From Craig Biddle at The Objective Standard:
Dear Friend of Capitalism,
I am pleased to announce the official launch of The Objective Standard: www.TheObjectiveStandard.com. You can now see the contents of our premier issue, read our statement of purpose (also reprinted below), check out our upcoming events, and subscribe to the print or online version of the journal.
If you plan to subscribe to the print version–which I highly recommend, since issues will average 100 pages in length–please do so by February 17th to ensure that your first issue is included in our initial mailing, scheduled for early March. Access to the online version of the journal will be available to all subscribers in mid-March.
Whatever your choice of subscription, we look forward to providing you with philosophical journalism as it might and ought to be. Please feel free to forward this information to anyone who you think might be interested in The Objective Standard.
Best wishes,
Craig Biddle
Editor, The Objective Standard
www.theobjectivestandard.com
Statement of PurposeThe Objective Standard is a quarterly journal of culture and politics based on the idea that for every human concern—from personal matters to foreign policy, from the sciences to the arts, from education to legislation—there are demonstrably objective standards by reference to which we can assess what is true or false, good or bad, right or wrong. The purpose of the journal is to analyze and evaluate ideas, trends, events, and policies accordingly.
We maintain that the standards of both knowledge and value derive from the facts of reality; that truth is discovered only by means of reason, i.e., through observation and logic; that the factual requirements of man’s life on earth determine his moral values; that the selfish pursuit of one’s own life-serving goals is virtuous; and that individual rights are moral principles defining the fundamental requirements of a civilized society.
We stand opposed to the notion that the standards of knowledge and value are not factual but subjective (feeling-based) or other-worldly (faith-based); that truth is ultimately dictated by majority opinion or a “supernatural” being’s will; that democratic consensus or “God’s word” determines what is moral; that sacrifice for the common good or in obedience to “God’s commands” is virtuous; and that rights are social conventions or “divine decrees.”
In stark contrast to these philosophic approaches, ours is a philosophy of reality, reason, egoism, and laissez-faire capitalism. In a word, we uphold Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand, and it serves as our frame of reference in analyzing the cultural and political issues of the day. [link]