Periodically - at least once a year - the club holds a major event such as bringing a speaker to campus from the Ayn Rand Institute. Other events include public debates/forums, road trips to see lectures at other clubs and schools, movie trips, and more.
Events are open to the public.
- Current Events
- Past Events
Dr. Ridpath gives talk at RPI:
Rights--Reason--Reality: Ayn Rand's Answer to the Intellectual Crisis of Our Time - Nov. 20th, 2002; 7pm; DCC 318.
After September 11, 2001, no one can escape the ominous paradox of the century just passed: a century of astonishing scientific advance, technological innovation and rising living standards, but also a century of dramatic horrors, including mass governmental enslavement, world wars, murderous tyrants and crazed religious fanatics, all of these enmeshed in their ultimate cause: philosophical collapse into pragmatic cynicism and crusading irrationality.
In this talk, Dr. Ridpath will discuss the apparent and actual crises of this century; the role of philosophy in human life and human history; the disastrous trends toward mysticism, altruism and statist collectivism in twentieth-century culture; and the significance of the work of philosopher Ayn Rand and its advocacy of the individual rational mind, the virtue of self-interest, of capitalism and individual rights.
Professor Ridpath received his doctorate in economics from the University of Virginia and has taught economics and intellectual history at York University in Toronto since 1967.
CANCELLED - Andrew Lewis will only be giving talks on the west coast, for the forseeable future
Andrew Lewis talk -- Diversity: Racism in the 21st Century
Nov 6th, 2002; 7pm; AE 214.
Capital District Objectivists Get-together - Sept. 6, 2002; 6pm; Mendocino Brewing Company.
This is an informal meeting of Capital District area Objectivists at the Mendocino Brewing Company in Saratoga Springs. This is the second time we're meeting at this location. Last time, a small crowd of us took over a couple of tables, ordered some pizza, and spent four hours enjoying good company and conversation. $3 will buy you two drafts (of a single beer of your choice) and you can sample a large selection.
directions: 87N -> exit 15 -> Left (onto Route 50) -> Left at 2nd light -> Right at stop sign -> Mendocino will be on your Right.
Fall 2002 Activities Fair - Aug 28, 2002; 6-9pm; Houston Field House.
The club will be manning a table at this fair which showcases clubs and extracurricular activities available to students at RPI.
"Sermon on the Mount" at Breakneck Ridge - Jun 22, 2002; 10am; Breakneck Ridge.
After climbing from 200ft above sea level to an elevation of 1500ft, Dr. Bernstein gave a talk and hosted a Q&A on his first novel - Heart of a Pagan - for his fellow rock-scaling Objectivsits.
Party at the Bernsteins - Jun 22, 2002; 7pm; Bernstein Residence.
Dr. Bernstein and his wife, Regina, hosted a post-sermon party at their home.
Richard Salsman gives talk at RPI -- Capitalism and the Environment:
The Virtues of "Exploitation" - Apr 23rd, 2002; 7pm; DCC 330.
Man achieves his survival by using his mind to alter his environment to suit his needs and improve the conditions of his existence. It is this process - expressed in science, technology, and capitalism - that has allowed man to rise from the hunger, drudgery, and misery of primitive existence to the comfort of modern civilization. But it is precisely this process that is under attack by the reactionary "greens" - who want to return man to the pre-industrial era, even to the Stone Age.
In this talk, Mr. Salsman does not merely discredit the scientific claims of environmentalism; he demolishes its moral and philosophical base. He demonstrates that: (1) the doctrine that nature has "intrinsic value", i.e., some sort of mystical value entirely apart from its relation to man, is nothing but the desire to destroy human values, (2) the improvement of the environment - for man - can be provided for only by laissez-faire capitalism, and (3) that it is the environmentalist movement itself that is today's greatest danger to human health and happiness.
Information Table - Apr 18, 2002: 12pm-4pm, Union West Lobby.
An info table promoting Mr. Salsman's talk (see above) will be manned.
Accepted Students Day - Apr 13,2002: 11am-2pm; Armory.
The club had a table set up in a smaller version of the fall Activities' Fair showcasing to accepted students.
Walk for Capitalism - Dec 2, 2001: 12pm; Saratoga Springs; Members of the club participated in the first annual Walk for Capitalism. See www.walkforcapitalism.org for more information.
Dr. Bernstein gives talk at RPI -- An Introduction to Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand - Nov 28, 2001; 7pm; Sage 3303.
The Objectivist Club will be raffling off copies of Ayn Rand's best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.
Dr. Bernstein gives talk at RPI -- America at War: the Moral Imperative to Self Defense - Oct 10, 2001; 8pm; CII 3051.
"Two major points are presented in this talk:
One: Neither guns, bombs nor tanks constitute a nations most powerful weapon. Rather, moral rectitude - the courage to proudly defend the property, freedom and lives of its citizens - does. The United States has abdicated this weapon in fifty years of appeasement in the Middle East. Just as President Thomas Jefferson and the fledgling republic - inspired by their battle cry of "Millions for defense, but not a penny for tribute" - had the courage to stand up to the notorious Barbary Pirates in 1801, so President George W. Bush must have the moral courage to wipe out America's current fanatical and deadly enemies.
Two: This is not fundamentally a political but a philosophical struggle. Islamic Civilization - essentially a religious culture - loathes and seeks to destroy Western Civilization, which is essentially secular. Their religious fanaticism is the fundamental reason they hate the United States and the West, and is the reason that rational negotiation with them is impossible. This is a life-and-death struggle between contradictory philosophical systems."
Fall 2001 Activities Fair - Aug 30, 2001; 6-10pm; Houston Field House; The club will be manning a table at this fair which showcases clubs and extracurricular activities available to students at RPI.
ARI Student Conference and Ford Hall Forum - Apr 29, 2001; Boston, MA; ARI held a conference for members of and those interested in forming Objectivist clubs on university campuses. The speakers included Yaron Brook, director of ARI, Dr. Andrew Bernstein, Stewart Margolis, ARI Campus Club Program Coordinator, and Jason Crawford, former president of the CMU Objectivist club. After the conference, Dr. Peikoff gave a talk - now available from his website - at the Ford Hall Forum in anticipation of his forthcoming book, The One in the Many: How to Create It and Why.
Public Forum/Discussion - Apr 2001; 7pm; Union; Club president, Aneel Lakhani presented a talk on "Multiculturalism." Discussion followed.
Lecture by David Harriman - Oct 11, 2000; 7pm; DCC 324; David Harriman spoke on the "Fall of Physics and Its Cause"
Ford Hall Forum - Apr 1996; Brian Ignat, Will Pierce, and
Sam Potterf attended the Ford Hall Forum in Boston where Ayn Rand's philosophical
heir, Dr. Leonard Piekoff, gave a talk about the philosophical ramifications
of the O.J. Simpson verdict. Very entertaining... and frightening.
Conference - Mar 1996; During spring break, Will Pierce, Brian
Ignat, Mike Thibodeau, and Michael Pierce attended the Lyceum International
conference, A Celebration of Ayn Rand's Life .
Video - Nov 4, 1994; 6pm; Shelnutt Gallery, Union; Brian Ignat presented a video of a speech by Dr. John Ridpath entitled "Ayn Rand and the History of Individual Rights."
Speech - Nov 18, 1994; 6pm; DCC337; Arguments presented against Racism!
- delivered by Will Pierce. Discussion followed.
Second Renaissance Conference - Jul 1994; Secaucus, NJ; Sam Potterf attended
the SRB conference, participating in courses such as
'The Philosophical and Literary Integration of Atlas Shrugged', and 'Chewing
the Objectivist Virtues'.
A Sense of Life - Feb 13, 1998; Opening in New York City of this movie by Michael Paxton on the life of Ayn Rand. A Sense of Life site.
Activities Fair - Aug 29, 1998.
ARI Day and Ford Hall Forum - Nov 22, 1998; 'ARI Day' event in the Boston Marriot Copley Place Hotel and Dr. Leonard Peikoff's "A Picture is Not an Argument" talk at the Ford Hall Forum.
"January Jamboree" Activity Fair - Jan 24, 1999; Union.
Microsoft and the Moral Case for Economic Freedom - information
here.
Lecture by Dr. Andrew Bernstein - Apr 14, 1999; 7:15pm
The Ayn Rand Postage Stamp - Apr 1999; released. See an image of it here.
Spring
1999 Semester In Review
©2002 RPI Objectivist Club
