Kirkpatrick Books

Emotions

A Modern Aristotelian View  

by Linda Reardan, PhD, Lecturer in Philosophy, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona)

Hardcover $29.95 · Softcover $18.95 · Ebook $9.99

How do our emotions contribute to our reasoning process enabling us to know what is good or bad for us to do?

How can we understand human consciousness—with such unique aspects as free will, reason and love—as a natural phenomenon, neither supernatural nor merely physical? Emotions: A Modern Aristotelian View provides new answers to these age-old questions by updating Aristotle's discoveries about psychology and ethics in light of the biological, psychological and philosophic knowledge of today. Its core thesis is that each emotion provides a vital link between body and mind. Just as physical pleasure and pain give us data about our body's physical needs and motivate us to act on those needs, emotions—once we use reason to factor out any thought-errors they contain—give us indispensable data about what our biologically-arising but expansive human consciousness needs in order for us to flourish, and motivate us to act accordingly.

"A practical, no nonsense approach to the world of affect from the perspective of philosophy "¹

CONTENTS: Preface; Introduction; Basic Theory; Elaborated Theory; Aristotle on the Elements of Emotion, Motivation and the Shaping of Emotion over Time; Pleasure/Pain and the Cognitive Content of Emotion; The Interaction of Emotion and Thought; The Genesis of this Book; References; Bibliography; Index (160 pp, published November 16, 2026).

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Epistemological Foundations of the Free Society

Ayn Rand’s Theory of Universals Applied to Science, Sigmund Freud’s Psychology, and Ludwig von Mises’s Economics 

by Jerry Kirkpatrick, PhD, Professor Emeritus of International Business and Marketing, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona)

Hardcover $29.95 · Softcover $18.95 · Ebook $9.99

How can a valid theory of universals provide a defense of the free society?

By defending our ability to know reality—to guide our choices and actions to grow, thrive, and prosper. Such a theory allows us to validate all the essential concepts required to explain and fight for the free society, the social system of laissez-faire capitalism, because every word we use, excluding proper nouns, is universal.

“Human,” “dog,” and “rocket” in the English language apply to all humans, dogs, and rockets, past, present, and future.

If the concepts underlying those words are false, approximate, or capable of being known only by an elite—Plato’s philosopher-kings—or worse, are Thomas Hobbes’s true-in-name-only arbitrary and subjective “words and breath,” we cannot rely on our knowledge when we move to more abstract ideas of philosophy, psychology, and economics.

This book presents an epistemological defense of the free society by summarizing Ayn Rand's theory of universals, or concepts as she calls them, and demonstrates that her theory answers what in philosophy is called the problem of universals.

The theory is applied to science, identifying the essence of scientific method as conceptualization—not controlled experimentation or statistical inference and probabilities, as the current positivist-influenced science insists. Her theory is further applied and illustrated in the work of Sigmund Freud and Ludwig von Mises demonstrating that these authors are, respectively, and contrary to their critics, scientists of psychology and economics.

Ayn Rand’s theory of concepts is an improvement on Aristotle’s form and matter, providing all scientists today, especially those working to establish a free society, a needed and sound epistemological foundation.

"Original, seminal, iconoclastic, and groundbreaking"²

CONTENTS: Preface; The Essence of Science; Answering the Problem of Universals; Related Issues; Sigmund Freud as Scientist; Ludwig von Mises as Scientist; The Essence of Science, Revisited; Bibliography; Index (180 pp, published July 1, 2026).

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Independent Judgment and Introspection

Fundamental Requirements of the Free Society

Hardcover $34.95 · Softcover $16.95 · Ebook $6.99

What Kind of Psychology Is Required for the Survival of Free Societies?

One that correctly identifies reality—the world external to our minds, as well as our minds’ internal contents and processes—to guide our choices and actions to live happy, healthy lives.

Free, unhampered market societies require citizens who possess an unhampered consciousness, that is, citizens who possess and practice a strong commitment to facts, expressed as independent judgment and independent action. To ensure that we develop and maintain an independent personality, and therefore will support a free society, we must learn the skill of introspection to identify and correct, or preferably prevent, mistaken thinking.

Flawed conclusions about life’s events cause anxiety, thwarting and constricting our lives, often leading to dependence and unhappiness, which also often means a diminished likelihood of valuing or accepting individual freedom. The virtues of psychological independence are integrity, courage, and a refusal blindly to obey authority.

This book argues that psychological independence and its monitoring skill, introspection, are indispensable prerequisites of the free society. (Published October 1, 2019)

“Insightful and beautifully written”³

CONTENTS: Preface; The War on Independence; Psychology for a Free Society; The Psychology of Independence; Mistaken Conceptions; Educating for Independence; Appendix; Bibliography; Index (204 pp).

Free PDF ebook · Why do I self-publish? Read answer here.

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Montessori, Dewey, and Capitalism

Educational Theory for a Free Market in Education

Hardcover $42.95 · Softcover $18.95 · Ebook $1.99

What Is the Ideal Education System?

One that rejects the premise of obedience to authority. Not just in teaching, but also in parenting and in all social relations. Just as an ideal social system would allow citizens to pursue their values without interruption or control from an outside authority, namely the state, so also the ideal education system should allow children and students to concentrate without interruption on the learning tasks that interest them. Neither coercing nor neglecting them, the role of the adult is to guide and nurture the young to develop the confidence and independence required for an adult life in a capitalist society.

Montessori, Dewey, and Capitalism presents a philosophy of education—the theory of concentrated attention and independent judgment—that requires laissez-faire capitalism for its full realization. It is not an argument, except indirectly, for the separation of education and state nor is it a critique of present and past state-run schooling. It is an argument for the abolition of coercion in all areas of life. (P ublished February 1, 2008; translated into Portuguese and published 2025 in Brazil as Educação para uma Sociedade Livre)

“A refreshingly original vision . . .”⁴

CONTENTS: Preface; Acknowledgments; Capitalism and Education; Historical Origins; Foundations; The Theory; Bureaucracy and Education; Independent Judgment; Bibliography; Index (212 pp).

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In Defense of Advertising

Arguments from Reason, Ethical Egoism, and Laissez-faire Capitalism

Hardcover $42.95 · Softcover $16.95 · Ebook $1.99

Can Advertising Do No Good?

That’s what the social and economic critics seem to think.

You’ve heard the complaints. Advertising is coercive, offensive, and monopolistic. It sends subliminal messages to force us to buy what we don’t need or want, it creates the needs and wants it tries to satisfy, it is offensive to good taste and should be banned or regulated, it creates barriers to market entry, and it increases prices.

In Defense of Advertising by Jerry Kirkpatrick takes on the critics and concludes that advertising is fundamentally benevolent.

The book is an unapologetic theoretical defense, based on the Objectivist philosophy of Ayn Rand and the Austrian economics of Ludwig von Mises. It argues that the proper foundations of advertising are reason, ethical egoism, and laissez-faire capitalism, and its theme is that the so-called social and economic criticisms are false because they are based on a false philosophic and economic world view.

Only an alternative world view can validly refute the charges and put forth a positive moral evaluation of advertising’s role in human life. The author defends advertising precisely because it appeals to the rational self-interest of consumers for the rationally selfish, profit-making gain of the capitalists. (Paperback edition published January 2, 2007; hardcover March 30, 1994; hardcover printing of the paperback published October 20, 2024)

“Scholarly … easy to read … rich with information”⁵

CONTENTS: Preface; The Original Sin of Capitalism; Two Philosophic World Views; The Alleged Coercive Power of Advertising; The Alleged Offensiveness of Advertising; The Economic Foundations of Advertising: Three Views; Refuting the Doctrine of Pure and Perfect Competition; The Alleged Monopoly Power of Advertising; The Benevolence of Advertising; Bibliography; Index (204 pp.).

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In Defense of Advertising was originally published in hardcover in 1994 by Quorum Books, an imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport, CT. In 1997 it was translated into Portuguese and published in Brazil as Em Defesa da Propaganda; Kirkpatrick was invited to Rio de Janeiro for the launch of the translation, for interviews with the local media, and for a book signing.

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Applying Principles

Short Essays Based on the Philosophy of Ayn Rand, Economics of Ludwig von Mises, and Psychology of Edith Packer

Hardcover $34.95 · Softcover $16.95 · Ebook $6.99

Uniting Theory and Practice

Applying Principles is a collection of short essays published between January 2007 and December 2016 as monthly blogposts at jerrykirkpatrick.blogspot.com. The author’s aim was to write interdisciplinary, serious posts to inspire critical thinking. Topics, grouped as chapters, range from capitalism and politics to epistemology, academia, education, psychology, youth sports, and the arts.

The title derives from the author’s thirty-six years as educator in the applied science of business marketing. Applied sciences, the author realized early in his career, require a deductive process of applying general, more fundamental principles to specific issues. The business disciplines rest on economics and psychology, and those two in turn, as all sciences, rest on philosophy.

The essays therefore are not journalistic, though many deal with recent issues; they apply fundamental ideas to concrete areas. Examples: “Choice Theory and Capitalism versus Dictatorship,” “The Ethics and Epistemology of Peer Review,” “Interest and the Core Curriculum,” “Ensuring that Disposition Trumps Situation,” and “Nutrition and the Argument from Uncertainty.”

Posts included in “youth sports” came about because the author’s daughter played softball; many comments bring up issues in psychology. And “the arts”—only two posts—stem from the author’s lifelong interest in music.

Applied science gathers all relevant concrete facts of the specific case it is working on, then uses, that is, applies, the universal concepts and principles of the fundamental sciences on which it rests, plus the narrower concepts and principles of its discipline. (Published October 1, 2021)

CONTENTS: Preface; Capitalism and Politics; Academia; Education; Psychology; Epistemology; Youth Sports; The Arts; Index (382 pp).

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