The Book WE have been waiting for is finally here!!!

I have GREAT NEWS for all Philosophy fans! One of the books I have been awaiting for is finally published!

The first time I heard about this book was in a conference I attended by Dr. Peikoff’s  at OCON 2010 in which he identified three different modes of integration, i.e., of interrelating concretes, such as individual percepts, facts, choices, story events, etc. As Dr. Peikoff explained:

“My thesis is that the dominant trends in every key area can be defined by their leaders’ policy toward integration. They are against it (Disintegration, D); they are for it, if it conforms to Nature (Integration, I); they are for it, if it conforms to a Super-Nature (Misintegration, M).” The book—focusing on literature, physics, education and politics—demonstrates the power of these three modes in shaping Western culture and history.

Here is more information about how to get the book,

In what some critics are calling his masterpiece, Leonard Peikoff, renowned philosopher and author of Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand, argues that it is the human mind that makes all the difference—specifically, the ways we are taught to process and integrate information. He finds three and only three processes at work, each dominant in different periods, and each paving the way for the next.

From this perspective, The DIM Hypothesis: Why the Lights of the West Are Going Out surveys, from Greece to the present, four broad fields of human culture—literature, physics, education, and politics—and develops his strikingly original interpretation of the nature and history of the West.

Extrapolating from the historical pattern he identifies, Peikoff is able to explain why the lights of the West are going out—and to predict the most likely future for the United States.

Read more about Dr. Peikoff’s The DIM Hypothesis, or buy the book now.

Course on Human Action starts tomorrow!!!

Starting Tomorrow:

Human Action, Part 1

Instructor: David Gordon
Cost: $79 (50% off!)
Dates: September 12 – November 6, 2012
Length: Eight weeks

Register Now!

It is perhaps the most important and profound book ever written. Yet how many, in their attempts to read it, have been stopped in their tracks by Part I? In those 7 chapters, Mises lays out the philosophical underpinnings of economics and social philosophy. So they are crucial for understanding the rest of the treatise. Yet, for the reader not versed in philosophy, the technical terminology and references can be daunting.

In this course, David Gordon will clearly explain everything you need to know to make sense of the concepts presented in these chapters. He will define the terms, provide background for the references, and make clear exactly what it is that Mises is saying in these passages.

If this classic has been sitting on your shelf or in your Kindle, just waiting for you to tackle it, there is no better way to start than with this course, which will be followed by subsequent courses taught by Mises Academy faculty, covering the rest of Human Action.

Lectures

The video lectures are online. Lectures will be Wednesday evenings, 6:30-8:00 pm Eastern time. They will be recorded and made available for enrolled students to download.

Reading:

All readings will be free and online. A full hyper-linked syllabus with readings for each weekly topic will be available for all students.

Grades and Certificates

The final grade will depend on quizzes. Taking the course for a grade is optional. This course is worth 3 credits in our own internal system. Feel free to ask your school to accept Mises Academy credits. You will receive a digital Certificate of Completion for this course if you take it for a grade, and a Certificate of Participation if you take it on a paid-audit basis.

Refund Policy

If you drop the course during its first week (7 calendar days), you will receive a full refund, minus a $25 processing fee. If you drop the course during its second week, you will receive a half refund. No refunds will be granted following the second week.

Register Now!

About David Gordon

David Gordon is a senior fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute. He was educated at UCLA, where he earned his PhD in intellectual history. He is the author ofResurrecting Marx: The Analytical Marxists on Exploitation, Freedom, and JusticeThe Philosophical Origins of Austrian EconomicsAn Introduction to Economic Reasoning, and Critics of Marx. He is also editor of Secession, State, and Liberty and co-editor of H.B. Acton’s Morals of Markets and Other Essays.

Dr. Gordon is the editor of The Mises Review, and a contributor to such journals as AnalysisThe International Philosophic Quarterly,The Journal of Libertarian Studies, and The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics.

Free Online Education on Objectivism, the philosophy founded by Ayn Rand

I am happy to learn that more online Free services are been made available for those interested in studying Philosophy.  The news was sent by the Atlas Society,
The Atlas Society is launching a new video education series, theAtlas University. And we need your input as we get the first units ready for public launch. This is your chance to get an inside, first look at one of our biggest initiatives for 2012.

Atlas University is a video course series offering accessible, engaging, and enriching courses on Objectivism, the philosophy founded by Ayn Rand.  Our primary target audiences for this particular course are students interested in an “Objectivism 101” course and adults interested in an introductory continuing education curriculum focused on Objectivism.  If you are familiar with The Teaching Company’s Great Courses (http://www.thegreatcourses.com/) imagine this as an addition to their catalog.

The first Atlas University series is going to be a 10-part course called “Reason,” a survey of Objectivist epistemology. The instructors are TAS founder and chief intellectual officer David Kelley, PhD, and TAS director of programs William R Thomas, MA.

The planned ten parts of the “Reason” course are:

  1. What is reason? I (Speaker: David Kelley)
  2. What is reason? II The Conceptual Faculty (Speaker: William R Thomas)
  3. Volitional nature of reason (Speaker: William R Thomas)
  4. Objectivity I: Objective reality (Speaker: David Kelley)
  5. Objectivity II: Objective Knowledge? (Speaker: David Kelley)
  6. Reason and Emotion (Speaker: William R Thomas)
  7. Certainty (Speaker: David Kelley)
  8. Religion, God, and the supernatural (Speaker: David Kelley)
  9. Reason vs. mysticism and subjectivism (Speaker: William R Thomas)
  10. Conclusion: Living by Reason (Speaker: William R Thomas)

The first two 30-minute videos in this course are now ready for viewing.

In lecture 1, “What is Reason,” David Kelley introduces the course by considering what reason is and what role it plays in human life and civilization. Kelley surveys the history of modern philosophical thought to offer the viewer a grasp of how reason is viewed in the culture today and what challenges a defender of reason faces.


Lecture 2,“The Conceptual Faculty,” with William R Thomas takes up the most essential of these challenges, giving the distinctively Objectivist view of reason as the human faculty that allows us to mentally grasp universal terms via abstraction from the particular existents that we experience. Thomas presents Ayn Rand’s “measurement-omission” theory of concepts in an accessible, fresh manner, showing what makes it possible for our words to have objective meaning. Objective concept-formation is key to clear thinking.


We’re looking for individuals willing to preview these video programs and give us feedback on the content and the production values and general advise us on how make this course, and the Atlas University as whole, the best it can be.

Would you like to participate?

Just send an email to atlasu@atlassociety.org and enter “Atlas U” into the subject field of the email.

If you are accepted to take part, we will give you free access to these videos over a ten-day period (July  13-23).

You will be sent a link to two surveys, one relating to each video. You can use these surveys to offer your feedback. But please complete the surveys by Monday, July 24.

We will consider your feedback as we revise these two videos for full public release and as we continue creating videos in this and other Atlas University courses.

We would very much appreciate your participation.

Thanks,
The Atlas Society

Live-streaming of The Atlas Summit Available for June 28-July 1, 2012!

Register for Live-streaming! I am very happy to inform you that The Atlas Summit that is going to be held in the following days in Washington, D.C. is going to be available for Live-streaming.Here is a link to the Speaker Bios and information on the topic of their talks.

I am very exciting about this event since I will be talking this time on the History of Capitalism in two sessions.  I will be more than happy if you can join and send any questions during the Q&A Sessions: The History of Capitalism 1 and The History of Capitalism 2

If you can’t be in D.C. for the Atlas Summit you can still view all of the presentations by purchasing a live-streaming ticket. You will even be able of submitting questions for the Q&A sessions.Cost: $99 for entire conference.Students: $19 for entire conference. Sign up now!


Book Review: Free Will

Free Will

Harris explores the notion that free will is an illusion in this nimble book (which, at 83 pages, can be read in one sitting or a couple of Metro rides), amiably and conversationally jumping from point to point. The book’s length is one of its charms: He never belabors any one topic or idea, sticking around exactly as long as he needs to in order to lay out his argument (and tackle the rebuttals that it will inevitably provoke) and not a page longer. Go to article

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