Nathaniel Branden, RIP

My interest in what is now called “libertarian” thinking was kindled in college in the late 1950s. There was no coherent philosophy by that name in those years, but I found myself attracted to such thinkers as John Locke, John Stuart Mill, the Stoics, and very much annoyed by the likes of Thomas Hobbes, Karl Marx, and my undergrad study of “economics” taught by a prominent Keynesian. While in law school, I began my study of genuine economics with Prof. Aaron Director, and began my focused and energized inquiry into the kinds of ideas later to be described as “libertarianism.”

After graduating from law school in 1961, I began to more deeply explore possibilities that lay before me. My introduction to libertarian thought and behavior probably began with Leonard Read. My first job was a political one, as my interest in Barry Goldwater led me into the trap of thinking that political systems could be reformed from within. In a period of two to three years, I pursued an interest in the writings of Ayn Rand, Robert LeFevre, and others who helped to give shape to an emerging philosophy of peace and liberty. I even took a graduate philosophy course in Marxism, taught by a man who was, perhaps, the most highly-regarded Marxist thinker at the time (and who was also one of the best teachers I have ever encountered). A Libertarian Critique... Butler Shaffer Buy New $5.50 (as of 03:05 UTC - Details)

It was during this time period that my wife and I took a couple of taped lecture courses on Ayn Rand’s “Objectivism” from the Nathaniel Branden Institute. These courses were taught by Nathaniel Branden, who provided a very vigorous exploration of Rand’s philosophy. Considering the synthesis of the many influences my thinking was taking me, I had many questions that challenged the core of Ms. Rand’s views. I could not understand how her strong opposition to “force” could lead her to defend the idea of so-called “limited government,” given that the unavoidable nature of all political systems is to enjoy a legal monopoly on the use of violence. As I continued – in a very polite fashion – to ask and refine my questions in this regard, I soon received a formal letter of excommunication from Barbara Branden, informing me that I was being “gratuitously rude” in continuing to make such inquiries, and that I would no longer be allowed to subscribe to their courses. The Wizards of Ozymand... Butler Shaffer, Butler... Best Price: $8.38 Buy New $12.33 (as of 05:45 UTC - Details)

I go into this much detail in order to emphasize how Rand’s philosophy and Nathaniel Branden’s teachings had a very profound influence in my own thinking. I am not an “Objectivist,” and ended up rejecting many of the core positions in this philosophy. My study of free-market economics – which, at the time, included the works of von Mises, Murray Rothbard, and other members of the Austrian economics community – helped me to understand how everything that I know and value is no more (and no less) than an expression of my subjective mind. But it was Rand’s and Nathaniel Branden’s powerful intellectual explication of their philosophy that kept forcing me to go deeper and deeper into my own questioning – a process that underlies all intelligent learning – that made such a valuable contribution to my own thinking. Perhaps it is the lawyer in me that leads me to understand how knowing the strengths of the thinking of others helps each of us to refine and clarify our own ideas.

I was never a close friend of Nathaniel Branden although, in later years, I would occasionally see him at one libertarian conference or another, and make it a point to engage him in friendly, respectful conversation. In his later years, it was clear that he had mellowed quite a bit, not in terms of his enthusiasm for his work, but in moving away from the rigidities of thought that have long been a hallmark of the devotees of “Objectivism.” Branden was one of the central contributors to the philosophy of peace, liberty, private property, free markets, individualism, and voluntary forms of social cooperation, that is making life increasingly miserable for the arrogant sociopaths of institutionalized violence. He will be missed, perhaps most by the men and women he helped – through his passion for liberty and clarity of thought – to develop themselves in directions he might not have envisioned.

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