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Topic: Objectivism

Curated content
6 Webinars
Topic: Objectivism
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September 14, 2019

01:00 PM ET

Speaker
Level
Beginner
Isn't Everybody Selfish?

Join special guest Gregory Salmieri for the latest in the series of Ayn Rand Institute webinars on Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism. The question “Isn’t Everybody Selfish?” is often asked cynically by people who think selfishness is a bad thing and that it’s impossible to avoid. Sometimes it is said by economists who think that selfishness helps to explain human action, and sometimes the question is posed skeptically to people, e.g., Ayn Rand, who say that everyone ought to be selfish. If everyone is selfish all the time, what point is there in saying that people ought to be? In this talk, Salmieri will discuss what selfishness really means, what it is to act selfishly and how often that really happens.

Join special guest Gregory Salmieri and explore another one of life’s big questions: Isn’t Everybody Selfish?

A recording of this webinar is available on the Ayn Rand Institute’s YouTube channel and as an audio download on the Ayn Rand Institute Live podcast series (available on Stitcher and Apple Podcasts).

September 21, 2019

01:00 PM ET

Speaker
Level
Beginner
Is Free Will an Illusion?

Is free will an illusion? Today, most people would answer yes. It might seem like you make choices and face genuine alternatives in life, it might seem like you have the power to decide what road you will travel, but this is all an illusion, it’s claimed. Your course in life is determined by antecedent factors. Some combination of nature or nurture, it’s usually said, determines who you are and what you do in life. But against this deterministic viewpoint that has swept the 20th and 21st centuries, one of the most radical thinkers of the 20th century, philosopher Ayn Rand, takes a very different position. She argues that the fact of choice is real and it’s vital to understand the actual power and control that free will gives you over your own mind, and so your own life. Far from being an illusion, free will is a fundamental fact about you as a human being. The real illusion, she argues, is that determinism, the denial of free will, is a logical, coherent, scientific position. It isn’t.

Join Onkar Ghate as he explores another one of life’s big questions: Is free will an illusion?

A recording of this webinar is available on the Ayn Rand Institute’s YouTube channel and as an audio download on the Ayn Rand Institute Live podcast series (available on Stitcher and Apple Podcasts).

September 28, 2019

01:00 PM ET

Speaker
Level
Beginner
Does Success In Life Require Compromise?

Compromise is widely seen as essential to success in life. To have healthy, meaningful relationships, we’re advised to find a middle-ground. In the workplace, we hear, it’s vital that we compromise. And in the words of one long-time politician, in Washington “if you want to get along, you have to go along.” At the same time, however, it’s clear that not every compromise leads to a win-win outcomes. Sometimes, a compromise is toxic to a relationship. Or, it can sink your business. And, in politics, some compromises can be truly disastrous. Sometimes you need to say no — and stand your ground. But when? How can you figure out which compromises lead to healthy, win-win outcomes, and which ones don’t? The philosopher Ayn Rand offers a powerfully clarifying analysis of compromise, which can guide us in navigating our relationships, work, and life.

Join Elan Journo as he explores another one of life’s big questions: Does success in life require compromise?

A recording of this webinar is available on the Ayn Rand Institute’s YouTube channel and as an audio download on the Ayn Rand Institute Live podcast series (available on Stitcher and Apple Podcasts).

October 05, 2019

01:00 PM ET

Speaker
Level
Beginner
Is Altruism Good?

Maybe you’ve heard of something called “effective altruism”? It’s a recent movement that encourages people to do research to figure out the best way to give away as much of their own money as possible, allegedly in order to help out as many people as possible. Now one wonders if calling it “effective altruism” implies that altruism up until very recently hasn’t been effective. 

In any case, what is altruism really, what’s it all about, and what motivates it? Is it simply an expression of generosity and good will among men? Or is it motivated perhaps by something else? These are the questions that we need to ask and think about it if we’re going to evaluate altruism, an idea that most people simply equate with the very idea of morality. Are they right to equate it? And if not, why would anyone challenge that equation?  

Join Ben Bayer as he asks one of life’s big questions: Is altruism good?

A recording of this webinar is available on the Ayn Rand Institute’s YouTube channel and as an audio download on the Ayn Rand Institute Live podcast series (available on Stitcher and Apple Podcasts).

October 12, 2019

01:00 PM ET

Speaker
Level
Beginner
Why Are Principles Important in Life?

When we describe someone as a person of principle, it’s often meant as a compliment. We mean that the person has a solid moral compass and that his actions are grounded in time-honored rules of conduct. On the other hand, though, we sometimes view principles as being rigid and constraining, a bunch of rules that stifle spontaneity. From that point of view we sometimes view the man of principles as being somewhat dogmatic, maybe even a bit of a zealot.

So is it good to be a principled person or is it a problem? What exactly are principles anyway and what do they do for us? Do we even need them in life? These are questions that Keith Lockitch will be exploring in the next episode of Philosophy for Living on Earth.

Join Keith Lockitch as he asks one of life’s big questions: Why are principles important in life?

A recording of this webinar is available on the Ayn Rand Institute’s YouTube channel and as an audio download on the Ayn Rand Institute Live podcast series (available on Stitcher and Apple Podcasts).

October 19, 2019

01:00 PM ET

Speaker
Level
Beginner
Is There a God?

The question of whether there is or is not a God is certainly one of life’s big questions, and it’s one that almost all of us have had to grapple with at some point in our lives. Many of us were raised in a religious environment but have come to have doubts or questions about whether God exists. For those of us who were raised in a nonreligious atmosphere, sometimes we come to wonder whether the religious have it right about God’s existence. But how do you answer the question? How do you approach the question if what you are aiming at, what you are trying to reach, is knowledge, genuine knowledge of what’s actually true. What methods do you use to answer the question, “Is there a God?”

Join Aaron Smith as he asks one of life’s big questions: Is there a God?

A recording of this webinar is available on the Ayn Rand Institute’s YouTube channel and as an audio download on the Ayn Rand Institute Live podcast series (available on Stitcher and Apple Podcasts).

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