This article is very good.
It is a pleasure, as a Rand admirer if not devotee, to read criticisms not from the emotional left or religious but so well thought out, from logic and -dare I say- from humanity.

Hello Mr. Desapio,
I enjoyed the recollections and questions posed. In regards to the question of force and voluntary action, Mr, Hospers need only recognize coercion as a means of force to provide answers to his hypothetical. I also believe several of his other dilemmas can be resolved simply by determining what is in one's best interest and highest value in their hierarchy (e.g., the choice between hitting a human or one's dog in a car).
Regards,
O.A.

"...But she persisted that it was indeed ideas that ruled the world -- and
that if good ideas did not come to the fore, bad ones would rule
instead. Nature abhors a vacuum, and it is when good ideas are not
taught that a Hitler or a Lenin can come in, filling the vacuum,...."

I'd like to know what Ayn Rand's memories are of some of these conversations. I think Hospers may have conveniently forgotten a few exchanges.

Interesting. I’m surprised Ayn Rand supported teacher’s using their positions by way of didactic lectures to push ideas. I can’t tell you how many times I have left a lecture in tears because of the aggressive way a teacher weaved their political views into the subject matter. I had always believed that students should be free to come away with whatever view they choose; students should be allowed to think for themselves. In hindsight--I think Ayn Rand may have been justified on this point. Perhaps if educators had started decades ago to promote the moral and philosophical ethics of objectivism when it was most en ‘vogue’, the higher learning institutes in our country wouldn’t have devolved as rapidly as they have in the decades that followed

I enjoyed this article tremendously. Wouldn't that have been a fantastic experience. Thanks for posting it.