By Peter Schwartz
Across a limitless range of human attributes - from race to literacy, from gender to intelligence, from age to physical handicap - it is now widely accepted that the attainment of "diversity" is a value. What does this doctrine actually mean, and how has it gained such cultural acceptance?
This lecture shows how the term "diversity" is an anti-concept, designed to uphold the technique of "package-dealing" on principle. Mr. Schwartz explains how the use of the term "diversity" negates a number of legitimate concepts, including the two concepts crucial to the entire cognitive process: integration and differentiation. The "diversity" movement, he argues, represents the culmination of egalitarianism. That is, even though the egalitarian rejects differences while the proponent of "diversity" seemingly wallows in them, the two ideologies preach the same message. The essence of this message, Mr. Schwartz shows, is a repudiation of all rational discriminations, which means: of all moral, and epistemological, standards.
This lecture was recorded at the 2006 Objectivist Summer Conference in Boston, MA.
(MP3 download; 70 min., with Q & A, 50.11 MB)
