Washington Metro Objectivism Discussion (WMOD) 
			  
		  February 1996 Meeting
    
		  GAME FOR OBJECTIVISTS 


 The February 21 meeting of WMOD will focus on a game that 
 has been suggested as a means for developing a deeper 
 understanding of Objectivist ideas.  I first heard of the 
 "Concepts in a Hat" game in a tape lecture recorded by 
 philosopher Leonard Peikoff in 1987.  He said that when 
 he was first learning Objectivism, he was helped by playing 
 this game.  Nathaniel Branden has also said that that he 
 found this game useful.  

 The rules are quite simple: just take 25 or more ideas 
 central to Objectivism, write them on slips of paper, put 
 them in a bowl or hat, draw two at random, and then try to 
 explain the relationship between the ideas.  First you have 
 to define the two ideas, and then you have to determine 
 whether one is dependent on the other, or whether they are 
 both dependent on a third idea.  

 For example, Peikoff says that when he started playing the 
 game many years ago, he was stumped when he was asked to 
 explain the connection between "private roads" and "the 
 validity of the senses". 

 Finally he worked it out.  Private roads are an expression 
 of the fact that the purpose of government is only the 
 protection of individual rights. Individual rights are 
 defended on the basis that man is a rational being who 
 survives by the exercise of his mind, so he has to be left 
 free.  Finally, the validity of man's mind depends on the 
 validity of the senses because the mind is the 
 conceptualization of sensory data.  Therefore you can see 
 from this rough analysis that it is useless to argue for  
 private roads with someone who rejects the validity of the senses.

		      When and Where?


 Join us for dinner on Wednesday 2/21 when we will discuss the
 game and attempt to play it.  You can either join us for dinner
 at 7 pm and/or for the discussion at 8:15 pm at the Fortune 
 Chinese Restaurant at Baileys  Xroads, VA on Route 7 between 
 7 Corners and Columbia Pike (5900  Leesburg Pike 703/998-8888). 
 You can take METRO to the West Falls  Church stop and then take 
 METRO buses 29A or 29B East on Route 7 toward Baileys Xroads. 
 The Fortune is on this route. After the meeting we can give you 
 a ride back to a METRO station.  WMOD has  arranged for a $15 
 fixed price dinner (including tax and tip).  Or you can order 
 from the menu.  Please RSVP to WMOD (703) 820-7696 before noon 
 Wednesday 2/21 so that we can tell the restaurant how many 
 tables to set up. 

		March 9 in NYC: Ayn Rand's Life

 Lyceum International will hold a day-long "Celebration of Ayn 
 Rand's Life" on Saturday March 9 at the New York Marriott 
 Financial Center.  The talks include:

 * "Discovering Ayn Rand: the Expected and the unexpected, 
   or The Adventures of a Biographer" by Richard E Ralston;
 * "Ayn Rand's Journals" by David Harriman; 
 * "The Making of a Documentary" (with footage from the 
   documentary "Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life";
 * "Treasures from the Archives" by Michael Berliner; and
 * Q&A with all lecturers. 

 Call the Lyceum at (360) 876-5868 for more information.

	      Spring and Summer Confernces

 The Institute for Objectivist Studies will hold its 1996 Summer 
 Philosophy Seminar in Boulder, CO during July.  In May IOS will 
 hold their annual Objectivism Today conference in NYC.  For the 
 latest details, check out the IOS website at http://ios.org, 
 call (914) 471-6100, or email ios@ios.org.

 Second Renaissance Conferences has announced that their conference 
 "Ideas for the Rational Mind" will be held 6/29-7/14 at Tysons 
 Corner, VA. Call (203) 791-1755 for information.

 +----------------------+-----------------------------+
 |Dave Saum             |Email  : DSaum at infiltec.com       |
 |WMOD                  |Tel    : 703/820-7696        |
 |PO Box 8007           |Fax    : 703/671-9350        | 
 |Falls Church, VA 22041|"Sapere aude" (dare to know) |
 +----------------------+-----------------------------+

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