Articles by Marsha Familaro Enright
I recently came back from teaching 15 and 16 year old boys at Camp Indecon and one of my best classes centered around the 1997 movie, The Edge. We intensely discussed the film’s story and characters, and the meaning of many scenes of dialogue. This film features an amazing hero and my campers wanted to … Continue reading “The Edge: Features a One of a Kind Movie Hero”
When I was in grammar school in the late ‘50’s, I loved school. I eagerly looked forward to learning every day. But by the time I was eight I noticed this wasn’t true for everyone. No. In fact, many, many of the other children were confused or defiant or scared or just plain bored. I could … Continue reading “The Montessori Way, by Tim Seldin and Paul Epstein”
Philosophy & Psychology If “Emotions Are Not Tools of Cognition,” What Are They?: An Exploration of the Relationship Between Reason and Emotion Marsha Familaro Enright A Conversation with Ayn Rand “Emotions are not tools of cognition,” Ayn Rand said on more than one occasion (1961, 55; 1964, 6; 1974, 6). An emotion as such … Continue reading “If Emotions Aren’t Tools of Cognition, what are they?”
Q: How did the ideas of Ayn Rand impact your life? Marsha: I read through Atlas the summer following The Fountainhead, and all the books and essays I could get my hands on after that, over the next few years. This included Nathaniel Branden’s The Psychology of Self-Esteem, which greatly influenced my thinking in psychology, … Continue reading “Interview with Marsha Enright by Karen Minto, Full Context, Vol. 12, No. 1”
(Christmas carols celebrate the Nativity as being, above all else, an event that brings hope to mankind. “O Holy Night,” one of the most beautiful carols, makes the point explicitly: “a thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.” But I suspect that Christmas is not unique among … Continue reading “The Habit of Hope”
In the following, I plan to summarize the essence of Binswanger’s argument on goal-causation, and then expand on the issues he brings up and discuss any problems or objections I have with his arguments. Time has not permitted me to be as complete and persuasive in my objections as I might like – I only … Continue reading “The Biological Basis of Teleological Causation, Chapter 6 Goal-Causation, Harry Binswanger – by Marsha Enright”
Music is an art without an apparent object – there are no scenes to look at, no sculptured marbles to touch, no stories to follow – and yet it can cause some of the most passionate and intense feelings possible. How does this happen – how can sounds from resonant bodies produce emotion (1) in … Continue reading “CON MOLTO SENTIMENTO: On the Evolutionary Biology and Neuropsychology of Music”
Navigator: Perhaps you could begin by telling us something of the history of the New Intellectual Forum. Who started it, and when? Enright: In 1985, a listing in The Objectivist Forum led me to contact Mike McCarthy of the Chicagoland Objectivist Principles Organization (COPO). My husband John and I began going to meetings of COPO at … Continue reading “Interview: How to Run an Objectivist Salon”
Revised August 1997 Formerly a psychotherapist, Marsha Enright, co-founded the Council Oak Montessori School (elementary level) in 1990, of which she is the president and administrator. Another cofounder of the school and its corporate secretary, Doris Cox, currently teaches middle school children at Council Oak. The education of the human child is of profound importance … Continue reading “Foundations Study Guide: Montessori Education”
Originally published in Objectivity, Volume 1, Number 2. In Ayn Rand’s novel, Atlas Shrugged, Ken Danagger asks Dagny Taggart: “And if you met those great men in heaven, . . . what would you want to say to them?” “Just . . . just hello, I guess.” “That’s not all,” said Danagger. “There’s something you’d want to … Continue reading “Why Man Needs Approval”
