Objectivism Online: Beginning and Advanced

William Thomas also has also spent time recently writing up Objectivism. The fruits of some of this work appear on the TOC Web site. Thomas has completed an essay entitled "What is Objectivism?" It is posted on the site (in the "About Objectivism" section) in the form of answers to a connected set of frequently asked questions (FAQs). "What is Objectivism?" is intended as a compact introduction to the philosophy for the educated layman. The center plans to publish a revised version of this essay as a pamphlet, and Thomas welcomes any comments or suggestions for improvements that TOC members care to offer.

For some years, David Kelley and William Thomas have been collaborating on "The Logical Structure of Objectivism," a revolutionary new systematic survey that demonstrates Objectivism's validity with careful attention to logic and evidence. Thanks to a suggestion from TOC sponsor Greg Perkins, Thomas plans to post revised drafts online for comments as individual chapters are completed. As a first step, and to provide the background against which the revisions are being composed, Thomas and Kelley will post their "Beta" draft of the book on the TOC Web site in the widely used Adobe PDF format. This draft, which was used at the summer seminar in 1999, is not being offered for comments, however.

"No more, please!" Thomas laughs, adding: "But seriously, we received many, many helpful comments on the 'Beta.' Though you never have too many good suggestions, there is a time when you can't use them anymore. Now that revisions of the 'Beta' draft are well under way, its real value now is just to give those interested a clear sense of what the 'LSO' project is and what we're trying to do with it. The revised chapters will make more sense in that context." And the schedule for revisions? "You can only rush research so much. When revised chapters are done, they'll be posted so you can see for yourself how it's coming. And we will definitely want feedback on the revisions."