In this wide-ranging episode of The Thinkery Podcast, Carl Benjamin (known on YouTube as “Sargon of Akkad”), interviews Yaron Brook. Among the many topics covered are: Why Adam Smith’s conventional morality undermines the case for capitalism; why Ayn Rand is not a “liberal” or a “conservative”; communism as the secularization of Christianity; the need for rational education; the essence of morality.
Most thinkers throughout history have held a negative or, at best, neutral view of productive work. If not scorned outright, production has usually been viewed as having no moral significance. But Ayn Rand had a unique view of the human potential, central to which is the importance she accords to the act of production. Productive achievement, in her philosophy, is man’s “noblest activity.” This talk explores what Objectivism means by the virtue of productiveness and discusses aspects of our culture’s positive and negative attitudes toward producers and productive activity.
What is free will? In this episode of Yaron Brook’s Living Objectivism, Onkar Ghate, senior fellow and chief content officer at the Ayn Rand Institute, calls in to discuss Ayn Rand’s unique perspective on the nature of free will; the validation of free will; why determinism is self-refuting and incoherent; free will as axiomatic; why free will is associated with mysticism; Objectivism on materialism and idealism; the nature and significance of the primary choice, and other issues.
In a wide-ranging discussion, the panelists answer questions arising from their previous presentations on free will and its implications in issues such as immigration, free speech, Objectivism and foreign policy. This Q&A was recorded at Ayn Rand Student Conference 2016.
Many educated people today dismiss free will as an illusion and instead view themselves and other people as determined by their environment and their genetics. Objectivism offers a very different view.
In the most recent episode of The Rubin Report, Don Watkins explains why Ayn Rand is such a controversial philosopher, what makes Watkins tick as an intellectual activist, the demonization of businessmen, the moral meaning of life, Objectivism and libertarianism, the unselfishness of Donald Trump and more.