thinking

Moral Cognition: Telling Right from Wrong by Gregory Salmieri

October 31, 2023 arilive_user 1:29:40 0 Comments

What is the relationship between abstract moral principles (such as those that make up the Objectivist ethics) and the ability of people who do not (yet) grasp these principles to tell right from wrong? To what extent (and in what ways) can someone who doesn’t understand why something is good (or bad) know that it is good (or bad)? In this talk, Dr. Salmieri will address these questions and some of their implications for moral education, intellectual activism, and assessing ideological movements.

Recorded at OCON 2023 in Miami, Florida.

Reason and Faith — Their Methods, Their Consequences, Their Relationship by Tara Smith

July 7, 2023 arilive_user 41:53 0 Comments

This lecture clarifies the basic nature of reason and of faith. It explains the superiority of reason by highlighting its role in the acquisition of knowledge and the advance of human progress. Finally, it explores the prospects for reconciling reason with faith, finding that any attempts to partner the two serve only to destroy the benefits of reason.

Recorded live at Ayn Rand Con Europe 2023

How Tribalism Distorts Your Thinking by Nikos Sotirakopoulos

June 1, 2022 arilive_user 43:10 0 Comments

From politics to the “culture wars,” it is evident that tribalism has added to the toxicity of the public sphere. But there is one other field where tribalism, i.e., the viewing of the world through the prism of a group, can be even more insidious: in one’s own thinking. Nikos will talk about how tribalism can poison our mind, and discuss what the remedy is.

Recorded at AynRandCon – Europe in London on April 2, 2022.

The Nature of Evil by Gregory Salmieri

January 19, 2022 arilive_user 01:31:27 0 Comments

A theme in Ayn Rand’s fiction is that the failure to understand evil is a source of error and unhappiness for good people. Drawing on the Objectivist corpus this talk will explore the nature of evil, including: the ways in which actions, motives, ideas and people can be evil; the respects in which evil is and is not important; and how understanding evil can help us to appreciate the good and to foster the best in ourselves and others. Recorded live as part of The Objectivist Conference on September 01, 2021.

21st Century Breakthroughs and Challenges in Infectious Disease by Amesh Adalja

June 24, 2020 arilive_user 01:00:34 0 Comments

In this talk, Dr. Adalja provides a guided tour of some of the most game-changing innovations that are on the horizon in the field of infectious disease. Using the field of infectious disease as a backdrop, he discusses such topics as the microbiome, universal flu vaccines, CRISPR-CAS gene editing, bacteriophages, antimicrobial resistance, and immunotherapies. He also discusses the topic of regulation in this field and how it may impact innovation. Recorded live at OCON on June 23, 2019.

Q&A Panel: Yaron Brook, Onkar Ghate, Keith Lockitch and Gregory Salmieri

April 24, 2020 arilive_user 28:47 0 Comments

The COVID-19 pandemic and the response to it at all levels of government have disrupted all of our lives. As we begin to contemplate the challenge of reopening and rebuilding the economy in the face on the ongoing spread of the virus, it’s critical to employ the right philosophical framework for thinking about these issues, and to not be misled by false alternatives, wishful thinking, tribalistic finger-pointing and other forms of distorted thinking.

This Q&A is the final talk recorded on April 18, 2020, as part of AynRandCon-LIVE, a free online event offering a framework for thinking about the COVID-19 crisis from the perspective of Ayn Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism.

Thinking Objectively in Times of Crisis by Gregory Salmieri

April 24, 2020 arilive_user 50:30 0 Comments

This is the third of four talks recorded on April 18, 2020, as part of AynRandCon-LIVE, a free online event offering a framework for thinking about the COVID-19 crisis from the perspective of Ayn Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism.

Objectivity in Government in Times of Crisis by Yaron Brook

April 24, 2020 arilive_user 50:51 0 Comments

This is the second of four talks recorded on April 18, 2020, as part of AynRandCon-LIVE, a free online event offering a framework for thinking about the COVID-19 crisis from the perspective of Ayn Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism.

Infectious Disease Under the American Form of Government by Onkar Ghate

April 24, 2020 Alex Wigger 48:59 0 Comments

This is the first of four talks recorded live on April 18, 2020, as part of AynRandCon-LIVE, a free online event offering a framework for thinking about the COVID-19 crisis from the perspective of Ayn Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism.

Principles and Personal Values by Gregory Salmieri

February 19, 2020 arilive_user 1:31:17 0 Comments

Morality is widely seen as a counterweight to self-interest, and it is often thought that adherence to esthetic principles constrains the artist’s ability to express himself and an audience’s ability to respond in a genuinely personal way. On this common view, principles are opposed to personal values. In this talk, Dr. Salmieri explores Rand’s contrary view that principles identify what makes personal values possible and that adhering to them enables an individual to value on a grand scale.

Recorded live in Cleveland on June 25, 2019

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?

Do I Need a Philosophy? by Aaron Smith

December 4, 2019 arilive_user 1:01:13 0 Comments

Many people have at least heard of a few of history’s great philosophers. Names like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle—they ring a bell and maybe some of us have even taken a philosophy course in college or perhaps encountered books or podcasts that are espousing or offering some kind of philosophy of life—a philosophy for living.

But what exactly is a philosophy? What does it mean to have a philosophy and, more importantly, do you need a philosophy?

Join Aaron Smith to explore one of life’s big questions: Do I need a philosophy?

Tribalism vs. Free Will by Harry Binswanger

July 10, 2019 arilive_user 40:37 0 Comments

One key pillar of individualism is free will—the idea that you are not the deterministic product of your race or genes or tribal collective but have a basic form of control over your thoughts and actions. What is Ayn Rand’s theory of free will and how does it support her individualist philosophy?

This video was recorded at AynRandCon in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 4, 2018.

Individualism in an Age of Tribalism by Onkar Ghate

June 19, 2019 arilive_user 41:05 0 Comments

Perhaps the two areas of life which generate the most conflict and in which it is most important to think for oneself—and most rare are religion and morality. We’ll discuss why it’s so easy to follow the crowd here and why it’s vital to not do so.

This video was recorded at AynRandCon in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 3, 2018.

Making Sense of Today’s Political Culture with Greg Salmieri and Dave Rubin

April 24, 2019 arilive_user 27:09 0 Comments

This is the twelfth and final episode in a series looking at Objectivism’s approach to Happiness. Philosopher Gregory Salmieri joins Dave Rubin to discuss the state of today’s political culture.