Elan Journo – Ayn Rand Institute Live!

Why Should I care About Israel? with Elan Journo

February 5, 2020 arilive_user 1:00:18 0 Comments

Israel is talked about often in the media, but many Americans don’t understand why we are so preoccupied with this country.

Often Israel is spoken of in a negative context: boycotts at universities, condemnations by the United Nations, and so on. What makes Israel worse than other countries? On the flip side, good defenses of Israel are scant. Is Israel important to U.S. foreign policy? If so, why?

Join David Birnbaum as he interviews foreign policy expert Elan Journo on the question: Why should I care about Israel?

Who Decides What’s Right or Wrong? by Elan Journo

January 22, 2020 arilive_user 56:29 0 Comments

In ethics, the question “Who ultimately decides what is morally right or wrong?” is commonly asked. Notice that in other areas of life there’s no issue of “who decides” what’s right or wrong. For example, if your car won’t start, you call a mechanic to inspect it. After he replaces the battery, the car works again. We have a clear-cut answer—no one “decides.” So, why do we treat moral issues differently? Why is there an issue of final authority in ethics? And how should we think about this issue?

Join Elan Journo as he presents Ayn Rand’s revolutionary answer to the question: Who decides what’s morally right or wrong?

Should You Judge Other People? by Elan Journo

December 11, 2019 arilive_user 59:35 0 Comments

If you want to be considered a caring person, you are expected to offer a “no-judgement-zone.” And you are supposed to believe that it’s an insult to be called “judgmental.” It’s recommended that you live by the biblical advice “Judge not, lest ye be judged,” but can this actually guide us in our daily life and thinking?

There are people who lie, cheat, steal, rape, murder and worse—and, clearly, they deserve to be morally condemned.

On the other hand, there are honest, thoughtful, productive, and truly heroic people. To form a positive evaluation of them, some kind of moral judgement is needed.

Join Elan Journo as he explores another one of life’s big questions: Should you judge other people?

Does Success in Life Require Compromise? by Elan Journo

October 2, 2019 arilive_user 1:01:16 0 Comments

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?

What Is Self-Esteem? How Do I Get It? by Elan Journo

August 7, 2019 arilive_user 1:00:38 0 Comments

Is having self-esteem a good thing?

Most people will say it’s part of living a good life. And we all know someone who lives with gnawing self-doubt, someone with little or no self-esteem at all. It really holds them back.

But is self-esteem something anyone can attain, or is it just for the lucky few? And who can give it to you?

Elan Journo explores these questions.

Recorded live as part of ARI’s Philosophy of Living on Earth webinar series on August 03, 2019
Sign up up to attend the next webinar live at http://courses.aynrand.org/webinars/register

The “Virtue of Selfishness”? Ayn Rand’s Ethics of Egoism in Your Own Life by Elan Journo

May 15, 2019 arilive_user 44:04 0 Comments

Ayn Rand held that an individual’s pursuit of “his own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life.” Fifty years ago, Rand published The Virtue of Selfishness, a groundbreaking book laying out her ethics of rational egoism. What does it look like to be selfish in your own life? In this introductory talk, Elan Journo discusses Rand’s conception of morality and sketches what it looks like in practice.

Recorded May 7, 2014

America, Israel and the Middle East by Elan Journo

October 27, 2018 arilive_user 37:24 0 Comments

In his new book What Justice Demands: America and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Elan Journo explains the essential nature of this pivotal conflict, what has fueled it for so long, and America’s actual stake in the region. In this introductory talk delivered at Objectivist