The Assault on Self-Esteem
Hosted by The USC Objectivist Club
Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 7:00pm
USC Campus: Taper Hall of Humanities 201
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In this lecture (and subsequent Q&A session), Dr. Edwin A. Locke identifies the objective basis and critical psychological need of self-esteem and examines four contemporary intellectual movements that--while sometimes claiming to build self-esteem--are working to destroy it. First among these are psychologists who claim that self-esteem is based on social approval, thereby encouraging people to become second-handers. In education the trend is to make students "feel good" by sacrificing academic standards, which makes students less competent to deal with reality. Dr. Locke also looks at the assault on self-esteem mounted by religionists, who advocate humility and faith, and by philosophers, whose persistent attacks on reason have resulted in widespread skepticism and moral self-doubt. The result of these influences has been the gradual destruction of the true source of self-esteem--man's confidence in his own mind. Dr. Locke argues that the antidote to these influences is the philosophy of Objectivism.
About the Speaker(s)
Dr. Edwin A. Locke, Dean's Professor Emeritus of Leadership and Motivation at the University of Maryland, has published more than 230 articles, chapters, and books on subjects such as leadership, work motivation, goal setting, job satisfaction, incentives, and the philosophy of science. He is internationally known for his work on human motivation. He is the author of such books as The Prime Movers: Traits of the Great Wealth Creators, Goal Setting: A Motivational Technique That Works, and Post Modernism and Management: Pros, Cons and the Alterantive. He is also the editor of Principles of Organizational Behavior. Dr. Locke is a consulting editor for professional journals, and his commentaries were published in numerous newspapers, including The Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Houston Chronicle, the Dallas Morning News, the Detroit Free Press, the Arizona Republic, the Boston Globe, the Orange County Register, and the Cincinnati Enquirer.
