This course teaches the basic principles and methods of objective communication. We’ll treat communication as a science, as a skill that has certain objective principles that can be learned and applied to the improvement of one’s work. Through written assignments, lectures and writing analysis, students are encouraged to think critically about communication—their own and that of others. There are two parts to the course: Dr. Leonard Peikoff’s course “Objective Communication” and live classes on nonfiction writing taught by Keith Lockitch.

Persuading people of unpopular ideas is insanely difficult—and yet provably possible. In this course students will learn the key skillsets of persuasion, including clarity, framing, motivation, and fact/feeling integration, as well as how to avoid common errors Objectivists make when trying to persuade. They will also learn how to use these skills to build high-impact intellectual careers.

Yaron Brook will lead advanced workshops in which he discusses some of the principles of effective oral communication and some of the practical skills one needs to develop and automatize to gain mastery in this area. The focus will be on giving detailed evaluation and feedback to presentations by aspiring communicators who have already had significant experience in speaking before new audiences.

Ayn Rand was interested in conveying her ideas to new audiences; we at ARI are too. More widely, learning to effectively communicate your ideas to new audiences is an important skill to learn. This course focuses on some of the principles and practice of effective oral communication. We consider some of the principles of proper communication from an Objectivist perspective and then students practice the skills they are learning by giving short talks on intellectual topics, followed by extensive instructor feedback.

Ayn Rand embraced Aristotelian logic but took it much further. This course, through lectures and homework exercises, reviews the three most important ideas of Aristotelian logic and then focuses on the new principles of proper thinking developed by Ayn Rand. Topics will include: concept-formation, axioms, the syllogism, the need for and rules of proper definition, hierarchy, context-holding, thinking in principles, thinking in examples, and logical fallacies from equivocation to the stolen concept.

Dostoevsky’s first great novel is sometimes described not as a “whodunit,” but as a “whydunit.” Raskolnikov’s motivations are stated repeatedly, yet they remain mysterious. To uncover the reasons for his actions, we need to attend not only to what Raskolnikov tells us, but also to what Dostoevsky shows us. Our primary text is the novel itself, which we will read in installments.

Objectivism upholds productive work as the central activity of a good life. To take your life seriously requires taking work seriously. This course will explore principles and attitudes that will help guide you in your work, your career, and the world of business more generally. A major focus will be on what the application of the ideas looks like, explored in part through a series of interviews and discussions with Objectivist businessmen, entrepreneurs, intellectuals, and professionals in various fields.

In this course we will study Kant’s mature theoretical philosophy—i.e. his metaphysics and epistemology—through a close reading of his magnum opus, The Critique of Pure Reason (1781/1787), and closely related materials. Our goals will be to learn the basic elements of Kant’s transcendental idealism, to identify Kant’s philosophical objectives, and to evaluate his methodology. Thence we will be able to understand Kant’s place in the history of western philosophy. The course will emphasize the skills of textual and theoretical interpretation and of philosophical evaluation.

This course teaches the basic principles and methods of objective communication. We’ll treat communication as a science, as a skill that has certain objective principles that can be learned and applied to the improvement of one’s work. Through written assignments, lectures and writing analysis, students are encouraged to think critically about communication—their own and that of others. There are two parts to the course: Dr. Leonard Peikoff’s course “Objective Communication” and live classes on nonfiction writing taught by Keith Lockitch.