The Art of Thinking

The Art of Thinking was a lecture course given by Leonard Peikoff at the Objectivist summer conference in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1992. In the course description, Dr. Peikoff promised to “teach the student how to make the principles of Objectivist epistemology the actual guide of his own daily thought processes. This is a course in what to do with one’s mind during an act of thought, when to do it, and how to do it. The result for the student should be increased mental efficacy and greater ease in dealing with ideas.” Leonard Peikoff is the preeminent Ayn Rand scholar. He worked closely with Rand in New York City for thirty years and was designated as legal and literary heir to her estate. He has taught philosophy at several places, including Hunter College and New York University, and he has lectured on Rand’s philosophy throughout the United States. Dr. Peikoff is the author of Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand; The DIM Hypothesis: Why the Lights of the West Are Going Out; The Ominous Parallels: The End of Freedom in America; and Keeping It Real: Bringing Ideas Down to Earth. He grew up in Western Canada and now lives in Southern California. Michael S. Berliner holds a PhD in philosophy and taught for many years at California State University, Northridge. The founding executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute, he is the editor of three other books by Dr. Peikoff (Understanding Objectivism, Principles of Grammar, and Founders of Western Philosophy: Thales to Hume) as well as Sandra Shaw’s art history book, Windows on Humanity, and biographies of composers Jacques Offenbach and Emmerich Kálmán.