Touchstone, Kathleen 1950–

PERSONAL:

Born January 29, 1950, in Laurel, MS; daughter of J.H., Jr. (a mathematician) and Wanda (a postal carrier) Touchstone; married D.S. Lliteras (an author), August 13, 1971. Education: Florida State University, B.S. (magna cum laude), 1972, M.A., 1974, Ph.D., 1978.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Montgomery, AL. Office—College of Business, Troy University Montgomery, 136 Catoma St., Ste. 200, P.O. Drawer 4419, Montgomery, AL 36103. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Washington, DC, economist, 1978-80; Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC, assistant professor of economics, 1980-82; U.S. Department of the Navy, Norfolk, VA, operation research and management analyst, 1983-94; Troy University Atlantic Region, Norfolk, member of graduate faculty, 1994-2006; Troy University Montgomery, Montgomery, AL, assistant professor of economics, 2007—.

MEMBER:

Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, Omicron Delta Epsilon.

WRITINGS:

Then Athena Said: Unilateral Transfers and the Transformation of Objectivist Ethics, University Press of America (Lanham, MD), 2006.

Contributor to scholarly journals.

SIDELIGHTS:

Kathleen Touchstone told CA: ‘The impetus for writing Then Athena Said: Unilateral Transfers and the Transformation of Objectivist Ethics was a comment made by philosopher David Kelley on a television program titled Greed. In effect, he said that capitalist Michael Milken had done more for humanity than Mother Teresa. While thinking on this statement, I was led to consider the larger question of how much an individual should give to charity. This is a normative question that cannot be answered by economics theory; however, I used tools of economic analysis to address it.

"The primary influence on this work was Ayn Rand, since it was her philosophy, Objectivism, that provided the framework within which I considered the question. Although there have been many other authors who have influenced me, I particularly admire economist Irving Fisher for the clarity with which he presented complex concepts."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Journal of Ayn Rand Studies, spring, 2007, Eren Ozgen, review of Then Athena Said: Unilateral Transfers and the Transformation of Objectivist Ethics, pp. 285-290.