The Philosophic Foundations of Freedom: A Conference on the Principle of Individual Rights

What is liberty? Why is it desirable? How is a free society achieved?

Today, it is relatively uncontroversial that freedom is good, but there is widespread disagreement about what it actually constitutes and how to implement it. Some believe that liberty amounts to the wishes of a democracy being carried out; others believe that it is being faithful to a literal interpretation of the Constitution and the Founding Fathers. But is there an objective basis in philosophy for determining what freedom is in principle and in practice?

Ayn Rand, author of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, laid out such philosophic principles: A free society requires limited government that enacts and enforces objective laws for the sole purpose of protecting individual rights. It is where the government does not interfere, by penalty or reward, in thought, production, or trade. It requires a separation of church and state, science and state, education and state, and economics and state.

The Philosophic Foundations of Freedom Conference will focus precisely on these philosophic fundamentals, with numerous talks and Q&A sessions, a leadership seminar on intellectual activism, as well as a panel with a special guest, Alex Kozinski, the Chief Judge of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Saturday, January 30, 2010 - Sunday, January 31, 2010
UCLA Campus: Dodd Hall 147

Admission is FREE and open to the public.
Free lunch will be provided both days, and there may be an opportunity to socialize with the speakers.

Purchase Parking for $10 per day at Structure 3 or Structure 2 at the automated pay stations at each lot. (The parking information kiosk at Wyton Drive and Charles E Young Drive North will be closed.)

Those who RSVP on Facebook will be given priority admission (after UCLA students) if space fills up.

This event is hosted and organized by LOGIC, the UCLA Objectivist Club.
Co-programming with The Federalist Society at UCLA School of Law
Financial support from the Ayn Rand Institute and the UCLA Undergraduate Student Association Board of Directors

Schedule

Note: All talks include a Q&A session.

Saturday, January 30

10:00am - 11:15am Dr. Onkar Ghate Individual Rights: A Revolutionary Idea
11:15am - 12:30pm Dr. Onkar Ghate The Separation of Church and State
12:30pm - 2:00pm Lunch
2:00pm - 3:15pm Thomas A. Bowden, J.D. Is Your iPod Really Yours? Exploring the Principle of Property Rights
3:15pm - 4:30pm Dr. Amy Peikoff Objective Law
4:30pm - 4:45pm Break
4:45pm - 6:00pm Judge Alex Kozinski Panel
6:00pm - 7:30pm Krista Perry Intellectual Activism and Leadership Seminar

Sunday, January 31

10:00am - 11:15am Alex Epstein Separation of State and Economics: Ayn Rand's Revolutionary View on the Government and the Economy
11:15am - 12:30pm Dr. Keith Lockitch Climate Policy in a Free Society
12:30pm - 2:00pm Lunch
2:00pm - 3:15pm Dr. Eric Daniels The Looming Crisis Over Free Speech
3:15pm - 4:30pm Elan Journo Foreign Policy and Freedom
4:30pm - 4:45pm Break
4:45pm - 6:00pm Dr. Onkar Ghate Atlas Shrugged and the Morality of Freedom


Session Details

Individual Rights: A Revolutionary Idea

Dr. Onkar Ghate
Few people today understand the idea at the foundation of the American Revolution and the founders' unique view of government: the idea of individual rights. This talk explores the idea of individual rights, what led to it, and what today is required to defend it.

The Separation of Church and State

Dr. Onkar Ghate
One of the great achievements of America's founders was to separate state from church. Today, however, this principle is widely misunderstood, both by its detractors and supporters. This talk explores the true nature of this principle and why it is a requirement of freedom.

Is Your iPod Really Yours? Exploring the Principle of Property Rights

Thomas A. Bowden, J.D.
Property rights are typically thought to be social constructs reached by a political process that balances the subjective desires of multiple contestants seeking control over physical objects. This talk contrasts that conventional view with Ayn Rand's concept of the right to property as an objective moral principle (not subject to social revocation), identifying man's need to create and control the material values that sustain his life.

Objective Law

Dr. Amy Peikoff
In order for government to protect individual rights, laws must be objective in both content and form. This talk will explain what objectivity entails in this context, and will illustrate--via examples connected to some of today's top news stories--the consequences of non-objective law.

Panel

Judge Alex Kozinski
The panel with Chief Judge Alex Kozinski will include several other conference speakers and will address issues related to the realities of the legal landscape in connection with the Objectivist philosophic position. Questions will be posed by the moderator and taken from the audience.

Intellectual Activism and Leadership Seminar

Krista Perry
Led by Krista Perry and Arthur Lechtholz-Zey, this seminar specifically for students will be an interactive forum to discuss effective methods of activism, teambuilding, and intellectual development.

Separation of State and Economics: Ayn Rand's Revolutionary View on the Government and the Economy

Alex Epstein
Ayn Rand held the radical view that the government should have no role whatsoever in managing our economic lives--a principle she called the "separation of state and economics". This lecture will argue for that principle, and illustrate the positive effects it would lead to in the health care, energy, and financial industries.

Climate Policy in a Free Society

Dr. Keith Lockitch
Many people view climate change as necessitating an expansive role for government in regulating and controlling economic activity. This talk examines the question: how would such global environmental issues as climate change be addressed in a society where government is restricted to the protection of individual rights?

The Looming Crisis Over Free Speech

Dr. Eric Daniels
This lecture examines the top threats to our freedom of speech in America. It identifies the root causes of why free speech is not protected and explains what the proper basis of free speech should be in a free society.

Foreign Policy and Freedom

Elan Journo
American foreign policy has long been enormously controversial--widely denounced as arrogant, selfish, and self-defeating. This talk explores the question: what kind of foreign policy is actually consistent with the principle of individual rights?

Atlas Shrugged and the Morality of Freedom

Dr. Onkar Ghate
Atlas Shrugged is a story about the rarest of revolutions, a revolution in our understanding of morality. Only such a revolution, the novel in effect argues, can restore us on the path to freedom. This talk explores some of the reasons why.


About the Speakers

Dr. Onkar Ghate

Dr. Onkar Ghate is a Senior Fellow at the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights. He teaches at the Ayn Rand Institute's Objectivist Academic Center, speaks on philosophy and Objectivism across North America, and publishes scholarly articles on Ayn Rand's fiction and philosophy. His op-eds have been widely published, including in the Houston Chronicle, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the Providence Journal, the San Diego Business Journal, the Orange County Register, and on BusinessWeek.com. He has given numerous radio interviews, including BBC radio, and has appeared as a television guest on CNBC, KCET, Fox News Channel and the CBS Evening News. Dr. Ghate received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Calgary.

Thomas A. Bowden, J.D.

Thomas A. Bowden, J.D. is an Analyst focusing on legal issues at the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights. His op-eds have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Miami Herald, the Los Angeles Daily News, and elsewhere, and he is a frequent guest on radio and television interview shows. He is the author of The Enemies of Christopher Columbus and a contributing author to The Abolition of Antitrust. He earned his J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law, taught at the University of Baltimore School of Law, and is an attorney with extensive litigation experience in labor and employment, contracts, and real estate. He also is a member of the Board of Directors of The Association for Objective Law.

Dr. Amy Peikoff

Dr. Amy Peikoff is a Visiting Fellow for the Study of Objectivism in Law and Philosophy at Chapman University School of Law. Previously, she was an Associate Professor at the United States Air Force Academy and has also taught at the University of North Carolina and the University of Texas. She has published academic articles on the right to privacy, Searle's theory of rational action, aspects of the novels of Ayn Rand, as well as several opinion pieces in leading newspapers. She earned her B.S. in mathematics and applied science and her J.D. at UCLA, where she served as an editor on the UCLA Law Review. Dr. Peikoff also completed an externship with Judge Alex Kozinski before transferring to UCLA Law. She subsequently earned her Ph.D. in philosophy from USC.

Judge Alex Kozinski

Chief Judge Alex Kozinski was appointed United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit in 1985. He graduated from UCLA, receiving an A.B. degree in 1972, and from UCLA Law School, receiving a J.D. in 1975. Prior to his appointment to the appellate bench, Judge Kozinski served as Chief Judge of the United States Claims Court (1982 - 1985); Special Counsel, Merit Systems Protection Board (1981 - 1982); Assistant Counsel, Office of Counsel to the President, (1981); Deputy Legal Counsel, Office of President-Elect Reagan (1980 - 1981); Attorney, Covington & Burling (1979 - 1981); Attorney, Forry Golbert Singer & Gelles (1977 - 1979); Law Clerk to Chief Justice Warren E. Burger (1976 - 1977); and Law Clerk to Circuit Judge Anthony M. Kennedy, (1975 - 1976).

Alex Epstein

Alex Epstein is a Fellow focusing on business issues at the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights. He is the author of numerous articles on oil and energy, including, most recently, "Energy at the Speed of Thought: The Original Alternative Energy Industry". His op-eds have appeared in such publications as the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Washington Times, and Investor's Business Daily. Mr. Epstein is a frequent speaker at universities around the country, a frequent guest on nationally-syndicated radio programs, as well as a guest panelist on the popular Front Page with Allen Barton show on PJTV.com. Mr. Epstein is an alumnus of Duke University, where he studied philosophy and computer science.

Dr. Keith Lockitch

Dr. Keith Lockitch is a Fellow at the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights and an instructor at the Ayn Rand Institute's Objectivist Academic Center. He is published in the Washington Times, the Orange County Register, the San Francisco Chronicle, Australia's Herald Sun, the Canberra Times, USA Today, and the science policy journal Energy and Environment, and is a contributing writer for The Objective Standard. Dr. Lockitch speaks frequently on science and environmental policy and has appeared on radio shows such as The Thom Hartmann Program. Dr. Lockitch holds a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee and has conducted postdoctoral research in relativistic astrophysics at the University of Illinois and Pennsylvania State University.

Dr. Eric Daniels

Dr. Eric Daniels is a Research Assistant Professor at Clemson University's Institute for the Study of Capitalism. He has lectured internationally on American history, particularly on American intellectual history, business history, and political history. He taught for five years at Duke University's Program on Values and Ethics in the Marketplace, where he was nominated for a university-wide teaching award. Dr. Daniels was a contributor to the Oxford Companion to United States History, wrote a chapter in The Abolition of Antitrust, and co-authored the U.S. Economic Freedom Index: 2008 Report. He has appeared on C-SPAN and Voice of America Radio.

Elan Journo

Elan Journo is a Resident Fellow focusing on foreign policy issues at the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights. He is the editor of and chief contributor to Winning the Unwinnable War: America's Self-Crippled Response to Islamic Totalitarianism. His op-eds have appeared in such publications as The Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Houston Chronicle, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Orange County Register, Australia's Herald Sun, the Canberra Times, and Canada's Globe and Mail. Mr. Journo is also a contributing writer for The Objective Standard, has lectured at many college campuses, and has given numerous radio interviews on foreign policy and the threat of Islamic totalitarianism.

Krista Perry

Programming Assistant for the Office of Residential Life at UCLA and Events Director for LOGIC