Boulder!

Just how good was the 1998 IOS Summer Seminar?

According to Sean McDermott: "This is definitely the highlight of my summer. My understanding of Objectivism, theory and practice, has been refined and sharpened. And the people I met are all of an extremely high caliber."

"I can't imagine a more valuable way to spend my summer vacation," said Rebecca Reale. "Where else can you debate children's rights, witness the process of a theatrical rehearsal, discuss constitutional law, learn to foxtrot and juggle, undergo hypnosis, form long-lasting friendships, and 'get down' on the dance floor with brilliant speakers and authors—all in one week? I can hardly wait for next year."

For Elliott Reed: "The seminar was the highlight of the year. I had never expected to meet so many wonderful, intelligent, rational people, or to be so stimulated by the sessions."

For Samantha Johnston: "This week has been one of the best of my life. I feel refueled and ready to return to my home, my job, and my friends and my family with a better sense of who I am as an Objectivist, and how I can improve each of those areas of my life. I've also made some wonderful friends."

Achieving success of this magnitude has been a long process. Nine years ago, when IOS held its first summer seminar, the accommodations were Spartan; the fare was philosophy and nothing but; and IOS executive director David Kelley was the only instructor. A total of nineteen people attended. As the testimony quoted above demonstrates, the 1998 IOS Summer Seminar was in a completely different category, qualitatively and as well as quantitatively, with 27 lecturers and 253 people attending.

Start with the setting. Pictures do not do justice to the beauty of the campus at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Even the best postcards do not convey how right there the Flatiron Range seems from campus or how awe-inspiring are the distant, snow-capped Rockies in July.

Williams Village was the locus of conference life, apart from the time spent in lectures. It was the place where participants registered on the afternoon of Saturday, July 4, and where the opening cookout was held that evening. At Williams, too, were the IOS office and bookstore—and the common room, site of nightly debate and discussion. To highlight the cookout, conference director Donald Heath gave a reading of the Declaration of Independence that was strirring not only in the document's sweeping start and finish but in each of the lashing charges against George III. Following this, most participants left for a fireworks display that was pronounced "best ever seen," even by some accustomed to New York City's lavish display.

On Sunday morning, the intellectual work of the week began when David Kelley delivered his second annual State of the Culture address. He remarked that the past year had seen Objectivism emerge as a cultural player at a greatly accelerated pace: Writers now assume as a matter of course that their readers know the name Ayn Rand and the titles of her works. Better still, Kelley added, attention is shifting away from Rand's personal life and over to her ideas. Kelley then went on to discuss the state of the culture wars in terms of the "three subcultures" he described in 1997: the Enlightenment subculture to which Objectivism belongs, and its two opponents: the pre-Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment subcultures. (This topic will be taken up in much greater detail at Objectivism Today on October 24) Lastly, Kelley described how the pre- and post- Enlightenment subcultures give rise to two distinct strains of altruism present in today's society. "I could hear it again, and again, and again, and still be on the edge of my seat," said Blake Rodger. "Parcelling up today's culture into three philosophies helps me to read the culture with a more perfect set of eyewear."

Two Grand Slams

For the latter part of Sunday morning, and also Monday morning, Susan McCloskey presented what was surely the most dramatically titled and very possibly the most enthusiastically received sessions of the whole conference: "Odysseus, Jesus, and Dagny." In her first lecture, McCloskey looked in turn at a classical epic (The Odyssey), a Christian epic (the Gospel narrative), and an Objectivist epic (Atlas Shrugged) and pointed out along the way the differences in parallel elements, such as the hero's or heroine's quest for "home." In her second lecture, McCloskey focused in detail on Ayn Rand's extensive use of classical and Christian symbolism, and concluded by describing Rand as one who "embraced and transformed the literary tradition that nourished her." Among the innumerable accolades bestowed on McCloskey's talk were "fascinating, informative, and delightful," "a real winner in every way," and "electrifying." "It moved me to tears," said Margo Tong, "I would travel anywhere to hear her thoughts." Or as thirteen-year-old Corinne Low put it: "Susan McCloskey rocked!"

Yet another major hit of the conference took place on Sunday and Monday, this time in the afternoon: Stephen Hicks's "Post-Modernism." The traditional Objectivist explanation of today's cultural chaos is incomplete, Hicks asserted. Modern subjectivism does indeed trace back to Kantian epistemology. But if post-modernist (or post-Enlightenment) scholars were just subjectivists, one would expect them to be all over the map politically. Instead, they are almost uniformly Leftist. Hicks argued that this fact implies Leftism is the fundamental commitment of the post-modernists, while relativism is a tactic by which they confront the defeat of their political philosophy in theory and the world.

As for the driving force behind the post-modernist commitment to Leftism, Hicks suggested that the unprecedented nastiness, darkness, and perversion to be found in post-modernist writing points to the existence of a feeling that Nietzsche called ressentiment, a bitter emotion based on frustrated vindictiveness. Amanda Yeskis exclaimed: "Best I've heard! A leading philosopher in the making." And others who attended Hicks's sessions likewise remarked not only on the superlative quality of the talks but on hopes that Hicks will play a ever-larger role in the Objectivist movement.

An Experiment Worth Refining

On Monday afternoon, John Hospers, Eric Mack, and David Kelley came together for a discussion on the foundations of ethics. This was one part of a six-part "Challenges" series, an experimental program based on a statement in David Kelley's Truth and Toleration: "When we hear a new objection to our philosophy, it is [easy] to slam the system down upon it, dismissing it with the first argument that comes to mind. The best defense against this tendency is a willingness to engage in discussion and debate with those who disagree with us." In that spirit, the seminar invited three philosophers (Hospers, Mack, and George Smith) who are intimately familiar with Objectivism but who raise questions about its central tenets. Unquestionably, the idea behind the Challenge series was on target. Jamie Mellway gave as his primary reason for attending the conference: "Having George Smith and Eric Mack give talks let me know that the conference was more open than I was expecting." But the prevailing opinion was that the experiment needs refining, perhaps in the direction of formal, moderated debates.

Liberty Lectures

As always, the IOS summer seminar never let the cause of freedom slip from sight. On Sunday, George Smith and David Kelley discussed the natural basis of rights. On Monday, Stephen Moses explained how government intervention has produced the health-care crisis; on Tuesday morning, Robert Poole discussed the privatization of traditional government monopolies, such as airports, highways, and water supply; and on Tuesday afternoon, Eric Mack explicated the theory set forth in John Rawls's A Theory of Justice. On Thursday, in a talk much heralded for its clarity and originality, Will Thomas unveiled a new theory regarding children's rights. And in two sessions closing out the week, the always-illuminating David Mayer explained how a failure to read the Constitution contextually—as a document designed to protect freedom and limit government—had made the welfare state possible. "Bring Mayer back again next year," pleaded Matt Zwolinski. "He's a major reason I came here."

Art and Psychology

More unusual than the libertarianism lectures were the number of offerings in psychology and art, although those fields have been closely associated with Objectivism since its beginnings. John Enright returned with his popular lecture on poetry. Artist Michael Newberry (who had a week-long exhibition of paintings and drawings) gave a talk on Monday night; a discussion of theater, including shadow-puppetry, was the very different fare offered on Tuesday night by Salil Singh. On Tuesday and Wednesday morning, traditional drama took center stage as Michael Landman demonstrated how a director works with actors to shape a scene. Commented Elaine Ring: "This seminar, with its emphasis on aesthetics, did more to enhance the value of the Objectivist life and added more value to my life than any ten books on metaphysics and epistemology."

Among the offerings in psychology were Nell Robinson's four-session workshop: The Pursuit of Happiness. Karen Anderson wrote later: "So many philosophers forget that philosophy itself is just a means to an end—that being happiness, of course. This workshop went back to basics and was tremendously effective." A lecture by Carol B. Low, on the continuity between body and brain, also contributed the psychology sequence. On Thursday and Friday, two of IOS's most popular lecturers—Nathaniel Branden and Robert Bidinotto—delivered related talks that straddled the border of philosophy and psychology: "The Value-Seeking Personality" (Bidinotto) and "On Loving One's Life" (Branden). In both cases, "inspirational" was the word that turned up most often on the evaluation forms.

Recreation

If all production and no recreation makes Jack a dull boy, there were no dullards in Boulder. On Tuesday came the Sponsors Dinner, which offered a panoramic view of Boulder at sunset; a fine dinner; and an inspiring talk on the achievements of the institute, delivered by IOS's chairman, Frank Bond. (See box on page 6.) Many used the half-day break on Wednesday for catching up on sleep, but others undertook far more arduous recreation, including mountain climbing. Thursday brought "In Performance," the seminar's amateur night. And on Friday, the recreation was dancing, as it came time to celebrate the seminar with a closing banquet.

At that banquet, however, every attempt to sum up the seminar was greeted with a chorus of "One more week! One more week!" And in fact, for many, the seminar did not end on Friday. They stayed on at additional expense to discuss philosophy, psychology, politics, and art. For a few, it was not until Tuesday that the "week" finally ended, or, one might say, came to a temporary close—of 354 days.

Sources of Growth

The evaluations handed in by participants make clear that at least three features of the IOS seminar, apart from its pure intellectual content, are fuelling its yearly growth. First is the increasing value the seminar offers to those who return. Said Shawn Klein: "This was one of the best seminars yet in my four-year history. I can't pinpoint what was so great; it was the whole thing. Great lectures, lots of fun socially. Maybe because I have friends who come back every year, the relationships just get better, which makes the whole experience great. After my first conference, four years ago, I knew that so long as it was in my power I would continue to return to the conference." Remarking on the same point, Johann Gevers said: "It just gets better every year. Both the social and the intellectual dimensions were a huge source of pleasure for me this year. I can hardly wait to return 'home' in a year's time!"

A second source of growth is the seminar's increasing ability to serve as a family vacation. Greg Peisert wrote that "Our entire family, ranging in ages from 17 to 45, came with diverse interests from psychology and human relationships to theater, fine arts, and advanced issues in philosophy and ethics. Every one of us is leaving this seminar feeling enriched, that the experience was well worth the investment of time and money, and each of us is leaving with new friends and acquaintances. When you consider our diversity of ages, perspectives, and interests, this result is almost astonishing."

Last, but far from least, is the special pleasure that the seminar offers to those who have had unfortunate experiences with Objectivist behavior. Shawn Kraut wrote: "One of my biggest fears coming to the conference was that the atmosphere would be cold and dogmatic. However, I found most people to be warm and eager for free discussion. And I found the talks, including the participant-sponsored sessions, to be intriguing and thought-provoking. I consider the honest exploration and critique of ideas to be essential to human development and the pursuit of this value by IOS only enhances it as a dynamic and vibrant organization."

Likewise, Adair Lane observed: "The week was a wonderful experience, both intellectually and socially. I especially appreciated the open, friendly atmosphere—I had a sense that it was OK to ask questions, challenge ideas, hold different opinions. David Kelley has made a great contribution to Objectivism (and to Objectivists) in promoting and providing this atmosphere within IOS."

(Ari Armstrong, David Axel, and Patricia Speer contributed to this story. All pictures are courtesy of Patricia Speer.)