| 2005 Summer Seminar |
—William Thomas, M.A.
Course Description:
Friendship and family relations are the two basic axes of intimate relations among individuals. Friendships are chosen relationships and vary from most casual to the most intimate personal connections we can develop. Family relations have a blind or unchosen element—parents may choose to have children, but they do not choose who those children will be; and children do not choose their parents at all—and can be a source of great value, and a source of false obligations. In this pair of lectures, William Thomas will discuss the Objectivist approach to achieving healthy and rational relationships in these areas, untangling the values at stake in different levels of intimacy and different degrees of obligation.
Subtitled “Ways and Means of Friendship,” the first lecture in this pair addresses issues such as determining the potential for value in a relationship, the trade-offs between long and short-term values in friendship, and the application of principles of justice in resolving disputes or recovering from misdeeds. What friendship is and how Objectivism views it will also be discussed.
William Thomas is Director of Programs at the Center. He is the editor of The Literary Art of Ayn Rand and author of the audio course The Essence of Objectivism. He has spoken at past Summer Seminars on virtues, children’s rights, and the values to be gained from parenting. He has a master’s degree in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Schedule: Thursday, 11:30 - 12:45 PM
Track: Applying Objectivism