an artist’s sense of life distilled into a particular painting or sculpture? And where do such objects get their power to
move us, as they have moved man throughout history?
To answer these questions, these lectures open with metaphysics, specifically those
fundamental estimates of the universe and our place in it which Ayn Rand called “metaphysical value-judgments.” We then
turn to art and its vital role in bringing those estimates into concrete perceptual form. To illustrate, we will explore a
wide range of examples, including works from European as well as ancient Mesopotamian, Byzantine, Chinese and Persian art.
The aim is not only to demonstrate the objectivity of esthetic analysis, but also to encourage wonder at man’s ingenuity
over the ages in meeting a profound need of his consciousness.
A4S1, A4S2
Euclid's Method
Robert Knapp
The common fallacy that geometry pertains specifically to idealizations—that it
applies to the world but is not about the world—begins with Euclid saying, “A point is that which has no part. A
line is a breadthless length.” That fallacy persists to this day.
That geometry is useful is not in dispute. But its objects are held to inhabit a separate
geometrical universe, reminiscent of Plato’s world of forms. Euclid’s propositions and, most significantly, his arguments
are considered valid only in this separate universe.
A proper perspective must challenge all three of these misconceptions. Drawing on key
Objectivist insights, Dr. Knapp will maintain that straight lines, circles, and triangles are shapes that exist on earth.
That Euclid’s propositions pertain to shapes and relationships that exist in the world. Most critically, that Euclid’s
arguments are valid: Every step in Euclid’s arguments pertains to this world.
B1S1, B1S2
The Financial Crisis: What Happened and Why
Yaron Brook
Over the last two years, we have experienced a devastating financial and economic crisis.
Mainstream media and mainstream economists have blamed the crisis on a failure of "free-markets." This course sets the record
straight. Dr. Brook describes the actual evolution of the crisis, from the government policies that gave rise to it to the
unprecedented expansion of government control over the economy that has followed. He places special emphasis on illustrating
how this crisis is an example of the Austrian economists' business cycle theory. This course does not presuppose any
specialized knowledge of economics.
B2S1, B2S2
The History of Ancient Greece: The Archaic Period
John Lewis
The history of ancient Greece begins with intellectual and political achievements that
stand as a self-sufficient cultural revolution, but that also established the foundations of the later classical
revolution. This history stretches from early Crete through the rise of hundreds of autonomous city-states that spread
Greek culture across the Mediterranean, up to the establishment of the democracy in Athens. Poets and other
intellectuals brought heroism and a respect for wisdom into the cultural forefront, spreading a respect for reason that
formed the soil for the rise of philosophy.
This course delves into four aspects of this period: political and military history,
religion and the view of man, a budding scientific outlook and literary culture. This is the first of three ancient
Greek history courses planned for Objectivist summer conferences; the second will take us into the fifth-century
intellectual revolution, and the third into the fourth century and the Macedonian conquests.
B4S1, B4S2
Special Topics in Introspection
Edwin A. Locke
This course is a sequel to Dr. Locke’s 2008 course, “The Art of Introspection.”
(The previous course is recommended but not required.) It deals with more complex psychological issues that entail
introspection, including: understanding complex emotions; understanding the causes of crying at happy events
(which is not always caused by a malevolent universe premise); understanding self-doubt and building self-confidence,
including distinguishing self-confidence from self-esteem; protecting the integrity of one’s soul in an irrational
culture; building character without falling into the trap of intrinsicism (divorcing character from life); seeking
pleasure using reason; understanding what choosing to live really means (including the proper meaning of “the meaning
of life” and its relationship to happiness); and committing to important values (including using the subconscious to
help you implement goals).
C1S1, C1S2
Friendship: Who Needs It
Aristotle and Objectivism on the Value of Friendship
Kris Biniek
In his writings on friendship, Aristotle holds that being virtuous and loving oneself
is a prerequisite to true friendship. Aristotle believes that a friend is “another self” or a mirror of oneself, and
that having this other self makes it easier to think and to act. Unlike Aristotle, Ayn Rand did not write a
philosophical treatment of friendship, but her portrayal of friendship in her fiction writing is a rich source for
understanding her views.
This class examines similarities and differences between Aristotle’s and Rand’s
portrayal of friendship, and considers common confusions about the value of friendship, such as its alleged
incompatibility with the virtue of independence. Through the comparison of these great thinkers’ views, students will
acquire a clearer and richer understanding of the nature and objective value of friendship in their own lives.
C2S1, C2S2
James J. Gibson’s Direct Realist Theory of Perception
Lee Pierson
James Gibson’s direct realist theory of perception—the one approach to
perception in contemporary psychology that is fundamentally consistent with Objectivism—is presented in
its essentials. Gibson’s radical primacy-of-existence viewpoint departs from other current approaches to
perception: when we look at a tree, Gibson says, we see a tree—not an image or any other kind of
representation of a tree.
According to Gibson, visual perceptual awareness is the detection of entities
and events in the world, not the construction of an inner world of consciousness.
Topics include: visual perception as involving the pickup of information in
light, perception as an activity occurring over time, why perceiving the world entails co-perceiving the self,
affordances (perceived values), distinguishing perception from memory. This course has no prerequisites except
a desire to understand the source of all of our knowledge—perception.
C3S1, C3S2
Ibsen the Iconoclast
Lisa VanDamme
Ibsen is known as an iconoclast, an idol-smasher, who challenged traditional views of
class, of government, of marriage—of morality. His plays, scandalous in their time, have gone on to immense,
worldwide popularity, second only to Shakespeare in frequency of performance.
Ibsen’s plays dramatize the clash between the free-thinking individual and conventional
society: whether a doctor upholding his own judgment against community-wide pressure to conform (in An Enemy of the
People), an independent woman rebelling against the conventional role of a wife and mother (in A Doll’s
House), or a priest intransigently devoted to a god-given mission scorned by society (in Brand).
In this course Ms. VanDamme discusses Ibsen and three of his plays, sharing the
fascinating story of Ibsen’s life; emphasizing that which illuminates the philosophy conveyed in his work; discussing the
plot, characterization and theme of each play; and demonstrating that Ibsen’s plays are rich with inspiration.
C4S1, C4S2
Understanding the Arab-Israeli Conflict
Elan Journo
For many decades Israel and its Arab-Muslim neighbors have been locked in a fierce
conflict. Resolving this conflict, it is commonly argued, will bring stability to a notoriously volatile
region—and ultimately diminish the violent anti-American hostility in the Muslim world. Yet few
people—policymakers included—understand what this conflict is actually about, nor what the stakes really
are. This course offers an essentialized historical and political account of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Some of the questions this course explores: Who are Israel’s adversaries—the
Palestinians? the bordering Arab nations? both? What’s the dispute about? How should the adversaries, and their
respective claims, be judged? How has this conflict shaped, and been shaped by, the politics and ideological trends of
the Middle East? What’s at stake for the United States and the West? What solutions have been tried, and what will it
take to bring about peace?
D1S1, D1S2
Exploring the Psychological Visibility Principle as Illustrated in
Atlas Shrugged
Ellen Kenner
Why is it sometimes difficult to express heartfelt sentiments to those we value? Some
do so naturally, others repress true feelings or offer insincere praise driven by duty, not by values.
Throughout Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand gives us memorable examples of tenderness
and admiration. Such visibility, expressed in subtle or eloquent words and actions, nourishes relationships and is an
act of justice. In contrast, feeling invisible, misunderstood, by those who matter (a spouse, a child, a friend, an
employer)—can be agonizing. Resentments escalate and good relationships deteriorate.
Using illustrative examples from Atlas Shrugged, role-plays and exercises,
this course explores: why giving and receiving proper visibility is essential for your happiness; altruism’s devastating
effect on visibility; self-visibility; egoistic premises and breaking the habit of humility; how to effectively express
admiration to those you value; how to deal with phony visibility (e.g., flattery) or unjust invisibility;
pseudo-visibility (e.g., “God understands me”).
D2S1, D2S2
The Renaissance (part 2): c. 1450–c. 1550
Andrew Lewis
The first 150 years of the Renaissance were essentially a period in which the rebirth
of reason was “hung” between childbirth and stillbirth. After 1450 significant events confirmed the resurgence of reason.
In some cases, e.g., the development of the printing press, the overall effects broadened the scope of reason’s rebirth
with important practical benefits. In others, the immediate consequences were negative—leading to, among other
things, an upsurge in religious turmoil, culminating in the Reformation and the Inquisition). But, the overall effect
was to diminish the power of faith, and foster the growth of reason, paving the way for the Scientific Revolution and
the Enlightenment.
This course focuses on the surge towards rational thinking and secular achievement that
marks the high point of the Renaissance—the origins of the scientific method, the Age of Discovery, the rise of
secular authority and the turning away from the Church.
D3S1, D3S2
The Verismo School: The Final Stage of Romanticism in Italian Opera
Sandra Schwartz
In the last decade of the nineteenth century, as Giuseppe Verdi was premiering his
final work, Italian opera adopted a new direction, defined by the school of verismo. Arising as the era of
Romantic music was waning, this short-lived musical style produced some of the most intensely passionate operas ever
written.
Verismo employs less formally structured melody and focuses on the sublime and violent
emotions emanating from conflicts involving love and hate.
This course examines five of verismo’s best works, staples of the
contemporary operatic repertoire: Cavalleria rusticana (Pietro Mascagni), Pagliacci (Ruggiero
Leoncavallo), Andrea Chénier (Umberto Giordano), Tosca (Giacomo Puccini), and Adriana
Lecouvreur Francesco Cilea). Selections from these operas are studied for their distinctive passions and melodies.
Different performances of the same selection are contrasted in order to highlight variations in style and
interpretation by different artists. The class includes brief biographies of the composers, interwoven with the
music.
D4S1, D4S2
Property Rights—and Wrongs
Thomas A. Bowden
In breach of their duty to protect property rights, the world’s governments have
instead become their chief violator. Whenever overseas oil company assets are nationalized, or local building
projects are thwarted by land use regulations, or private homes are seized through eminent domain, we are reminded
of Ayn Rand’s warning that “without property rights, no other rights are possible.”
In this course Mr. Bowden goes behind the headlines to explore how the myth of
“public property” endangers multinationals extracting oil in Venezuela and Russia, how a distorted view of “police
power” hampers land developers in America and how the concept of “public use” is used to rob peaceful homeowners.
This course focuses on the cardinal principles that should govern the legal acquisition, use and disposal of
material assets in a fully free society: objective value creation, freedom from the initiation of physical force
and sanctity of contract.
Register now!
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