Leonard Peikoff

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Leonard S. Peikoff (born October 15, 1933)[1] is an Objectivist philosopher. He is Ayn Rand's intellectual and legal heir. He is a former professor of philosophy, a former radio talk show host, and founder of the Ayn Rand Institute.

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[edit] Early life

Leonard Peikoff was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, to Samuel Peikoff, a surgeon, and his wife Bessie, a band leader. He attended the University of Manitoba from 1950 to 1953, then transferred to New York University, where he received his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in 1954 and 1957, respectively.[1]

[edit] Academic career

Peikoff received his Ph.D. in Philosophy from NYU in 1964;[1] his adviser was 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 various colleges.[1]

[edit] Early involvement in Objectivism

Peikoff first met Ayn Rand through his cousin when he was 17 in California. When Rand later moved to New York, Peikoff decided to study philosophy at New York University. While studying at NYU from 1953 to 1964, he discussed philosophy with Rand at length.

Peikoff, along with a number of other close associates, jokingly calling themselves "The Collective," met frequently with Rand to discuss philosophy and politics, as well as to preview her current fiction work in her New York apartment.[2]

[edit] After Ayn Rand

Rand held that Peikoff understood her philosophy better than anyone else, and thus made Peikoff the legal heir to her estate, as well as her intellectual heir when she died in 1982.[2]

As Rand's executor, Peikoff handles the copyrights to all of her 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 He has the power of editing and releasing Rand's unpublished works, and has written forewords for all the current printings of her fiction.

Peikoff's first book, The Ominous Parallels (1982), 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 totalitarianism because of far-reaching intellectual parallels between Weimar Germany and the present-day United States.

In 1985, Peikoff founded the Ayn Rand Institute.

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

In the mid-1990s, Peikoff taught courses at the Ayn Rand Institute's Objectivist Graduate Center (which was later reborn as the Objectivist Academic Center in 2000) along with Harry Binswanger and Peter Schwartz.

From 1995 through 1999, Peikoff hosted a talk radio show focusing on philosophy and culture.[3]

In the '90s, Peikoff helped define an Objectivist theory of induction in the lecture series "Objectivism Through Induction".

As of 2008, 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. He estimates that it "will be published in several years, probably in 2010."[4] Peikoff resides in Irvine, California, an affluent suburb in Orange County which is also home to the Ayn Rand Institute.[5]

From February 2006 to June 2007 Peikoff posted an online Q and A of various questions relating to Objectivism that had been e-mailed to him, updating with a few more answers approximately every month. In August 2007 his website announced that this would be replaced with a podcast, which debuted on October 22nd 2007, and has been released irregularly on Mondays ever since, with gaps of 1, 2, and 3 weeks each occuring. The 17th episode was released June 9th 2008.

[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 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, 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."[6]

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.[7]

[edit] Books

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Contemporary Authors Online, s.v. "Leonard Peikoff." Accessed March 2, 2008.
  2. ^ a b Leonard Peikoff: In His Own Words (DVD), Ayn Rand Bookstore.
  3. ^ Leonard Peikoff's official website, "Talk Show Radio".
  4. ^ Leonard Peikoff's official website. Accessed March 2, 2008.
  5. ^ LC Battles Donor over Rand Manuscript Pages. American Library Association (2002-03-11). Retrieved on 2008-05-09.
  6. ^ "Q&A: Peikoff on the coming election", October 19, 2006, Peikoff.com. Accessed November 4, 2006.
  7. ^ Leonard Peikoff, Abortion Rights Are Pro-Life, January 23, 2003, Capitalism Magazine.

[edit] External links

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