The War Between the Implicit and the Explicit

What Went Right? Part 6

by Robert Tracinski

Editor's Note: In keeping with tradition, I will not write about the election on Election Day. (For my election recommendation, see here.) It is too late for predictions or for further attempts to influence the outcome. Everything that can be done, intellectually at least, has already been done. But it's too early for the results. So instead, on Election Day I usually publish something more philosophical in nature.

Four years ago, I presented the beginning of my "What Went Right?" series. Below, at long last, is Part 6 of that series. The series as initially published is online here, with the current installment here; a slightly revised and expanded version has been published in the print issues of TIA; and a final version of the whole thing should be available as a pamphlet or e-book as soon as I can work out the logistics.

Given the length of time between the first five parts and this one, and given the fact that this installment takes on a different, deeper subject matter, I have written this piece with the intention that it can stand alone.

When I first began the series, I was partly motivated by the controversy among Objectivists over the 2006 election, which raised questions about the role of philosophy and the "top-down" approach to its influence in the culture. Since those questions are once again relevant, this is a good time to complete the series.—RWT

THE COMPLETE ARTICLE