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Bio for Glenn
Woiceshyn
"Anyone who fights for the future, lives in it today," wrote Ayn Rand,
my favourite novelist and philosopher, in the Introduction to her book: The Romantic
Manifesto.
This statement is profoundly true. And her philosophy of Objectivism -- of reason,
rational self-interest, individualism, laissez-faire capitalism, and romanticism
(in art) -- offers a future worth living in today, a future worth fighting for.
For good or for evil, ideas move the world. Unfortunately, thanks to our mainstream
intellectuals, the world today is moved by evil ideas grounded in mysticism, skepticism,
subjectivism, altruism, collectivism, statism and nihilism. Thankfully, Ayn Rand
provided "new intellectuals" -- i.e., "anyone who chooses to think" -- with
"a philosophy for living on earth," and the intellectual ammunition needed
to bring about a Second Renaissance.
Before deciding to become a "new intellectual" qua writer, I trained and
worked as a professional engineer and, for a decade (1986-95), ran a small, successful
petroleum engineering consultant firm. I switched careers for several reasons; but
the main reason is that my love for philosophy and writing grew even stronger than
my love for engineering. My current life goal is to fully understand Ayn Rand's marvelous
philosophy, and to fully integrate it into my life. Writing serves that end perfectly.
Between 1995 and 1997, I studied philosophy and writing, full time, at the Objectivist
Graduate Center of the Ayn Rand Institute as an auditing student. I began my writing
career in the Fall of 1997. (My OGC instructors included: Leonard
Peikoff, Harry Binswanger, Peter Schwartz, Gary Hull and Robert Garmong. Many
people have contributed to my intellectual growth, but I'm most indebted to Leonard
Peikoff, Harry Binswanger and Peter Schwartz -- all great men.]
Since 1989, I have had dozens of letters-to-the-editor published in newspapers, mostly
in Toronto's Globe and Mail. (My published letters represent a very small fraction
of what I submitted to the media.)
My present focus as a freelancer is to write articles (targeted for newspapers) applying
Objectivism to current issues and newsworthy events. Since I am a new writer, and
since it is very difficult to get newspapers to publish articles sympathetic to Ayn
Rand and her philosophy, I still write letters-to-the-editor, which are relatively
easier to get published.
I hope you find my articles and letters worth reading. If you would like to fight
for the Second Renaissance, but can't afford the time, I strongly recommend giving
financial support to The Ayn Rand Institute
(PHONE: 310-306-9232; WEBSITE: http://www.aynrand.org/).
If you are new to Ayn Rand's philosophy, and are interested in it, then I recommend
(being noncommital about what others say about it until you have at least finished)
reading the following books:
1) Atlas Shrugged -- a novel by Ayn Rand (Theme: The role of the mind in human
existence.)
2) The Fountainhead -- a novel by Ayn Rand (Theme: The virtue of independence.)
3) Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand -- by Leonard
Peikoff
This last book presents Objectivism brilliantly, in its essentials and in hierarchical
order, and provides reference to all of Ayn Rand's other works.
A key to understanding Objectivism, I found, is to understand her theory of epistemology
-- the nature and means of human knowledge. (See: Introduction to Objectivist
Epistemology -- by Ayn Rand.) It makes everything else crystal clear.
Cheers!
Glenn Woiceshyn
© 1997 Glenn Woiceshyn. All rights reserved.
Disclaimer: I am not an official spokesman for Objectivism. Any errors found in my writings are
mine alone. Also, I am not a conservative, neo-conservative, libertarian, or "Kelleyite"
(nor do I subscribe to any other alleged pro-liberty, pro-capitalism, pro-Objectivism
movement) -- I'm proudly an Objectivist.
This article can be found on-line at at http://www.capitalism.org/glennw |
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