Talk:Leonard Peikoff

DIM Hypothesis
"As of 2004, Peikoff is writing a book called The DIM Hypothesis, where he explains the three alternatives of decision-making and solves the problem of induction."

Does he really solve "the problem of induction" once and for all or does he come up with some interpretable suggestions? Because if he really does solve it he would be a giant among thinkers, and if it's not quite so, the article will need an edit.

I have restored Peikoff to the "Atheist thinkers and activists" category; it is not quite the same as the "Atheist philosphers" category: not all atheist philosophers are also activists.


 * Oh fine. The category system is one of the places here on WP that really need some top-down direction, but...meh.  --zenohockey 23:57, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

On an unrelated note, has anyone considered giving the book its own page, or at least updating this page. I think it warrants that. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 18.51.2.115 (talk) 23:05, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

biographical information?
Is the lack of biographical detail intentional?

There is no mention of his first wife, Cynthia, of their daughter - Kira - or Amy, his second wife.

Details of this type are not uncommon on other pages and they do humanise the subjects.

The relevant dates of these relationships would add perspective to the progress of his life.

=
= Actually, before Cynthia, he was briefly married to Susan Ludel.

His political views
Before deleting a paragraph, please discuss the contents. I added the paragraph on Peikoff's views on foreign policy, and I would like to see how these views do not deserve attention. --User:mrjahan
 * They deserve attention—neutral attention, and unpolluted by name-calling. --zenohockey 17:11, 21 November 2006 (UTC)


 * Sorry about bothering you guys while you were at your Bible Study. I did not realize that the faithful are incapable of finding faults with their Saints, living or dead, and they will wage a crushing Jihad against the infidel if they sully the image of the Saints. I leave you to worship St. Leonard. On a different note, try growing up. Maturity is supposedly a required condition of rational thinking, which I was under the impression is an important ingredient for writing in an encyclopedia. mrjahan 8:12, Nov. 21, 2006 (UTC)
 * I actually disagree with Peikoff's foreign policy views, but my opinion, or yours, is of no import here. What is important is that you said that Peikoff's opinions "strech[] credulity"; you called the Iraq war "disastrous"; and you said "Politically, he comes across as inexperienced, naive, and at times, ignorant."  Each of these statements violates the WP:NPOV policy, the tag for which you put at the top of the article.
 * I will soon re-place the substantive, verifiable parts of your edits, along with my observation, subsequently removed by LaszloWalrus, that prominant Objectivists have come down on both sides of the R/D divide. You may, of course, do it first if you like, if you hew to the guidelines you have so far taken lightly.  --zenohockey 04:49, 22 November 2006 (UTC)
 * In fairness, it's difficult to write about this sick fuck objectively. He openly advocates mass slaughter of Iranian and Arab civilians, claiming that their killers would bear no blame for their deaths, and justifying his despicable claims with a few libertarian buzzwords and a bizarre farrago of generalized nonsensical smears against their cultures and societies. I'm against European-style "hate speech" laws on principle, but this little Goebbels is a test to that principle if there ever was one. Also, the phrase "prominent Objectivists" is an oxymoron. And you spelled it wrong. &lt;eleland/talkedits&gt; 04:42, 24 April 2009 (UTC)
 * This is a BLP, and no matter what your opinions are of this man, you may not describe him in the derogatory manner you have done above. You should seriously consider striking out the comments above, or risk being blocked. NoCal100 (talk) 04:28, 25 April 2009 (UTC)

Whitewashing Peikoff's moral condemnation of non-democrat supporters?
Peikoff wrote: "Given the choice between a rotten, enfeebled, despairing killer [Democrats], and a rotten, ever stronger, and ambitious killer[Republicans], it is immoral to vote for the latter, and equally immoral to refrain from voting at all because “both are bad.” "

I don't know why the moral aspect of this claim keeps getting removed from the discussion of 2006 politics. This claim is unlike what Objectivists have had to say in earlier elections, but this article seems to keep losing that part.
 * I've re-added the quote. --zenohockey 17:10, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Suggested additions
Quoting Wikipedia text (25 January 2008): “Peikoff revised his 1976 lecture course on Objectivism into book form, producing Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand ...” Comment: Consider adding that the organization of the material differs from lectures and is original with Peikoff.

Quoting Wikipedia text: “Rand had said that Peikoff knew and understood her philosophy better than anyone else.” Comment: This may be true, but it requires a citation.

Quoting Wikipedia text: “... Peikoff founded the Ayn Rand Institute.” Comment: Many people think that the “Ayn Rand Institute” belies its name, quite apart from the various splits. See the “ARI Watch” website, especially the Torture series of articles, e.g. State Torture: A Question for Leonard Peikoff.

Iran
"Peikoff endorsed John Kerry (while nevertheless thinking of Kerry as a 'disgustingly bad' candidate) against George W. Bush (whom he called 'apocalyptically bad'), on the basis of Bush's religiosity and his refusal to crush Islamic regimes, especially Iran."

Does that mean BUSH's refusal to crush Islamic regimes, or Peikoff's? Because Peikoff is strongly against Iran here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=JoAWCwm-UXw

Brandywinenine (talk) 23:49, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

"Intellectual heir"
Leonard Peikoff has claimed to be Ayn Rand's "intellectual heir," and such claims can be documented from published sources. What is lacking is a published source showing that Ayn Rand conferred that title on him. I've modified the language about Peikoff's intellectual heirship accordingly. -RLCampbell (talk) 19:16, 30 July 2009 (UTC)

Peikoff's articles and lectures
At present, the article says nothing about Leonard Peikoff's publications prior to Ayn Rand's death. Since his article on "The Analytic-Synthetic Dichotomy" has been bundled with Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology for many years, its omission is peculiar. Peikoff's role as a lecturer during the NBI days is mentioned, but not the lecture courses that he taught. None of his academic positions are mentioned either. I will try to work in some of these details.-RLCampbell (talk) 02:32, 31 July 2009 (UTC)

Description of citizenship
Living in the US for 60 years does not mean that he has citizenship, especially when he is entitled to stay in the US on his Canadian passport. He should only be described as a Canadian-American if he has dual-citizenship, and that requires an external citation. Thanks. Zarcadia (talk) 23:59, 5 January 2011 (UTC)
 * First, there is no requirement that the adjective "American" be used only for persons with citizenship. Second, I cited a source (the bio on Peikoff's own website) that says precisely that he "is a naturalized American citizen". Per WP:SELFPUB, we normally accept a subject's own self-published claims about this sort of fact. Do you have some other source that casts doubt on Peikoff's own claim of citizenship? --RL0919 (talk) 00:15, 6 January 2011 (UTC)
 * I don't agree with your first point but I accept the claim from his website, therefore keep the 'Canadian-American' description. Zarcadia (talk) 00:59, 6 January 2011 (UTC)

The McCaskey affair
That Peikoff got John McCaskey, founder of the Anthem Foundation, off ARI's board of directors ought to be mentioned.

A copy of Peikoff's email to Arline Mann, co-chair of the Ayn Rand Institute, can be found at or without McCaskey's comments at A copy of Peikoff's public statement can be found at —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.125.38.128 (talk) 03:31, 1 February 2011
 * http://www.johnmccaskey.com/resignation.html
 * http://www.johnmccaskey.com/PeikoffEmail.gif
 * http://archive-org.narod2.ru/peikoff-vs-an-ari-board-member/

Where does it say that Kira Peikoff is Leonard Peikoff's daughter?
http://www.kirapeikoff.com/about-the-author/ does not mention anywhere that Kira Peikoff is Leonard Peikoff's daughter, only that she is a novelist. Can anyone find a citation for that? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Shlomif (talk • contribs) 19:04, 24 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Appropriate citation provided. --RL0919 (talk) 19:23, 24 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks a lot, RL0919! You rock! It's hard for me to verify that citation because I don't have the book (Google Books?), but I guess it's OK as far as Wikipedia is concerned. Best regards, Shlomi Fish. Shlomif (talk) 08:45, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Date rape
Peikoff recently posted a podcast in which he said the following:

A woman can give her consent by her presence, in certain contexts, and that frees the man to have sex regardless of what she then says. I'm thinking of that case of Kobe Bryant, where the woman came up sometime in the middle of the night, after some drinking, to his bedroom, and then when he purported to do something, she said, "No, I don't consent." You cannot do that. You have given every evidence that that is what you are going to do, and it's too late at that point to say, "Sorry but no." http://www.peikoff.com/2012/02/06/is-it-rape-if-you-obtain-sex-through-fraudulent-means-for-example-a-man-does-not-love-a-woman-but-tells-her-he-does-so-that-she-will-have-sex-with-him-is-this-the-moral-equivalent-of-rape/

Shall we include mention of this podcast now or wait until March 4th when he has said (according to his former wife, Amy) that he will address the issue again?

By the way, Peikoff's former wife, Amy, has written that she disagrees with Peikoff's statement quoted above. http://dontletitgo.com/2012/02/17/on-leonard-peikoffs-brief-podcast-discussion-of-the-kobe-bryant-case/

John Link (talk) 00:16, 19 February 2012 (UTC)
 * If his comments have generated no press coverage then it is only being included as representative of one of his viewpoints, in which case, if he said he's going to address it in a specific upcoming podcast, then we should wait for the sake of accuracy. However, if his comments have generated coverage in the press then it could be included now due to notability and then updated if he addresses it. BashBrannigan (talk) 00:54, 19 February 2012 (UTC)


 * I'm not aware of Peikoff's comments about date rape being reported in the press, but there sure is plenty of heated discussion on various forums. With regard to accuracy, I presume that Peikoff's podcast itself would be a reliable source about what he said in that very podcast. But maybe you're suggesting that his podcast might not accurately reflect his opinion, despite the fact that he, himself, published it. John Link (talk) 21:08, 19 February 2012 (UTC)


 * We don't report from primary sources on Wikipedia. All inferences and interpretations must be backed by a reliable and independent secondary source. —  Nearly Headless Nick   {C}  21:13, 19 February 2012 (UTC)

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