How should courts interpret the law? While all agree that courts must be objective, people differ sharply over what this demands in practice: fidelity to the text? To the will of the people? To certain moral ideals? In Judicial Review in an Objective Legal System, Tara Smith breaks through the false dichotomies inherent in dominant theories - various forms of originalism, living constitutionalism, and minimalism - to present a new approach to judicial review. She contends that we cannot assess judicial review in isolation from the larger enterprise of which it is a part. By providing careful clarification of both the function of the legal system as well as of objectivity itself, she produces a compelling, firmly grounded account of genuinely objective judicial review. Smith's innovative approach marks a welcome advance for anyone interested in legal objectivity and individual rights.

Ayn Rand is well known for advocating egoism, but the substance of that instruction is rarely understood. Far from representing the rejection of morality, selfishness, in Rand's view, actually demands the practice of a systematic code of ethics. This book explains the fundamental virtues that Rand considers vital for a person to achieve his objective well-being: rationality, honesty, independence, justice, integrity, productiveness, and pride. Tracing Rand's account of the harmony of human beings' rational interests, Smith examines what each of these virtues consists of, why it is a virtue, and what it demands of a person in practice. Along the way she addresses the status of several conventional virtues within Rand's theory, considering traits such as kindness, charity, generosity, temperance, courage, forgiveness, and humility. Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics thus offers an in-depth exploration of several specific virtues and an illuminating integration of these with the broader theory of egoism.

Ayn Rand is well known for advocating egoism, but the substance of that instruction is rarely understood. Far from representing the rejection of morality, selfishness, in Rand's view, actually demands the practice of a systematic code of ethics. This book explains the fundamental virtues that Rand considers vital for a person to achieve his objective well-being: rationality, honesty, independence, justice, integrity, productiveness, and pride. Tracing Rand's account of the harmony of human beings' rational interests, Smith examines what each of these virtues consists of, why it is a virtue, and what it demands of a person in practice. Along the way she addresses the status of several conventional virtues within Rand's theory, considering traits such as kindness, charity, generosity, temperance, courage, forgiveness, and humility. Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics thus offers an in-depth exploration of several specific virtues and an illuminating integration of these with the broader theory of egoism.

How should courts interpret the law? While all agree that courts must be objective, people differ sharply over what this demands in practice: fidelity to the text? To the will of the people? To certain moral ideals? In Judicial Review in an Objective Legal System, Tara Smith breaks through the false dichotomies inherent in dominant theories - various forms of originalism, living constitutionalism, and minimalism - to present a new approach to judicial review. She contends that we cannot assess judicial review in isolation from the larger enterprise of which it is a part. By providing careful clarification of both the function of the legal system as well as of objectivity itself, she produces a compelling, firmly grounded account of genuinely objective judicial review. Smith's innovative approach marks a welcome advance for anyone interested in legal objectivity and individual rights.

Making the Grade provides life lessons for serious students that want to graduate with honors. It's a good feeling to be distinguished with cords, stoles and lapel pins. There is an overwhelming feeling of pride that hits you just before you reach the stage. And once you hit that stage, and the announcer calls your name, you hear the roar of the crowd and the screams of your family and friends, and it simply feels GREAT You start to think about all the long days and late nights, all the television shows and telephone calls you had to miss to stay focused, all the sacrifices you had to make in order to forge ahead, and then your smile begins to grow wider and wider without effort. Your step gets more pep and your stature grows taller. So take some time to journey with me through my life as a student, from childhood to adulthood. I pray that my experiences will provide you with insight, laughter, effective methods for success and alternatives to my mistakes.

"Mommy's 'ME-Time'" is a journal for mothers who could use some much-needed "ME" time! This is a unique journal, as it is solely for mothers, but it also provides a variety of questions that helps one think, plan, and even daydream. On each journal page is "The Rant Wall" which provides a place to "get things off your chest." This journal provides an opportunity to look inside oneself while also providing a place to sort out all of your aggravations, issues, and thoughts for the day.

Extraordinary Gifts celebrates 20 remarkable women with Philadelphia connections - including Louisa May Alcott, Margaret Mead, Mary Cassatt, and Marian Anderson - with original art, poetry, and fiction by contemporary artists and writers from the Philadelphia area. Each of the women this volume honors, some familiar and some less well known, have changed the world through their courage to think outside the box, to go against convention, and to defy society's expectations for their gender. The stories of these women span over two centuries of local and global history.

Seeking a way out of today's bewildering rush of rights claims, Tara Smith's Moral Rights and Political Freedom offers a systematic account of the nature and foundations of rights. The book carefully elucidates what political freedom is and demonstrates why it should be protected by rights. Smith's thesis is that rights are teleological: respect for freedom is necessary for individuals' flourishing or eudaimonia. Smith illustrates how many alleged rights would actually undermine that objective. Her decisive refutation of the assumption that conflicts between rights are inevitable--demonstrating how such conflicts are theoretically incoherent and practically self-defeating--should go a long way toward resolving many contemporary disputes about rights.

Viable Values examines the most basic foundations of value and morality, demonstrating the shortcomings of major traditional views and proposing that morality is grounded in the objective requirements of human life. Smith argues that morality depends on a proper understanding of the concept of values, and that values depend on the alternative of life or death. She proposes that human beings need to be moral in order to live, explaining how life is the standard of morality, how flourishing is the proper end and reward of living morally, and how an intelligent egoism is the path to flourishing.