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and mutually supportive, levels of generality—the personal, the cultural, and the structural (see especially “The Radical Rand,” part 3 of the current work).

      The third book and final part of the trilogy, Total Freedom: Toward a Dialectical Libertarianism, was published in 2000 by the Pennsylvania State University Press (Sciabarra 2000). It offers a rereading of the history of dialectical thinking, a redefinition of dialectics as indispensable to any defense of human liberty and as a tool to critique those aspects of modern libertarianism that are decidedly undialectical and, hence, dangerously utopian in their implications.

      That my trilogy places libertarian thinkers within a larger dialectical tradition has been resisted by some of my left-wing colleagues, who view Marxism as having a monopoly on dialectical analysis, and some of my right-wing colleagues, who are aghast to see anybody connect a libertarian politics to a method that they decry as “Marxist,” and hence anathema to the project for liberty.

      Ironically, both the left-wing and right-wing folks who object to my characterization of a dialectical libertarian alternative commit what Rand would have called “the fallacy of the frozen abstraction.” For Rand, this “consists of substituting some one particular concrete for the wider abstract class to which it belongs.”⁶ Thus, the left-wing and right-wing critics both freeze and reduce the concept of dialectical method to the subcategory of one of its major historical applications (i.e., Marxism). They both exclude another significant subcategory from that concept, whether to protect the favored subcategory (as do some conservatives, libertarians, and Objectivists) or the concept itself (as do the leftists). Ultimately, they both characterize dialectics as essentially Marxist. It is as if any other variety of dialectics does not or cannot exist. In each case, the coupling of dialectics and libertarianism is denied. The left-wing dialecticians don’t want to besmirch “their” methodology by acknowledging its presence in libertarian thinking, while the right-wing proponents of liberty don’t want to sully their ideology with a “Marxist” methodology.⁷

      But as I have demonstrated in my trilogy, especially in Total Freedom, it is Aristotle, not Hegel or Marx, who is the “fountainhead” of a genuinely dialectical approach to social inquiry. Ultimately, my work bolsters Rand’s self-image as an essentially Aristotelian and radical thinker. In doing so, my work challenges our notion of what it means to be Aristotelian—and radical.

      I am cognizant that my use of the word “dialectics” to describe the “art of context-keeping”—as a vital aspect of Rand’s approach to both analyzing problems and proposing highly original, often startling solutions—is controversial. My hypothesis—in this book and in the two additional essays that now apear as appendices I and II of this expanded second edition—that Rand learned this method from her Russian teachers has generated as much controversy. Rand named N. O. Lossky as her first philosophy professor. Questions of the potential methodological impact on Rand that Lossky and her other Russian teachers may have had, and the potential discrepancies between Rand’s own recollections with regard to Lossky and the historical record, were all first raised in Russian Radical. These issues, nearly twenty years after they were raised, have resulted in Rand’s prospective “authorized” biographer arguing that Rand’s recollections were mistaken. In my view, however, this turn in historical interpretation is itself deeply problematic. I discuss these issues in a new essay, which appears as appendix III, “A Challenge to Russian Radical—and Ayn Rand.”

      I am genuinely excited that the Pennsylvania State University Press has enabled me to practice what I dialectically preach: placing Russian Radical and its cousins in the larger context both of my research on Rand and of my Dialectics and Liberty trilogy enables me to present readers with a clearer sense of what I have hoped to accomplish.

      Thanks to all those who have made this ongoing adventure possible.⁸

      Chris Matthew Sciabarra

      1 July 2013

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      This book is the product of many years of research and dialogue. I owe a debt of gratitude to many individuals.

      For their constructive comments on my earlier article, “Ayn Rand’s Critique of Ideology”: Walter Block, the late Roy Childs, Douglas Den Uyl, Howard Dickman, Antony Flew, Jeff Friedman, Robert Hessen, Robert Hollinger, Greg Johnson, Don Lavoie, Eric Mack, and Wallace Matson.

      For aiding my historical research: N. O. Lossky’s sons Boris and Andrew, and grandson Nicholas; Brian Boyd; Helene Sikorski, sister of the late Vladimir Nabokov; Father Makarios Rigo; the late dean Father John Meyendorff and librarian Eleana Silk, of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary; Bernice Rosenthal; James McClelland; and George Kline. Professors Kline and Rosenthal were also kind enough to share their meticulous comments on sections of this book. Special thanks to Robin Katz and Irina Kushnerik for their translations of letters and historical documents.

      My acknowledgments also to the Ayn Rand Institute, Lectures on Objectivism, and Second Renaissance Books for giving me the opportunity to purchase and lease materials, including hundreds of hours of audio and video lectures by Ayn Rand and other Objectivists, and to Leonard Peikoff, Diane LeMont, and the Estate of Ayn Rand for timely correspondence on several issues of historical and legal significance to the current project.

      For their financial and moral support: the Earhart Foundation, including David Kennedy and Antony Sullivan, and William O’Boyle and the Institute for Humane Studies, including Walter Grinder, Leonard Liggio, Jeremy Shearmur, and Chris Blundell.

      For his conviction, perseverance, and belief in the importance of my work: Sandy Thatcher. For her assistance in the preparation of this book, Cherene Holland. For their painstaking copyediting and proofreading efforts: Andrew B. Lewis and Kerime Toksu. For their marketing efforts, Lisa Bayer, Alison Reeves, and Karen Walker. For the first edition jacket design, Steve Kress, and the second expanded edition, from re-conception to design to editing to production, the Penn State Press family: Patrick Alexander, Patty Mitchell, John P. Morris, Jennifer Norton, Robert Turchick, and Tony Sanfilippo.

      For giving me the opportunity to interact with many scholars and students in an electronic forum: Svein Olav Nyberg’s Hegel study group; Paul Vixie’s “Objectivist” study group; and Jimmy Wales’s “Moderated Discussion of Objectivist Philosophy.”

      Thanks also to David Kelley and the Institute for Objectivist Studies (now The Atlas Society) for sponsoring a 1993 colloquium on my book, which elicited helpful comments from Debra Cermele, Roger Donway, Elisa George, Laurence Gould, Karen Reedstrom, Joan Kennedy Taylor, Francisco Villalobos, and Michael Young. Thanks to Donald Heath and Jamie Dorrian for their assistance and delightful demeanor no matter how many times I interrupted them.

      Thanks also to Ed Crane and David Boaz of the Cato Institute; Andrea Rich of Laissez-Faire Books; Ralph Volpicella and the Mil-Rite Printing staff; Angela Carannante, Lorraine DaTello, Nadine Goldstein, Michael Lipner, Ron Mangano, Mary Morse, and Kathy Sharp from New Dorp High School; the late James Bennett; Kathy Lendech and Turner Entertainment Company, and the folks at Robert’s One-Hour Photo; my New York University friends and colleagues, including Steve Faulkner, Farhad Kazemi, Kenneth King, Marilyn LaPorte, Richard Randall, Mario Rizzo, and Gisbert Flanz and Bertell Ollman, both of whom have greatly influenced my approach to political theory; Mary Toledo of the Reason Foundation; Barbara Branden, for her constructive comments and guidance; Nathaniel Branden for his insightful comments and for sharing The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem prior to its publication; Joe Cellantano; William Dale; John and Marsha Enright; Oz Garcia; Scott Gordon; Mike Hardy; Don Hauptman; Howard Kainz; Irfan Khawaja; Gema LaBoccetta; Robert McKenzie; E. Frederic Mirer; Gerard Power; David Ross; and Tim Starr.

      For commenting on this manuscript in whole or in part: the late Bill Bradford, Robert L. Campbell, the late John Hospers, Roderick T. Long, Tibor Machan, Victor and Susan Niederhoffer, David Oyerly, Peter Saint-Andre, David Ramsay Steele, the late George Walsh, Charles Wieder, and several anonymous readers. An earlier draft of this book

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