history
Aristotle’s Lyceum by Robert Mayhew
In this talk, after a quick look at the life of Aristotle and his establishment of a philosophical school at the Lyceum, Dr. Mayhew will describe the grounds and buildings of the Lyceum, its use as a school of philosophy, and the possible reasons for its steady decline as a cultural influence in the centuries following Aristotle’s death. A brief account of some of the Aristotelians who came after him (e.g. Theophrastus and Eudemus) will be included.
Recorded live at Ayn Rand Con Europe 2023
Capitalism: The Only Moral Social System by Gregory Salmieri
“If life on earth is one’s standard of value,” wrote Ayn Rand, “then the nineteenth century moved mankind forward more than all the other centuries combined.” She attributed the century’s “creative energy” and “rising standard of living” to the introduction of the only moral social system: capitalism. In this talk, Dr. Salmieri discusses why it is the only moral system, and how its moral character makes possible an unprecedented prosperity that humanity has only begun (fitfully) to achieve.
Recorded live at Ayn Rand Con Europe 2023
Why Bad Economics Won’t Go Away by Yaron Brook
Why is it that people don’t seem to learn from experience? It is clear that our existing Keynesian economic policies have failed miserably. We can compare controlled economies with those less controlled, and compare more regulated sectors of our own economy with those sectors that have fewer regulations. Logic and history are on the side of those economists who have advocated for free markets. Why do those who advocate sound economic policies continue to fail in substantially rolling back government intervention in the economy? It would seem so easy.
In this talk, delivered on December 1, 2011, at Hyatt Regency Hotel in Chicago, Yaron Brook, executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute, identifies the reasons people find the free-market idea so difficult to accept and why statist policies seem to make so much sense to them. He identifies why we have been losing this intellectual battle, and provides real solutions on how to make significant headway toward ending these bad economic policies, allowing us to achieve more freedom and prosperity.
“We the Living” – Celebrating the Film’s 80-Year Journey by Duncan Scott
Mr. Scott, restorer of the film classic We the Living, will give a talk celebrating the movie’s astonishing 80-year journey—from 1942 to 2022. Scott will vividly describe the many controversies and intrigues surrounding the film’s production in war-time Italy; the heroic efforts to save the film after dictator Mussolini ordered the film destroyed; Scott’s personal experiences working alongside Ayn Rand on the initial restoration of the rediscovered movie; and the meticulous new restoration.
Recorded live on July 5, 2022 as part of the Objectivist Summer Conference.
Ayn Rand’s “The Fountainhead”: The Story of Her Original Screenplay by Shoshana Milgram
Ayn Rand’s original screenplay for The Fountainhead was 283 pages long. The final screenplay for the 1949 film was less than half that length. Much of her work, therefore, has never been available to the public. The OCON program includes a performance of several scenes as originally planned and written. This follow-up talk provides additional information about Ayn Rand’s choices in the 1944 screenplay regarding the order and contexts of scenes and includes scenes rendered visually with no dialogue.
Recorded live on July 4, 2022 as part of the Objectivist Summer Conference.
Emil Theodor Kocher: A Chance to Cut by Laura Mazer
Emil Kocher, Swiss surgeon in the late 1800s, is known mostly for revolutionizing surgery of the thyroid. In his hands, the mortality rate of thyroid removal dropped from 50% to less than 1%. But tragedy soon followed triumph: before Kocher, no one could take out the thyroid gland. So no one asked if you should. The consequence of his surgical genius was the belated realization that the thyroid plays a crucial role in growth and development — much to the dismay of his young patients. This is the story of one man’s professional crisis, and how he met the challenge.
Recorded live on July 5, 2022 as part of the Objectivist Summer Conference.
Frege’s Logic: Revolution or Devolution? by Mike Mazza
The most significant figure in the history of logic after Aristotle is 19th-century German philosopher Gottlob Frege. Frege’s work in logic and philosophy is foundational to the “analytic” tradition in philosophy and has had a strong influence on mathematics and computer science. This lecture discusses his revolution in logic and critiques its philosophical foundations.
Recorded live on July 6, 2022 as part of the Objectivist Summer Conference.
Understanding Evil: The Soviet Union and the Sanction of the Victim by Nikos Sotirakopoulos
The Bolsheviks began as an insignificant, minority group that seized power in 1917, yet they maintained it for seven decades and established an empire with global reach. The regime struggled from day one, and yet it managed to sustain itself and expand. There are useful lessons to draw from this for the student of history and ideas. What does the Soviet Union’s history teach us about the nature of evil? How does it survive, and how important is the role played by the sanction of the good?
Recorded live on July 7, 2022 as part of the Objectivist Summer Conference.
Ayn Rand on the Genealogy of Altruism by Ben Bayer
Ayn Rand made abundantly clear that the morality of altruism had no basis in reason. Where then, if not from logical arguments, did it originate? It is not enough to point to irrational philosophies: the ultimate question is, where did philosophers get the idea? This talk will explore Ayn Rand’s own views on the motives that led thinkers to adopt this irrational morality. The talk will also examine how her views on this subject developed and deepened between the writing of The Fountainhead and her later nonfiction essays. It will also compare her views to Nietzsche’s views in The Genealogy of Morals, which are similar in certain respects but profoundly different in others.
Recorded live on July 3, 2022 as part of the Objectivist Summer Conference.
Stoicism vs Objectivism: What Is (and Is Not) Under Our Control? by Aaron Smith
Objectivism holds that it’s vital to understand what things are under our control and what are not. To avoid passive resignation toward what we can change and futile rebellion against the unchangeable, we need to internalize the right perspective on this issue. This talk contrasts the Objectivist perspective on this question with that of Stoicism. Both philosophies regard the issue as of central practical importance to a good life, but they differ in fundamental ways that are instructive to explore.
Recorded live as part of The Objectivist Conference on August 31, 2021.
Ayn Rand on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson | Dec. 1967
A special edition of the ARI Live Podcast: Ayn Rand’s third and final appearance on the Tonight Show.
Ayn Rand on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson | Oct. 1967
A special edition of the ARI Live Podcast: Ayn Rand’s second appearance on the Tonight Show.
Ayn Rand on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson | Aug. 1967
A special edition of the ARI Live Podcast: Ayn Rand’s first appearance on the Tonight Show.
Behind the Scenes: Ayn Rand on the Tonight Show with Elan Journo and Tom Bowden
In 1967, Ayn Rand made three controversial appearances in the space of four months on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, including one that hasn’t been heard publicly since its broadcast.
In this YouTube livestream event, join Elan Journo and Tom Bowden as they discuss the cultural context of the 1960s, Rand’s ground rules for appearing on Carson’s show, the topics covered in the interviews, Carson’s conversational skills and intellectual courage, and the strong audience response.
Stay tuned for podcasts featuring all three interviews, in which Rand addresses an astonishing range of issues, from basic principles of philosophy to reasoned opinions on current events and cultural trends to lighthearted banter.
Rand stoked controversy and pulled no punches. She declared her reasoned opposition to the Vietnam War, the military draft, and to a papal encyclical attacking the moral foundations of Western civilization — while expressing support for rational self-interest, the pursuit of individual happiness, political freedom, Romantic art, and the novels of Mickey Spillane.
Although Rand would in later years give long-form interviews to Phil Donahue, Tom Snyder and others, these three Johnny Carson interviews remain unsurpassed for sheer breadth. Join us for a trip back to a time when talk-show discussions of highly contentious issues could be calm, focused, intelligent and rational.
The Evolution of Work by Jason Crawford
Man has always needed to work. But throughout history, as work moved from farms to factories to offices, it has improved in many ways. Work has become easier, safer, more reliable, more enjoyable, more flexible. Above all, it has become more productive, resulting in both soaring real wages and increased leisure. This talk will tell the story of how we got from the hunter-gatherer life to the modern working world, and will celebrate the industrial heroes who brought us here.
Recorded live as part of The Objectivist Conference on August 31, 2021.
Great Inventors as Great Capitalists by Adam Mossoff
We celebrate great inventors for their creations—the lightbulb, the sewing machine, the computer, the smartphone. Great innovators are often great capitalists, too. They often invent new business models, corporate organizations and other commercial mechanisms for producing, retailing and advertising their new products and services. In this talk, Adam Mossoff discusses the often-overlooked value-creating commercial innovations of great inventors in U.S. history.
Recorded live as part of The Objectivist Conference on August 29, 2021.
The Anatomists: In Defiance of Man and God by Laura Mazer
An understanding of human anatomy makes possible modern medicine, surgery and even representational art. But the knowledge is hard-fought: the story of the early anatomists is a story of grave robbing, murder, heresy and heroism. This talk will introduce some of the individuals who have advanced our understanding of human anatomy, and relate the struggles and triumphs they faced along the way. Recorded live as part of The Objectivist Conference on August 28, 2021.
Reclaiming Americanism Panel
A New Textbook of Americanism: The Politics of Ayn Rand (2018) presents Rand’s distinctive philosophical conception of “Americanism” and shows why it is so urgently needed today. This panel features the book’s editor Jonathan Hoenig and several contributors.
Recorded live at OCON on June 24, 2019
Foundations of a Free Society Panel
Foundations of a Free Society: Reflections on Ayn Rand’s Political Philosophy (2019) is an in-depth philosophic exploration of Rand’s advocacy of capitalism. The book relates her ideas to contemporary and historical debates, and particularly the views of other thinkers seen as defending individual liberty and free markets. This panel moderated by Elan Journo features contributors to the book.
Recorded live at OCON on June 25, 2019
Music in Stone: Architecture and Sense of Life by Barry Wood
Architecture is in a class of its own among the arts, combining utilitarian function and expressive power. How, though, can a building, which is nonrepresentational, convey meaning? In this lecture, Dr. Wood draws on Ayn Rand’s writings on architecture, including The Fountainhead and The Romantic Manifesto, to deepen our understanding of how great buildings concretize abstract values. The talk includes analyses of several works of world architecture from an Objectivist perspective.
This lecture was delivered on July 5, 2018 at OCON 2018.
Victor Hugo and You: The Art of Spiritual Splendor by Shoshana Milgram
Hugo was a giant. He created brilliantly Romantic novels, poetry and plays, and he did so with dedicated purpose: “Everything in a work of art is an act of will.” Learn about the life, works and impact of the man Ayn Rand considered “the greatest novelist in world literature.” His writing, he said, “knocks on the door and says, Open up, I have come for you.” Let’s accept his invitation.
This talk was recorded live on June 25th as part of OCON 2019.
Aristotle and the Romantic Manifesto by Robert Mayhew
In the Romantic Manifesto, Ayn Rand reports that before she heard the name “Aristotle,” she had accepted his principle “that fiction is of greater philosophical importance than history, because history represents things only as they are, while fiction represents them ‘as they might be and ought to be.’” The aim of this talk is to explain the role of this principle in Aristotle’s esthetics and Ayn Rand’s, and to note other parallels between the Poetics and Romantic Manifesto.
Recorded live on June 27, 2019 in Cleveland, OH.
Why Ayn Rand Matters with Yaron Brook and Dave Rubin
This is the ninth episode in a series looking at Objectivism’s approach to Happiness. Yaron Brook joins Dave Rubin to discuss why Ayn Rand matters.