Porcfest2015

Ayn Rand's magnum opus, Atlas Shrugged, is a literary achievement. But it is also a philosophical tour-de-force. In this week-long course, David Kelley and William R Thomas will tour the novel's intellectual landscape, highlighting the key ideas of Objectivism and the distinctive way Ayn Rand integrates her philosophical system with a tight, developing plot. The course will show how the novel clarifies what is really essential in the philosophy of Objectivism. The lectures will also discuss specific philosophical insights embedded in the novel's characters, events, and conflicts, drawing special attention to insights that are not highlighted in standard expositions of the philosophy. The lectures may be enjoyed individually, but they sum up to a course if taken in sequence. No previous familiarity with Ayn Rand's ideas is necessary, but it doesn't hurt to be familiar with Atlas Shrugged.

Atlas Shrugged as a Philosophical Novel part 2:
Producers vs. Looters

The producers in Atlas Shrugged represent the culmination of Ayn Rand's artistic goal to portray the human ideal; and their conflict with looters and parasites is the fullest statement of what she saw as an eternal conflict in human life. This lecture will discuss that conflict as the master theme of the novel, encompassing all the other thematic elements, along with Galt's strike as the master plot.