Tara Smith

Who is Tara Smith?

Tara A. Smith is a professor of philosophy and holder of the BB&T Chair for the Study of Objectivism and holder of the Anthem Foundation Fellowship for the Study of Objectivism at the University of Texas at Austin.

Smith specializes in moral and political theory. She did her undergraduate work at the University of Virginia and received her doctorate from Johns Hopkins University. Her published works include the books Viable Values: A Study of Life as the Root and Reward of Morality, Moral Rights and Political Freedom, and Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist. She is also a contributing author to several essay collections about Ayn Rand's novels. Smith has written in journals such as the Journal of Philosophy, American Philosophical Quarterly, Social Philosophy and Policy, and Law and Philosophy.

Smith has lectured all across the United States including Harvard University, Wheeling Jesuit University, Duke University, University of Pittsburgh, and New York University, and to groups of businessmen. She has also organized conferences, often ones emphasizing objective law.