Moralism in Objectivism

D. Moskovitz is pursuing a PhD in Clinical Science at the University of California, Berkeley, where he is conducting research on narcissism with the support of a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.  He earned his BA in Evolutionary Psychology and Philosophy from Harvard University, where he conducted research on non-human primate cognition, and has written and lectured for The Objectivist Center.

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APPENDIX

If you have already read or listened to D.'s talk, and are curious to learn more about his ideas on the subject of the biological basis for empathy, he has written a rough draft of an academic paper that considers that subject. For more information and for quick access, click here.

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Good evening. My name is D. Moskovitz and the title of my talk today is "Moralism in Objectivism: Why It's Bad and How We Can Get Rid of It." I want to start by thanking a certain person for inspiring me to give this talk: Nathaniel Branden. Only after I wrote out a draft of this lecture did I look back at an article of his that I haven't read for years, "The Benefits and Hazards of the Philosophy of Ayn Rand" from the Journal of Humanistic Psychology. I had forgotten that in this essay, Branden wrote insightfully about moralism in Objectivism. His comments on moralism aren't as extensive as the comments in this talk, but without his insights I probably wouldn't have thought to explore the matter as extensively as I have.