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Dr. Peikoff courses no longer available

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DarkWaters

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The audio courses Objectivism Through Induction, Induction in Physics and Philosophy and The DIM Hypothesis no longer seem to be available from the Ayn Rand Bookstore. Does anyone know more about this?

I went to a Front Range Objectivist Group (FROG) meeting for the first time last night (Diana Hsieh's group) and they said, if I am remembering correctly, that Objectivism Through Induction would be going away and replaced w/ DIM. Some of them seemed a little confused by that. (Since I am so new to Objectivism and have not dealt with those two subjects yet, it was all a bit over my head, but I thought I would tell you that for whatever it may be worth to you.) He gave lectures at OCON about DIM, so maybe they're getting ready to release those recordings?? Someone will probably post with more info for you, but in the meantime, maybe this will help.

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I'm thinking it's Physics through Induction no longer available. My guess is that the DIM course is no longer available because you can buy the 6 DIM lectures from OCON instead, which are better. I believe the price is somewhere around $120-$150.

David Harriman is writing a book on Physics through Induction which uses Dr. Peikoff's work on Induction. In other words, the two men have informed each other's work, but the Physics book is now Harriman's project. At another time of the conference, I personally asked Dr. Peikoff what I should use to study induction. He laughed (probably to acknowledge that I was asking such a broad-based question at the last minute), and then he said, "Read David Harriman's book."

A sheet from the conference lists the 2007 conference version of the DIM Hypothesis at 140$ (post-conference pricing.) By the way, Dr. Peikoff also mentioned that the D.I.M. book which he's working on would likely be his last philosophy book.

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David Harriman is writing a book on Physics through Induction which uses Dr. Peikoff's work on Induction.

I originally heard that Dr. Peikoff's course "Induction in Physics and Philosophy" was going to be written up as a book by both Leonard Peikoff and David Harriman. I then heard that David Harriman was going to become the primary author. I am assuming that we are referring to the same book. Do you know if this book will still discuss both physics and philosophy or is the book now just going to focus on learning physics through induction?

Thanks!

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I originally heard that Dr. Peikoff's course "Induction in Physics and Philosophy" was going to be written up as a book by both Leonard Peikoff and David Harriman. I then heard that David Harriman was going to become the primary author. I am assuming that we are referring to the same book. Do you know if this book will still discuss both physics and philosophy or is the book now just going to focus on learning physics through induction?

I took Harriman's course on "The Scientific Revolution" at OCON. Part of the class handout included the table of contents of the book, which I'm copying below:

I. The Foundation

1) The Problem of Induction

2) The Nature of Concepts

3) First-Level Generalizations

4) The Structure of Inductive Reasoning

II. The Role of Experiment

1) Galileo's Kinematics

2) Newton's Optics

3) The Methods of Difference and Agreement

4) Induction as Inherent in Conceptualization

III. The Role of Mathematics

1) The Birth of Celestial Physics

2) Mathematics and Causality

3) The Power of Mathematics

IV. Newton's Integration

1) The Development of Dynamics

2) The Discovery of Universal Gravitation

3) Discovery is Proof

V. The Atomic Theory

1) Chemical Elements and Atoms

2) The Kinetic Theory of Gases

3) The Unification of Chemistry

4) The Method of Proof

VI. The Causes of Error

1) What is an Error?

2) Misapplications of the Inductive Method

3) Rationalism and Empiricism

VII. Measurement and Knowledge

1) Mathematics as Objective

2) An Explanation for the Role of Mathematics

3) Epistemology as Objective

Epilogue: A New Beginning

1) The Failure of Modern Philosophy

2) The State of Contemporary Physics

3) A Green-Light to Future Progress

I think, based on its internal structure and subheadings, that Harriman's recent article in The Objective Standard, "Induction and Experimental Method", essentially covers the material of section II above. From the above, it looks like Harriman's goal in the book is to describe and validate the inductive method using its most striking successes in physics and chemistry as source material and illustration. I certainly wouldn't describe it as a text for learning physics or chemistry. (If you want to do that, your best bet would be to shell out the $1400 for Harriman's VanDamme Academy physics lectures. And no, I haven't done that, so I can't comment on whether they're worth it or not.)

Edited by khaight
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Thanks khaight! I eagerly await the release of this book, along with David Harriman's other book: The Anti-Copernican Revolution.

Incidentally, I am sure glad that I ordered a copy of Objectivism Through Induction last week. B)

Edited by DarkWaters
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Incidentally, I am sure glad that I ordered a copy of Objectivism Through Induction last week. B)

I think I've got copies of all of Peikoff's major lectures with the exception of the "History of Philosophy" sets, the "Principles of Grammar" and the "Introduction to Logic". The first is still too rich for my budget (over $800 for the two); the second is not a topic I'm interested in; and the third is something I already studied in college and which doesn't contain much material distinctive to Objectivism. Oh, and I don't have his 2007 DIM lectures, because they aren't yet available and I heard them in person anyhow.

There are a number of interesting books in the works. John Lewis' book, Harriman's two books, Peikoff's book and Binswanger's book on consciousness all sound interesting to me. I'm sure there are others as well that I'm just not aware of as yet.

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There are a number of interesting books in the works. John Lewis' book, Harriman's two books, Peikoff's book and Binswanger's book on consciousness all sound interesting to me. I'm sure there are others as well that I'm just not aware of as yet.

If I am not mistaken, Brian Simpson is writing a book on the business cycle.

Edited by DarkWaters
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  • 1 month later...
There are a number of interesting books in the works. John Lewis' book, Harriman's two books, Peikoff's book and Binswanger's book on consciousness all sound interesting to me. I'm sure there are others as well that I'm just not aware of as yet.

I recently learned that James Valliant is writing a book called Behind the Cross: A History of Early Christianity. Surely this will also be excellent!

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