Peter Schwartz

Distinguished Fellow
Ayn Rand Institute

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Peter Schwartz is the author of In Defense of Selfishness: Why the Code of Self-Sacrifice Is Unjust and Destructive (St. Martin’s Press, 2015).

He is a former chairman of the board, and currently a distinguished fellow, of the Ayn Rand Institute in Irvine, California. He writes and lectures extensively on topics ranging from ethics and political philosophy to environmentalism and multiculturalism.

Schwartz is the author of The Foreign Policy of Self-Interest: A Moral Ideal for America (ARI Press), Libertarianism: The Perversion of Liberty (ARI Press) and The Battle for Laissez-Faire Capitalism (Intellectual Activist).

He was the founding editor and publisher of The Intellectual Activist (1979 – 1991), a periodical that covered political/social issues from a pro-individual rights orientation. From 1987 – 2003 he was president and editor-in-chief of Second Renaissance Books, a publisher and distributor of titles promoting the value of reason, individualism, science, technology and capitalism.

In addition, he is the editor and contributing author of Ayn Rand’s Return of the Primitive: The Anti-Industrial Revolution (Meridian), and co-editor of Objectively Speaking: Ayn Rand Interviewed (Lexington Books).

For more information about Peter Schwartz’s writings and talks, and to follow his blogs, please visit: www.peterschwartz.com.

Career Roles

EDITOR AND PUBLISHER

  • The Intellectual Activist
    1979 – 1991

PRESIDENT AND EDITOR IN CHIEF

  • Second Renaissance Books
    1987 – 2003

CHAIRMAN BOARD OF DIRECTORS

  • Ayn Rand Institute
    1994 – 2005

DISTINGUISHED FELLOW

  • Ayn Rand Institute
    2006 – Present

Selected Works

TALKS AND LECTURES

“Altruism vs. Priniciples”

“Analyzing Libertarianism: A Case Study in Thinking in Principles”

“Barriers to Cognition”

“Capitalism and Selfishness: Ayn Rand’s Radical Code of Values”

“Clarity in Conceptualization: The Art of Identifying Package Deals”

“Contextual Knowledge”

“Environmentalism: Sacrificing Mankind to Nature”

“Free Minds and Free Markets”

“Integration by Essentials”

“Multiculturalism and the Anti-Conceptual Mentality”

“New Primitivism: Today’s Attack on Reason and Individualism”

“Requirements of Objective Journalism”

“The ‘Diversity’ Delusion”

“The Epistemology of Altruism”

“The Objectivist Virtue of Selfishness”

“The Threats to Freedom: A Philosophic Dissection”

“The Writing Process”