Professor of Philosophy
University of Texas at Austin
Tara Smith is a professor of philosophy at the University of Texas. Dr. Smith’s main interests concern the nature of values, virtues, and the requirements of objective law.
Dr. Smith’s most recent book is Egoism Without Permission: The Moral Psychology of Ayn Rand’s Ethics. Other books are The First Amendment: Essays on the Imperative of Intellectual Freedom; Judicial Review in an Objective Legal System; Ayn Rand’s Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist; Viable Values: A Study of Life as the Root and Reward of Morality; and Moral Rights and Political Freedom. Her scholarly articles span a wide range of subjects, from religious freedom and the “rational basis test” (in law) to the virtue of pride, the value of friendship, and the value of sport for the serious fan.
At UT, Smith holds the Anthem Foundation Fellowship. Dr. Smith is a member of the board of directors of the Ayn Rand Institute.
Philosophy
University of Texas at Austin
1989 – present
Board of Directors
Ayn Rand Institute
2009 – present
“Forbidding Life to Those Still Living” in Essays on Ayn Rand’s “We the Living” April 15, 2004
“Unborrowed Vision: Independence and Egoism in The Fountainhead” in Essays on Ayn Rand’s “The Fountainhead” November 24, 2006
“No Tributes to Caesar: Good or Evil in Atlas Shrugged” in Essays on Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” April 28, 2009
“Humanity’s Darkest Evil: The Lethal Destructiveness of Non-Objective Law” in Essays on Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” April 28, 2009
The First Amendment: Essays on the Imperative of Intellectual Freedom
Egoism Without Permission: The Moral Psychology of Ayn Rand’s Ethics May 21, 2024
Judicial Review in an Objective Legal System September 28, 2015
Ayn Rand’s Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist May 01, 2006
Viable Values: A Study of Life as the Root and Reward of Morality January 12, 2000
Moral Rights and Political Freedom June 13, 1995
“Originalism, Vintage or Nouveau: He Said, She Said Law” in Fordham Law Review 2013
“Reckless Caution: The Perils of Judicial Minimalism” in NYU Journal of Law & Liberty 2010
“Originalism’s Misplaced Fidelity: ‘Original’ Meaning Is Not Objective” in Constitutional Commentary 2009
“Rationality and Objectivity”
“Self-Interest”
“Moral Ambition: Perfection and Pride”
“The Value of Purpose”
“Passing Judgment: Ayn Rand’s View of Justice”
“How ‘Activist’ Should Judges Be?”
“The Menace of Pragmatism”
“The Pursuit of Happiness — and Tools for Attaining It”
“The Politics of Pretend”
“’To Imagine a Heaven’ — and How Sense of Life Can Help You to Claim It”
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