WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 NRP-Ayn-Rand-event
WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As Barack Obama announced his new national security team, a list that includes Hillary Clinton and current defense secretary Robert Gates, he stated that his team members share his "pragmatism about the use of power" in foreign policy.
But according to Dr. Tara Smith, speaking for the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights, a pragmatic approach to America's foreign policy spells doom for America's national security.
Democratic presidents like Obama and Republican presidents like Bush outwardly disagree vehemently about foreign policy and all manner of moral and political issues. Yet beneath that disagreement rests the shared presumption -- although it is not always obvious -- that the way forward is always through moderation and compromise. They are both wrong. Pragmatism cannot lead us to victory in war or security in peace. Pragmatism, from either the Left or the Right, is inherently self-destructive and a threat to Americans.
To explain what pragmatism is and why it is so dangerous in all areas, not just foreign policy, Dr. Smith will speak at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on December 8, 2008. The talk is FREE and open to the public.
Event information:
The Menace of Pragmatism: How Aversion to Principle Is Destroying America
Who: Dr. Tara Smith, professor of philosophy at the University of Texas and speaker for the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights
What: A talk explaining the cultural influence and the destructive nature of pragmatism. A Q&A will follow.
Where: National Press Club, 529 14th Street NW, 13th floor, Washington, D.C. 20045
When: Monday, December 8, 2008, at 6:30 pm
Bio: Tara Smith is a professor of philosophy at the University of Texas, where she holds the BB&T Chair for the Study of Objectivism and is the university's Anthem Foundation Fellow. She is the author of the books "Moral Rights and Political Freedom," "Viable Values: A Study of Life as the Root and Reward of Morality," and "Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist," as well as numerous articles.
For more information about this talk, please e-mail media@aynrandcenter.org.
Dr. Tara Smith is available for interviews now and after her talk.
For more information on Objectivism's unique point of view, go to ARC's Web site http://www.aynrand.org/. The Ayn Rand Center is a division of the Ayn Rand Institute and promotes the philosophy of Ayn Rand, author of "Atlas Shrugged" and "The Fountainhead."
SOURCE Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights
