The origins of the American mentality bear the imprint of a “tabula rasa pattern” which the Mayflowers Pilgrim Fathers brought with them to the shores of Massachusetts. To the Puritan conscience, the founding of English colonies on the virgin soil of North America seemed a complete departure, the first step in the establishment of a new society. It was an incredible experience, marked by infinite hope, and one toward which, according to one American historiographer, “the eyes of God, of the (...) world, and of posterity were turned.” The dream and the hope recurred from generation to generation; during the course of the centuries millions of emigrants, settling between the Atlantic and the Pacific, sought a better world than they had known. (shrink)

The goal of this paper is to preserve realism in both ontology and truth for the philosophy of mathematics and science. It begins by arguing that scientific realism can only be attained given mathematical realism due to the indispensable nature of the latter to the prior. Ultimately, the paper argues for a position combining both Ontic Structural Realism and Ante Rem Structuralism, or what the author refers to as Strong Ontic Structural Realism, which has the potential to reconcile realism for (...) both science and mathematics. The paper goes on to claims that this theory does not succumb to the same traditional epistemological problems, which have damaged the credibility of its predecessors. (shrink)

Largely by the use of allegory, Ayn Rand's novel The Fountainhead repurposes and reinterprets the religious morality of Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus to espouse an Objectivist, rather than theist, view of salvation and damnation. The Faustian narrative no longer belongs to Faustus alone, but is read against itself in order to theorize that giving up one's ego and independence, rather than giving up one's membership to the societal collective, is the straightest road to perdition.