Current Courses

Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology

(taught by Dr. Harry Binswanger)

A systematic, detailed study of Ayn Rand’s Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, aimed at providing the student with a thorough familiarity with the nature, basis, and proper use of concepts.

(Offered October 2007–June 2008)

Confusions Papers I

(recorded seminars taught by Dr. Leonard Peikoff, with discussions by Dr. Onkar Ghate)

In 1994–1995, Dr. Leonard Peikoff offered a series of advanced seminars on Objectivism. The student’s assignment was to select a broad topic within Objectivism, one about which he felt substantial confusion or unclarity, and then to write a one-page paper on the topic. In the paper the student identified what he thought he understood about the topic and what precisely were the points of confusion or unclarity in his mind. The seminars consisted of Dr. Peikoff’s critiques of these papers, with emphasis on the broader principles of philosophic thinking involved in the student's confusion and misunderstanding.

For this OAC graduate course, the assignment is to first read the old student’s “confusion paper” and then to write a short (no more than one-page) assessment of the fundamental error(s) in content and/or method that are causing the student’s confusion. One then will listen to a recording of Dr. Peikoff’s analysis of the student’s paper. Afterward, the assignment is to write a one-page paper on what fundamental, wide-ranging lesson(s) one learned from Dr. Peikoff’s analysis.

(Offered July 2008–August 2008)

Previous Courses

Confusions Papers II

(recorded seminars taught by Dr. Leonard Peikoff, with discussions by Dr. Onkar Ghate)

This is a continuation of Confusions Papers I, with the same format. Completion of Confusions Papers I is a prerequisite for this course.

The History of Capitalism in the United States

(taught by Dr. Eric Daniels)

This two-semester course explores the political, intellectual, and legal developments that transformed the United States from a mostly capitalist nation into a mixed economy. It examines the interrelationship between the predominant philosophy of the culture and how it affected politics, the legal system, and the economy. Students learn the concrete details of how the mixed economy took root in America as well as the philosophic arguments behind that system. By understanding these historical developments, students are able to analyze the essential nature of government policies and assess their overall effect on a free economy.

Practicum in Philosophic Method

(taught by Dr. Harry Binswanger)

Practical exercises in philosophic identification and exposition. For each class, one or two students will write a very short paper (500–750 words) on a different, pre-arranged topic for in-class analysis by Dr. Binswanger. The primary emphasis will be on critiquing the paper's methodology, but the validity of the content will also be assessed.

Paper topics will vary across the whole scope of philosophy, according to the student's interest; some will be on issues at the frontier of the student's understanding, problems he's currently grappling with; others will be on issues the student judges he has well under his control. We will meet for approximately 2 hours, once per week.