Talk:John Ridpath

Untitled
This man is not a famous philosopher.

Yes, Dr. Ridpath is an intellectual historian, not a philosopher. Endlessmike 888 00:05, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

The keyword is "famous"--I edited much of this article and had extensive discussions with Dr. Ridpath out of his York University office before his retirement. He is most definitely a philosopher as well as a historian of ideas (it is clear he has mastered volumes on the history of philosophy and its cultural impact), unfortunately, not widely recognized outside of Objectivist circles.

Is Ridpath is self-editing?
A series of favorable edits from the IP 74.97.136.162 were made on 21-22 Oct 2006. The Whois entry for this IP reads as follows:

(Asked whois.arin.net:43 about +74.97.136.162)

OrgName:   Rogers Cable Communications Inc.  OrgID:      RCC-99 Address:   One Mount Pleasant City:      Toronto StateProv: ON  PostalCode: M4Y-2Y5 Country:   CA

Ridpath is from Toronto, the source of this IP address.

The edits made from that IP over the course of those two days include:

-Adding Ridpath's birth date

-Changing "was nearly terminated for his outspoken radical views" to "was nearly terminated for his outspoken radical views and his avowed hatred of much of York University's faculty, which is comprised largely of leftists"

-Adding "He has a son, Jefferson Ridpath, named after Thomas Jefferson, of whom he is a great admirer"

Clearly these edits, which include much personal information, were likely made by Ridpath himself.

—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 205.155.150.210 (talk) 23:05, 9 March 2007 (UTC).

No, Ridpath is Not Self-Editing
Ridpath did not make these edits; I, Ryan Jamieson of the Toronto-area, did. Here is some supporting evidence:

(1) Ridpath's birth YEAR (not date) was obtained by inference from his year of mandatory retirement (in 2001, he was age 65).

(2) I personally interviewed Ridpath while I attended York University as a student in 2000.[1] I also witnessed first-hand his interactions with other faculty members in light of their philosophical views.

(3) When I asked him about his relations with colleagues at the University, he told me a number of prominent, tenured professors tried to have him fired; he was an anathema.

(4) Like many Objectivists, Ridpath is an admirer of the U.S. Founding Fathers, including Jefferson.

(5) During our discussions, he told me he had a son, Jefferson, who worked with computers; I discovered his son's web page via Google.

If you want more proof that it was I, not Ridpath, who made these edits, I am happy to supply it.

Notes:

[1] Here is evidence that I attended York University--though these postings are from circa 2002, the course is a 3000-level (i.e., 3rd-year) math course: http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&safe=active&q=%22Ryan+Jamieson%22+site%3Ayorku.ca&meta=

—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 65.112.42.83 (talk) 21:50, 16 March 2007 (UTC).

Prof. Ridpath’s Only Ayn Rand Institute Op-Ed
Currently we have an external link to Prof. Ridpath’s only, to date, ARI article “America Needs a Leader Like George Washington” but the source is secondary, namely a Capitalism Magazine reprint ( capmag.com/articlePrint.asp?ID=2458 ). The primary source is the Ayn Rand Institute: http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=7442&news_iv_ctrl=1021 (published February 11, 2003) and the link to this primary source should be used instead. (ARI, by the way, published the same Op-Ed again on February 9, 2004.)

Also some criticism should be included. Consider adding an external link to a good, if severe, review of the above article:

Review of “America Needs a Leader Like George Washington”

I'm changing the CapMag link to the ARI link. Good catch. But ARI Watch has been rejected as a source many times. It's just some guy's website, not a real source. Nice try though, "Mark." Endlessmike 888 15:37, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

Better word than “hatred”
The word “hatred” near the end of the first paragraph is too broad. Though I’m not privy to Prof. Ridpath’s true feelings, consider replacing “hatred of” with  “disgusted with” – it’s more specific. It may understate his feelings, but better to err in that direction. He might well object to an article about himself that says he hates someone.

I would still say that the wording or merit of this article is very circumspect Canking 04:38, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070316231651/http://www.vem.duke.edu/scfaculty.html to http://www.vem.duke.edu/scfaculty.html
 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://aynrand.org/medialink/georgewashington.shtml
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070528091022/http://econ.yorku.ca/~jridpath/ to http://econ.yorku.ca/~jridpath/

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