In the 2016 election, there was widespread concern about “fake news” and media bias. This talk explores the guidance Objectivist epistemology offers for being an objective consumer of the news. How do the requirements of integration and reduction help guide one's acceptance of the reports of others? How do we avoid uncritical reliance on the media without becoming skeptics of journalism as such? How do we avoid bias without abandoning concern for our values?
In this short clip from a longer presentation, two Ayn Rand Institute intellectuals explain how the term “Islamophobia” works to silence rational discussion, criticism of Islam and religion more generally.
At OCON 2015, during a panel on racism, philosopher Gregory Salmieri identified the term “white privilege” as what Ayn Rand called a package deal. His comments shed valuable light on an issue that many find frustrating.
While we should always be clear on the meaning of the concepts we're using, this commitment to clarity is especially important with respect to concepts that the culture seeks to muddy. Today, argues Peter Schwartz, the primary muddiers are the advocates of altruism, and their targets are concepts of morality. This talk examines the obfuscations, including the “package-dealing,” generated by altruists, and analyzes the valid and invalid definitions of crucial moral concepts.
