Instructor Bio
Onkar Ghate is the chief philosophy officer and a senior fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute. He is the Institute’s resident expert on Objectivism and serves as its head trainer and editor. He has taught philosophy for over ten years at the Institute’s Ayn Rand University.
Dr. Ghate is a contributing author to a number of books on Rand’s fiction and philosophy, including Essays on Ayn Rand’s “The Fountainhead”; Essays on Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”; Why Businessmen Need Philosophy: The Capitalist’s Guide to the Ideas Behind Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”; Concepts and Their Role in Knowledge: Reflections on Objectivist Epistemology; and “A Companion to Ayn Rand (Blackwell Companions to Philosophy).”
His op-eds have appeared in venues that range across the ideological spectrum, from Huffington Post to CNN.com to Foxnews.com and Businessweek.com. He’s been interviewed on national and international radio, including NPR and BBC Radio, and has appeared as a television guest on CNBC, KCET, Fox News Channel and the CBS Evening News.
A Canadian citizen, Dr. Ghate studied economics and philosophy as an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto and worked in the financial industry prior to joining ARI in 2000. He received his doctorate in philosophy in 1998 from the University of Calgary.
Request An Interview or Speaker
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Courses Taught
Objectivism through Ayn Rand’s Fiction (Q3-Q4) | 2024
Ayn Rand’s novels, We the Living, Anthem, The Fountainhead, and Atlas Shrugged, are self-consciously philosophical novels, containing abstract themes, characters driven by opposing moral principles, and conflicts rooted in clashing worldviews. And more than that,...
Objectivism through Ayn Rand’s Fiction | 2024
Ayn Rand’s novels, We the Living, Anthem, The Fountainhead, and Atlas Shrugged, are self-consciously philosophical novels, containing abstract themes, characters driven by opposing moral principles, and conflicts rooted in clashing worldviews. And more than that,...
Objectivism Seminar
This is a two-quarter seminar exploring some of Objectivism’s central principles, especially in ethics and epistemology. Its goal is to help you learn how to better understand and “chew” various principles of Objectivism. The consequence...
How to Think about Current Events
In the age of social media everyone’s a self-proclaimed pundit, tweeting or posting on current events whether or not they possess any relevant knowledge or expertise. Meanwhile, our culture is saturated with stale, conventional thinking....
Philosophy, Work, and Business
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...
Objectivism Seminar: Foundations – Year 2
This is an ongoing live course of Ayn Rand University, a new kind of university which provides advanced live courses in philosophy and communication from an Objectivist perspective. ARU courses include weekly live classes conducted by...
Leonard Peikoff’s “Eight Great Plays”
This is an ongoing live course of Ayn Rand University, a new kind of university which provides advanced live courses in philosophy and communication from an Objectivist perspective. ARU courses include weekly live classes conducted by...
Objectivism Through Ayn Rand’s Fiction (Q1-Q2)
Ayn Rand’s major novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, are self-consciously philosophical novels, containing abstract themes, characters driven by opposing moral principles, and conflicts rooted in clashing worldviews. And more than that, Rand’s fictional heroes discover and embody...
OGC: Advanced Writing and Editing
This is an invitation-only live course (Oct. 2021 – Jun. 2022) of Ayn Rand University, a new kind of university which provides advanced live courses in philosophy and communication from an Objectivist perspective. ARU courses include...
Free Preview! The Objectivist Academic Center (OAC)
In this free preview course, you can sample the educational experience of being in the Objectivist Academic Center (OAC®), ARI's premier intellectual training program featuring live courses taught by videoconference. Join at aynrand.org/OAC
The core of...
Objectivism’s Approach to the Virtues
In this collection of talks, Tara Smith and Onkar Ghate survey three of the moral virtues that are most distinctive to the Objectivist ethics: independence, pride and productiveness. Lastly, Dr. Smith shows how some character...
Subtitled
Exploring Objectivism:
The Philosophy of Ayn Rand
Available with Spanish subtitles!
¡Disponible con subtítulos en español!
If you have ever wondered what philosophy is and how ideas shape human life, this course is for you. Join Gloria Álvarez as she interviews Ayn Rand Institute...
Seminar on Ayn Rand’s Political Philosophy
Ayn Rand wrote extensively about political philosophy, arguing that the principles and ideas responsible for the remarkable economic and social progress of the nineteenth century were little understood a century later, and that their implicit...
OGC: The Road to Critical Race Theory
This is an ongoing live course (Jan. - Jun. 2022) of Ayn Rand University, a new kind of university which provides advanced live courses in philosophy and communication from an Objectivist perspective. ARU courses include...
OGC: Oral Communication
This is an ongoing live course (Oct. 2021 – Dec. 2021) of Ayn Rand University, a new kind of university which provides advanced live courses in philosophy and communication from an Objectivist perspective. ARU courses include...
OAC Year 1 Objectivism Seminar – Foundations
This is an ongoing live course (Oct. 2021 – Jun. 2022) of Ayn Rand University, a new kind of university which provides advanced live courses in philosophy and communication from an Objectivist perspective. ARU courses include...
Subtitled
Seize the Reins of Your Mind
Available with Spanish subtitles!
¡Disponible con subtítulos en español!
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...
Subtitled
The Morality of Freedom
Available with Spanish subtitles!
¡Disponible con subtítulos en español!
Do all people desire freedom? If we look at the history of civilization and at popular political movements over the last hundred years, argues Onkar Ghate, the answer...
We the Living
We the Living is Ayn Rand’s first and least-known novel. It is the story of a young woman, Kira Argounova, who is solemnly dedicated to living her own life. But she is trapped in a collectivist...
Subtitled
What Is Liberty?
Available with Spanish subtitles!
¡Disponible con subtítulos en español!
Political figures from Jefferson to Lenin to FDR and philosophers from Locke to Marx to Rawls all claim to stand for liberty, but they have radically different understandings...
Subtitled
A Study of Galt’s Speech
Available with Spanish subtitles!
¡Disponible con subtítulos en español!
“This is John Galt speaking.”
Thus begins Ayn Rand’s explanation of her revolutionary philosophy, Objectivism—perfectly integrated into the plot of her greatest novel.
This lecture course studies Galt’s speech and...
Subtitled
Religion and Politics
Available with Spanish subtitles!
¡Disponible con subtítulos en español!
In Ayn Rand’s philosophy, the most important issue in human life is the supremacy and absolutism of reason. This leads Rand to reject any form of faith or...
Subtitled
Individualism in an Age of Tribalism
Available with Spanish subtitles!
¡Disponible con subtítulos en español!
Increasingly, our culture pushes us to view ourselves as passive members of one group or another. What matters, we’re told, is not the choices we make as individuals,...
Experience
Senior Fellow
- Ayn Rand Institute2007 – present
Chief Content Officer
- Ayn Rand Institute2013 – present
Instructor And Dean
- Ayn Rand University2000 – present
Selected Work
Book Chapters
- “‘A Wall of Separation Between Church and State: Understanding the Principle’s Supporting Arguments and Far-Reaching Implications’ in Ayn Rand Society Philosophical StudiesVolume 3 (forthcoming)”
- “‘Rand (contra Nozick) on Individual Rights and the Emergence and Justification of Government’ in Ayn Rand Society Philosophical Studies Volume 3 (forthcoming)”
- “A Being of Self-Made Soul” in A Companion to Ayn Rand(Blackwell Companions to Philosophy) (eds. Allan Gotthelf and Gregory Salmieri) February 23, 2016
- “A Free Mind and A Free Market Are Corollaries” in A Companion to Ayn Rand (Blackwell Companions to Philosophy) (eds. Allan Gotthelf and Gregory Salmieri) February 23, 2016
- “Natural Kinds and Rand’s Theory of Concepts: Reflections on Griffiths” in Concepts and Their Role in Knowledge: Reflections on Objectivist Epistemology (eds. Allan Gotthelf and James Lennox) June 03, 2013
- “The Plight of Leo Kovalensky” in Essays on Ayn Rand’s “We the Living,” February 17, 2012
- “Atlas Shrugged: America’s Second Declaration of Independence” in Why Businessmen Need Philosophy: The Capitalist’s Guide to the Ideas Behind Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged,” April 05, 2011
Papers Delivered
- “Rand on the Emergence and Justification of Government,” April 04, 2016, Association of Private Enterprise Education Conference 2016
- “Understanding Egoism and Altruism,” March 14, 2015, Public Choice Society Conference 2015
- “Nozick and Rand on the Foundations of Liberty,” April 15, 2014, Association of Private Enterprise Education Conference 2014
- “Political Philosophy, Altruism and Government by Magic,” September 08, 2014, Public Choice Society Conference 2014
OP-EDS
- “The Myth About Ayn Rand and Social Security,” June 19, 2014
- “A Liberal Ayn Rand?” [Huffington Post], November 02, 2012
- “Ayn Rand’s Appeal” [Foxnews.com], August 21, 2012
- “How Did Ayn Rand’s ‘Atlas Shrugged’ Predict an America Spinning Out of Control?” [Foxnews.com], October 31, 2011
- “Does America Need Ayn Rand or Jesus?” [Foxnews.com],June 29, 2011
- “Our Moral Code Is Out of Date” [CNN.com], September 16, 2010
- “The Selfish Life” [NewStatesman.com], September 18, 2007
Audio & Video
- “Charlie Hebdo, the West and the Need to Ridicule Religion”
- “Freedom of Speech or Tyranny of Silence?”
- “Religion in America”
- “Roe v. Wade: Forty Years Later”
- “A Philosopher’s Take on the Obamacare Decision”
- “Atlas Shrugged: America’s Second Declaration of Independence”
- “Reason vs. Faith”
- “Ayn Rand’s Ideas — an Introduction”
Events
- “Education and Ideology: The Need to Be Free to Choose,” March 10, 2016, North Carolina Alliance for Public Charter Schools Conference 2016
- “How the Republicans Are Making a Mockery of the Constitution,” November 14, 2015, AM560 Freedom Summit Chicago 2015
- “Charlie Hebdo, the West and the Need to Ridicule Religion,” July 04, 2015, Objectivist Summer Conference 2015
- “Introduction to Objectivism,” March 28, 2015, Liberty League Freedom Forum 2015
- “Freedom of Speech or Tyranny of Silence?” January 21, 2015, panel discussion with Flemming Rose and others, Boston
Media Interviews
- “Government’s Role” – NPR, All Things Considered, April 13, 2013
- “Ayn Rand and the 2012 Presidential Campaign” – NPR, The Diane Rehm Show, August 20, 2012
- ”The Budget as a Moral Document” – NPR, Interfaith Voices,July 01, 2011
Talks & Lectures
- “The Separation of Church and State”
- “Religion and Morality”
- “A Study of Galt’s Speech”
- “Atlas Shrugged: America’s Second Declaration of Independence”
- “Ayn Rand’s Ideas — an Introduction”
- “Rethinking Selfishness: Ayn Rand’s New Conception of Egoism”
- “The Moral and The Practical”
