Leonard Peikoff

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Leonard Peikoff (born 1933) is an Objectivist philosopher and author. He befriended Ayn Rand in 1951 and became heir to her estate after she died in 1982. In 1985, Peikoff founded the Ayn Rand Institute.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Early involvement in Objectivism 3 After Ayn Rand 4 The Peikoff/Kelley split 5 Politics 6 Books 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Early life

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, he received an undergraduate degree from the University of Manitoba. Peikoff later became a naturalized United States citizen. He received his Ph.D. in Philosophy from New York University; his adviser was the famous American Marxist and Pragmatist philosopher, Sidney Hook. His dissertation dealt with the law of non-contradiction in classical philosophy. He taught philosophy for approximately ten years at CUNY's Hunter College.

[edit] Early involvement in Objectivism

Peikoff was a student and friend of Ayn Rand from 1951 until her death. Peikoff, along with a number of other close associates, ironically labeled "The Collective," met frequently with Rand to discuss philosophy and politics, as well as to preview her current fiction work.

The Collective dynamic changed massively once Nathaniel Branden was expelled from the Objectivist movement in 1968, as Branden had originally been considered Rand's closest intellectual partner and heir. Once Branden, and then others, left the group, Peikoff's influence grew enormously, to the point where he eventually assumed the status as Rand's most trusted philosophical confidant.

Peikoff's article, "The Analytic-Synthetic Dichotomy," first appeared in Rand's journal The Objectivist, and later as a postscript to her 1979 book, Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology.

[edit] After Ayn Rand

As Rand's executor, Peikoff handles the copyrights to all of her works (with the exception of Anthem, which passed into the public domain). He can thus control the translation of Rand's works into other languages. He has the power of editing and releasing Rand's unpublished works, and has written forewords for all the current printings of her fiction.

Peikoff's first book, published in 1982, The Ominous Parallels, was simultaneously an Objectivist explanation of the rise of the Third Reich and the Holocaust, and a warning that America was being led down the road to fascism because of certain intellectual parallels between Weimar Germany and the United States.

Peikoff has given many lectures on philosophy, politics, and culture, including 1983's Understanding Objectivism, which is now available as a 30-CD set.

In 1985, Peikoff founded the Ayn Rand Institute. Rand had said that Peikoff knew and understood her philosophy better than anyone else.^{[citation needed]}

Peikoff revised his 1976 lecture course on Objectivism into book form, producing Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand, which was published in 1991.

As of 2006, Peikoff is writing a book called The DIM Hypothesis, where he defines what he sees as the three approaches to integration in human thought and applies the hypothesis to physics, philosophy, education, politics and other fields. Peikoff has previously helped define an Objectivist theory of induction in the lecture series "Objectivism Through Induction" and the course "Induction in Physics and Philosophy."

[edit] The Peikoff/Kelley split

Inside the Objectivist community, considerable dissension and criticism of certain institutions and varying interpretation of Objectivism took root after the death of Ayn Rand. Leonard Peikoff, Ayn Rand's executor and heir, promotes Objectivism as a "closed system" that consists solely of those philosophic principles Rand herself endorsed, and considers any essential disagreement with those principles as a departure from Objectivism. The Ayn Rand Institute is aligned with Peikoff's view of Objectivism.

The other school of thought was started by David Kelley, a philosopher formerly associated with the Ayn Rand Institute, with his essay "A Question of Sanction," arguing for greater open-mindedness in working with other groups. This was in opposition to the what he considers (but Peikoff's supporters dispute) to be the prevailing view—that those who are not Objectivist are deliberately committing evasion, and that to work with them is to sanction their evasion. Kelley sees Objectivism as an "open system" that can evolve beyond Rand's own writings and beliefs, and can even correct her mistakes.

Peikoff informed Kelley that he was no longer welcome at the Ayn Rand Institute and that he had violated some of the formal tenets of Objectivism. His main rationale for this was outlined in an article called "Fact and Value". Some prominent Objectivist thinkers like Peter Schwartz and Harry Binswanger backed Peikoff in this schism.

Critics responded that Peikoff was continuing the alleged Randian tradition of "excommunicating" and "purging" those with disagreements. Ultimately, Kelley responded by founding the Institute for Objectivist Studies in 1989, which was later renamed The Objectivist Center and then The Atlas Society. Kelley worked with the libertarian movement in the United States and other groups with which Peikoff refused to associate. Nathaniel Branden, Rand's former lover and intellectual heir, whom she had repudiated after he had an unsanctioned affair, later joined with David Kelley and The Objectivist Center.

Peikoff and the ARI hold (in, for instance, Peikoff's "Fact and Value") that Kelley is not an Objectivist. They cite, for example, Rand's opposition to libertarianism in the 1960s as a reason to condemn Kelley's work with libertarians, and his explicit identification of Objectivism as libertarian. Further, they contend, libertarianism as an umbrella political philosophy encompasses mutually exclusive views: from atheism to Christianity, from limited government to anarchism. Thus, Peikoff holds that Kelley's position amounted to an alignment with groups that are incompatible with Objectivism's fundamental principles. Meanwhile, Kelley responded with a monograph, "Truth and Toleration" (later revised and retitled "The Contested Legacy of Ayn Rand"), in which he challenged Peikoff's criticisms.

[edit] Politics

Peikoff's political positions reflect those of Objectivism. He strongly supports pure, undiluted laissez-faire capitalism, arguing that the role of government in society should be limited to protecting individuals from the initiation of force and fraud. He opposes taxation, public education, welfare, business regulations, etc. He also opposes laws regulating pornography, euthanasia, stem cell research, etc. Many observers have called Peikoff a libertarian, but Peikoff despises this label, saying that Objectivism rejects it.

Peikoff endorsed John Kerry (while nevertheless thinking of Kerry as a "disgustingly bad" candidate) against George W. Bush (whom he called "apocalyptically bad"), on the basis of Bush's religiosity and his refusal to crush Islamic regimes, especially Iran. In advance of the 2006 elections, Peikoff recommended voting only for Democrats, to forestall what he sees is a rise in influence of the religious right, adding:

Given the choice between a rotten, enfeebled, despairing killer [Democrats], and a rotten, ever stronger, and ambitious killer [Republicans], it is immoral to vote for the latter, and equally immoral to refrain from voting at all because "both are bad."^[1]

Peikoff is also known for campaigning on behalf of Elián González's right to remain in Florida, rather than returning to his father in Cuba, stating that "To send a child to rot in the prison of Cuba for the alleged sake of his own well-being is criminal hypocrisy. To send him there in order to preserve his father's rights is absurdity, since there are no parental or other rights in Cuba. To send him there because 'He needs a father, no matter what' is a mindless bromide. Does he need a father who has no choice but to watch his son being broken in mind and starved in body?"

He is a supporter of abortion rights but criticizes defenders of abortion who label themselves "pro-choice", arguing that the term ignores the deeper philosophical issues involved. [1]

Peikoff also supports increased commercialization of Christmas. [2]

[edit] Books

• The Ominous Parallels (1982) ISBN 0-452-01117-5
• Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand (1991) ISBN 0-452-01101-9

[edit] References

1. ^ "Q&A: Peikoff on the coming election", October 19, 2006, Peikoff.com. Accessed November 4, 2006.

[edit] External links

• www.peikoff.com Leonard Peikoff's Official Home Page
• The Philosophy of Objectivism Leonard Peikoff's summary of Objectivism
• Leonard Peikoff's analysis of terrorism Originally published as a full-page advertisement in the New York Times
• American Writers: Ayn Rand C-SPAN 2002 RTSP video with Leonard Peikoff starting at minute 55
• Leonard Peikoff On Abortion 7 minute audio of Leonard Peikoff on Abortion
• Leonard Peikoff Lecture A Leonard Peikoff lecture (audio/video) titled "American Versus Americans" presented at WGBH Forum