Leonard Peikoff Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Leonard Peikoff (born 1933) is a leading Objectivist philosopher who Ayn Rand said is the person who know her philosophy most accurately. Born in Winnipeg, Canada, he later became a naturalized United States citizen. He was a friend of Rand since 1951 and became heir to her estate after she died in 1982. In 1985 he founded the Ayn Rand Institute. In 1991 his book was published.As of 2004, Peikoff is writing a book called the dim hypothesis, where he explains the three alternatives of decission-making and solves the problem of induction.
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The other school of thought was started by David Kelley, an academic 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 prevailing view--that those who are not Objectivist are deliberately committing evasion, and that to work with them is to sanction their evasion. Kelley also holds that Objectivism is 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 the tenets of Objectivism. Kelley responded by founding the Institute for Objectivist Studies, later renamed The Objectivist Center. Kelley worked with the libertarian movement in the United States and other associated groups that Peikoff refused to work with. Nathaniel Branden, Ayn Rand's former lover and associate, who had been "kicked out" of Objectivism by Rand herself for personal reasons, later joined with David Kelley and The Objectivist Center.
Peikoff and the ARI hold that Kelley is not an Objectivist. They cite, for example, Ayn 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. Kelley and TOC counter by saying Peikoff and the ARI are taking Rand's opposition out of context. Nathaniel Branden recalls speaking with Rand about the lack of a clear-cut term for Objectivist political philosophy, saying that Rand's preferred term, "capitalism", only covered the economic aspects of Objectivist politics. Branden recalls proposing the term "libertarianism" to Rand's displeasure--according to Rand, "libertarian" sounded like a made-up word. Later on, when the libertarian movement grew and many prominent libertarians such as Murray Rothbard spoke out in favor of anarcho-capitalism, Rand felt vindicated in her position. [1] (http://www.nathanielbranden.net/ess/ess04.html)
As Rand's executor, Peikoff handles the copyrights to all of Rand's works (with the exception of Anthem, which has 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 books. Kelley, on the other hand, due to his willingness to work with groups that aren't explicitly Objectivist, has gained a wider base of popular support.
Kelley, Branden, and TOC claim that Peikoff and the ARI tend to diametrically oppose Objectivism by identifying "individualism" as conformity to the words and writings of Ayn Rand. This opposition is essentially the same opposition first stated by Kelley in "A Question of Sanction". Branden claims that this view is a consequence of the cult-like thinking mistakenly encouraged by Rand herself.
This is an Article on Leonard Peikoff. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Leonard Peikoff 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 supposed "intellectual heir" promotes Objectivism as a "closed system" that consists merely of what Rand herself wrote and said, and considers any disagreement with 'anything' Rand said as a betrayal of Objectivism. The Ayn Rand Institute is aligned with Peikoff's view of Objectivism.Books
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