Tara Smith (philosopher)

Tara A. Smith (born 1961) is a professor of philosophy and holder of the BB&T Chair for the Study of Objectivism and holder of the Anthem Foundation Fellowship for the Study of Objectivism at the University of Texas at Austin.

Smith specializes in moral and political theory. She did her undergraduate work at the University of Virginia and received her doctorate from Johns Hopkins University. Her published works include the books Viable Values: A Study of Life as the Root and Reward of Morality (2000), Moral Rights and Political Freedom (1995), and Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist (2006). She is also a contributing author to several essay collections about Ayn Rand's novels. Smith has written in journals such as the Journal of Philosophy, American Philosophical Quarterly, Social Philosophy and Policy, and Law and Philosophy.

Smith has lectured all across the United States including Harvard University, Wheeling Jesuit University, Duke University, University of Pittsburgh, and New York University, and to groups of businessmen. She has also organized conferences, often ones emphasizing objective law.

She is on the board of The Philosopher's Index and is on the Academic Advisory Council of The Clemson Institute for the Study of Capitalism at Clemson University. Smith is a member of the Ayn Rand Society, which exists within the American Philosophical Association. She is also on the board of directors of the Ayn Rand Institute.

Selected publications

Articles

• "'Social' Objectivity and the Objectivity of Value" in
• "Forbidding Life to Those Still Living" in
• "Independence in The Fountainhead" in
• "'Humanity's Darkest Evil': The Lethal Destructiveness of Non-Objective Law" in

See also

• American philosophy
• List of American philosophers

External links

• Faculty page at University of Texas at Austin Department of Philosophy
• Academic review of Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist
• The Objective Standard's review of Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist
• Carrie-Ann Biondi, Review of "Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist" Reason Papers 30 (2008)
• Page at the Ayn Rand Institute which lists her books and some articles
• Archive of Tara Smith's articles at the Capitalism Magazine website