Audio

How Objectivism Can Fuel Your Happiness by Tal Tsfany

Objectivism is a philosophy for living on earth. Happily. In this talk, ARI CEO Tal Tsfany will share concepts and actionable practices for leveraging Objectivism toward achieving the state of consciousness we call happiness. This interactive session will cover tools and techniques for answering questions such as “Who am I?” “What do I love?” What do I want?” “How do I get it?” and “What’s the point?”

Recorded live at Ayn Rand Con Europe 2023

Inside ARU: Philosophy and Work with Keith Schacht

Ayn Rand University is an online school of philosophy whose mission is to educate our students about Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism and to provide them with the intellectual, career and life guidance they need to flourish.

In this clip, from the ARU course “Philosophy, Work and Business,” instructors Tal Tsfany, Onkar Ghate and Don Watkins talk to entrepreneur and inventor Keith Schacht about how to choose and pursue a fulfilling career.

To learn more about ARU, visit university.aynrand.org.

Inside ARU: Philosophy and Work with Yaron Brook

Ayn Rand University is an online school of philosophy whose mission is to educate our students about Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism and to provide them with the intellectual, career and life guidance they need to flourish.

In this clip, from the ARU course “Philosophy, Work and Business,” instructors Tal Tsfany, Onkar Ghate and Don Watkins talk to bestselling author, speaker, and public advocate for Objectivism about how to pursue an intellectual career.

To learn more about ARU, visit university.aynrand.org.

The Immorality of the U.S. Immigration System by Agustina Vergara Cid

Opponents of immigration often say those who want to come to America should “get in line” and follow the law. But the U.S. immigration system sets legal immigrants up for failure, and penalizes the best people who want to make America their home. The system is profoundly unjust both for immigrants and for Americans as well. Agustina Vergara Cid, an ARI Junior Fellow, will relate a number of immigration stories (including her own) in the context of the legal landscape that generates these injustices.

Recorded live at OCON 2023

Q&A Panel and Conclusion of Conference with Onkar Ghate, Robert Mayhew, and Gregory Salmieri

Attendees take this final opportunity to pose any lingering questions the conference may have raised.

Recorded live at Ayn Rand Con Europe 2023

Russia’s War in Ukraine by Yaron Brook

The war in Ukraine continues nearly a year and a half since Russia’s initial invasion. In this talk, Dr. Brook will illuminate the causes and consequences of this war. What were the factors that led to it, and what is its current status? What lessons can we learn about the state of our culture by looking at the response in the West to the war in Ukraine—especially the response of the American Right?

Recorded live at OCON 2023

Anti-Americanism and Anti-Capitalism by Nikos Sotirakopoulos

When America was attacked by terrorists on September 11, 2001, Greece was among the countries with the strongest anti-American sentiment, together with the likes of Pakistan and Iran. At the same time, it was one of the few remaining countries with a strong Communist Party, and with leftist ideas having a significant pull in society. Why do anti-Americanism and anti-capitalism go hand in hand? Why are both prevalent among modern European culture? How can societies that have contributed to and benefitted from the achievements of the West share such an animosity towards the ideas that made them great? In this talk, Nikos Sotirakopoulos, will interrogate the above questions, and the links between anti-Americanism and anti-capitalism, by drawing on his own experience from his years in the radical left.

Recorded live at Ayn Rand Con Europe 2023

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

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

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

Man’s Life as the Standard of Value in the Ethics of Ayn Rand and Aristotle by Gregory Salmieri

“Man’s life,” wrote Ayn Rand, “is the standard of morality.” Aristotle was the first to identify the proper standard of morality as the distinctly human form of life—the life of a rational animal. But Rand and Aristotle have importantly different views of what the human form of life is—in particular, about why reason is a value and how it relates to the faculties and the needs that human beings share with other living things. This talk explores the similarities and differences between these two ethicists.

Recorded live at Ayn Rand Con Europe 2023

Panel Discussion: Objectivism and Ancient Greek Philosophy with Robert Mayhew, Gregory Salmieri and Aaron Smith

Today’s earlier sessions were about Ayn Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism. In this panel we reflect on this philosophy in light of the nature of philosophy as a discipline and its origins in the thinkers of Ancient Athens. What is philosophy and why did it first arise in Ancient Greece and flower in Athens? What is the special significance of Socrates and Plato? Why did Rand see her “only philosophical debt“ as being to Aristotle and in what sense is her philosophy Aristotelian? What are the other philosophic systems from antiquity and how does Objectivism relate to them?

Recorded live at Ayn Rand Con Europe 2023

Q&A Panel on Objectivism with Onkar Ghate, Gregory Salmieri, Tara Smith and Aaron Smith

After reflecting on the talks so far, here is your chance to ask any questions you have about Ayn Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism.

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

What Does It Mean to Be Selfish? – Ayn Rand’s Vision of Rational Egoism by Tara Smith

“Give back,” “Serve something higher than yourself,” “Put others first” – this is the wisdom of the ages. Raised on these platitudes from religious and secular quarters alike, most people assume that to be moral simply is to be selfless. Ayn Rand rejects this assumption. She champions the virtue of selfishness. But what does that mean? This lecture highlights some of the key elements of rational egoism to illuminate what it is and is not. By refuting common misconceptions as well as indicating what genuine self-interest demands, it paves the way for the healthy exercise of selfishness and the happiness that it makes possible.

Handout link: hubs.la/Q01KqQZj0

Recorded live at Ayn Rand Con Europe 2023

The Evil of Altruism by Onkar Ghate

Everyone knows that altruism — selfless sacrifice for the sake of others — is the essence of virtue, right? But what if our understanding of the true meaning of “altruism” and “sacrifice” is completely mistaken? What if these ideas are actually destructive and harmful? From Ayn Rand’s perspective, our whole way of thinking about morality needs to be radically rethought.

Recorded live at Ayn Rand Con Europe 2023

Ayn Rand’s Ideas: An Introduction by Aaron Smith

Every major philosophy gives you answers to questions about the nature of the world we live in, about human nature, about how to live one’s life and organize society. The answers we accept (implicitly or explicitly) give us guidance and a framework for living. This talk will provide an overview of Ayn Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism, and her original answers to these questions, which have sparked an idealistic movement for reason, rational self-interest and laissez-faire capitalism.

Recorded live at Ayn Rand Con Europe 2023

Is Inequality Fair? by Yaron Brook

We’re told that the gap between the poor and the rich has widened. Many decry the “injustice” of income and wealth inequality. But is it actually a problem and are the proposed remedies truly just? What is a fair “distribution” of income and wealth? Yaron Brook takes on these and related issues and argues that a genuinely laissez-faire capitalist society is, in fact, the only system of fairness, that is, justice.

Recorded March 5, 2014

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict . . . What Is the Solution? by Yaron Brook

Central to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the question of whether the state of Israel has a moral right to exist. In this talk Dr. Yaron Brook argues that Israel deserves — but is not receiving — America’s moral and political support; that by sacrificing its loyal ally for the sake of appeasing our common enemies, America is undermining its own war on terrorism.

Recorded December 12, 2002

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.

Pandemics and Patents by Adam Mossoff

Biopharmaceutical innovators responded heroically to the COVID-19 pandemic. In unprecedented time and with cutting-edge technologies, they created vaccines and other medical treatments that saved millions of lives around the world. For this extraordinary achievement, leftists and libertarians have vilified them, and politicians are actively seeking to confiscate their patents. This talk explains how patents made possible the unprecedented response to the pandemic and why these vital property rights have been wrongly attacked.

Recorded live on July 7, 2022 as part of the Objectivist Summer Conference.

The Inductive Origins of Darwins Origin by James Lennox

Charles Darwin was far from the first person to defend the idea that new species originate by a natural evolutionary process. Between 1750 and 1850 the idea had many defenders, including his grandfather. Why did Charles Darwin succeed in convincing his fellow naturalists, when many before him had failed? Based on a decades-long study of his private notebooks and correspondence, this lecture by James Lennox will describe the inductive method that lies behind Darwin’s brilliant presentation of the theory of evolution by natural selection presented in On the Origin of Species.

Recorded live on July 3, 2022 as part of the Objectivist Summer Conference.

Judging Viewpoints by Their Fundamentals by Peter Schwartz

How do we judge viewpoints — political movements, ideologies, philosophies — that seem to contain mixtures of good and bad ideas? How do we determine whether any specific element of a broader framework is good or bad? This talk discusses a range of viewpoints, from environmentalism to religion to Black Lives Matter, and examines the means by which their concrete positions should be assessed. It explains how to identify the fundamental of any systematic viewpoint, and how that must shape our judgment of those concrete positions.

Recorded live on July 7, 2022 as part of the Objectivist Summer Conference.

The Progress Movement: Origins, Momentum and Opportunities by Jason Crawford

In the last few years, a new intellectual community and movement has arisen, centered on the value of scientific, technological, industrial, and economic progress. These ideas have caught the attention of business leaders, academic economists, and prominent journalists. Where did this movement come from? Why is it gaining traction? And what are the key steps to maximize its positive impact? Crawford will give his viewpoint as someone who has been inside the epicenter of this movement since its beginning.

Recorded live on July 7, 2022 as part of the Objectivist Summer Conference.

“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.

Building the Builder’s Mindset: Psychological Lessons from Working with Entrepreneurs by Gena Gorlin

Having spent much of the past two years offering psychological support to entrepreneurs, Dr. Gorlin has witnessed how much support the most ambitious people need—even, sometimes especially, when they already have the right philosophy. This talk will recount what she has learned about the psychological needs and challenges of entrepreneurs, and what this has taught her about the work we all need to do on ourselves in order to build the lives and careers of our choosing.

Recorded live on July 5, 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.

The Case for Open Borders by Harry Binswanger

Dr. Binswanger defends a radical position on immigration: the moral imperative to end all forms of governmental interference with freedom of travel. Crossing a national border, he argues, should be as free, unregulated, and unsupervised as crossing a state border. He takes on all the common objections to open borders, including: “Immigrants take our jobs away,” “Open borders abandon sovereignty,” “Immigration is harmful in a welfare state,” and “Immigrants will vote the wrong way.” He concludes by explaining why freedom of entry is of special importance to Objectivists.

Recorded live on July 2, 2022 as part of the Objectivist Summer Conference.

Criminalizing Economic Inequality through the Prohibition on Insider Trading by Kevin Douglas

Mr. Douglas will describe how insider trading laws criminalize several forms of economic inequality. Property law generally protects a business owner’s freedom to profit from trade secrets and business opportunities, and by setting prices. By contrast, the prohibition on insider trading undermines the usefulness of information for its owners and treats less informed investors as victims of investors with information advantages. The result is a system of regulation that actively redistributes and even nullifies investors’ wealth—all in the name of protecting property rights in information.

Recorded live on July 5, 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.

The Dollar and the Gun Under Xi Jinping’s Dictatorship with Scott McDonald, Adam Mossoff, and Elan Journo

Rapid economic opening and growth since the 1980s led many to expect the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to undergo political liberalization and assume a business-friendly environment. This panel will explore contemporary conditions in the Communist Party–ruled state and seek answers to the coming challenges posed by its approach to economics: What are the implications for foreign corporations investing in the PRC? What risks do they face to their intellectual property? How is the Party leveraging technology for geopolitical gain?

Recorded live on July 6, 2022 as part of the Objectivist Summer Conference.

China’s Long March to Market Authoritarianism by Scott McDonald

During the seventy-plus-year history of the People’s Republic of China, it has transformed from a Leninist state, through chaos and technocrats, to what has been dubbed “market authoritarianism.” How can this change be accounted for under the continued reign of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)? This talk will explore the consistencies and inconsistencies in the CCP’s governance that have brought us to today and lay the groundwork for exploring what it will become tomorrow.

Recorded live on July 6, 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.

Ayn Rand Interviewed with Mickey Spillane by Mike Wallace

Mike Wallace interviews Ayn Rand and Mickey Spillane on their reasons for becoming authors, their view of what makes a hero, and why, despite being viciously denounced by critics, they both maintain a large popular appeal. Hear Ayn Rand’s straight-to-the-point analysis of her own and Mickey Spillane’s work in this 1961 interview.

Audio licensed courtesy of The Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.

Behind the Scenes: Ayn Rand on What Makes a Hero

In 1961, Mike Wallace sat down with both Ayn Rand and Mickey Spillane for an interview. For decades, this interview has been unavailable to the general public. Now we are releasing it for the first time. In this YouTube livestream event, join Elan Journo and Tom Bowden as they go “Behind the Scenes” of this historic interview and discuss how Rand and Spillane found themselves on the same stage. This interview offers a unique view of Rand—we see Ayn Rand, the friend, coming to the defense of the critically attacked Spillane and giving him credit as a “moral crusader.” Through his character Mike Hammer, Rand explains, Spillane presents us with a man who refuses to compromise his integrity. Join us for this remarkable interview and discover Rand’s answer to “What Makes a Hero?”—an answer she says will “astonish you.”

Happiness by Jean Moroney

Ayn Rand’s distinctive view of values gives her a distinctive view of happiness. Topics discussed:

– What happiness is
– Why it’s “the normal condition of man”
– The practical steps to move from unhappiness to happiness

Recorded live on July 2, 2022 as part of the Objectivist Summer Conference.

Mickey Spillane: Crusader for Justice by Shoshana Milgram

Mickey Spillane is one of the best-selling writers of all time, with estimated sales of 225 million copies. Mike Hammer, his most enduring hero, is a private detective who pursues justice with physical and moral courage. Mike uses his gun, his fists, and his mind to avenge the innocent, to destroy the evil, and to guard the good. Many reviewers dismissed or condemned Spillane’s writing; many readers, undeterred, have devoured the books anyway. Ayn Rand admired the Mike Hammer books and praised them publicly. This talk surveys the range of Spillane’s writing career (including his ideas for films starring his friend John Wayne), with emphasis on the voice and virtues of his crusading hero.

Recorded live on July 3, 2022 as part of the Objectivist Summer Conference.

Don’t Be Boring: Winning the Attention Game by Don Watkins

There has never been more competition for people’s attention. And yet you can’t win the war of ideas unless you can cut through the noise and get your message heard. In this talk, Don Watkins looks at the theory and practice of capturing attention and how you can use that knowledge to promote Ayn Rand’s ideas. 

Tertullian and Thomas Aquinas by Robert Mayhew

Tertullian (ca. 160–220) and Thomas Aquinas (13th century) both defended faith as a justification for their Christian beliefs, but whereas Tertullian proudly defended faith even when it clashed with reason, Aquinas argued that there was a harmony between faith and reason — that the two could never clash. In this lecture, Dr. Mayhew will examine the views of each in detail and briefly discuss the continuing influence of their conceptions of faith and reason in the 21st century.

How to Set and Apply a Central Purpose by Jean Moroney

Having a central purpose can simplify your life, give meaning to all of your work, and ensure that your actions add up to a significant achievement. In this talk, you’ll learn the essentials of how to set and apply a central purpose:
What a central purpose is
Why only productive work can fill that role
Steps to take to find and commit to a central purpose
The role a central purpose plays in guiding day-to-day activity

Recorded live as part of The Objectivist Conference on August 28, 2021.

Hugo, Rostand, Hernani and How to Be a Romantic by Lisa VanDamme

Victor Hugo’s Hernani was more than a play. It was “the rehearsal of a revolution,” a bold theatrical rebellion that defied Classical dogmas and made way for a new Romanticism. On the centenary of Hugo’s birth, writer Edmond Rostand would pay worshipful tribute to his hero with a poem called Un Soir à Hernani. In this lecture, I will tell the thrilling story of Hernani, share excerpts from Rostand’s never-translated tribute, and highlight all that Hugo and Rostand have to show us about how to be a Romantic.

Recorded live on July 6, 2022 as part of the Objectivist Summer Conference.

Reproduction and the Objectivist Ethics by Gregory Salmieri

The Objectivist ethics is grounded in the nature of life. Spanning meta-ethics to politics, this talk surveys the implications for this ethics of an aspect of life about which Rand said little: reproduction. Topics include what it means for an organism’s life to be its ultimate value, whether (and when) having children is egoistic, and the rights of parents and children.

Recorded live on July 5, 2022 as part of the Objectivist Summer Conference.

Why I’m Still Optimistic in Spite of Everything by Yaron Brook

It’s difficult not to be discouraged at the state of today’s world: our dysfunctional politics, our battered economy, and a culture sinking deeper and deeper into irrationality and nihilism. In this talk, Yaron Brook explains why despite all of this, he is still optimistic. The signs of hope don’t make the headlines, but they’re all around us: from the continued innovation of the tech sector to the continued functioning of markets and businesses as engines of wealth- and job-creation, to the outraged backlash against the nuttiest ideas, to the persistent, gradual rise of Objectivism as it continues to reach more people and change more lives.

Recorded live on July 7, 2022 as part of the Objectivist Summer Conference.

Creating a New Generation of Energy Champions: A Panel hosted by Yaron Brook with Bud Brigham, Alex Epstein, and Onkar Ghate.

Recorded as part of the Ayn Rand Institute Gala at OCON 2021.

Today, the energy industry—the industry that powers every other industry—is under unprecedented attack, with widespread calls to eliminate fossil fuels and continue the strangulation of nuclear power. The attack on energy is fundamentally philosophical in nature, rooted in an anti-human philosophy that regards human impact on nature—an essential of human flourishing—as immoral and inevitably self-destructive. Fortunately, there is a growing movement of energy champions, who, armed with pro-human philosophical ideas and a deep command of the facts about energy, environment and climate, are winning hearts and minds. Join us for a panel of distinguished experts who will discuss the intellectual challenges facing the energy industry today and how ARI can help create a new generation of energy champions.

COVID-19, mRNA and the Future of Vaccines by Amesh Adalja

In this talk, Dr. Adalja will discuss the science behind vaccine platform technologies such as the mRNA vaccines. He will also describe how changes in the scientific context impact the role of vaccines, the misconception of science as omniscient, and how the arbitrary must play no role in scientific-medical matters.

Recorded live on July 6, 2022 as part of the Objectivist Summer Conference

Dismantling Roe by Onkar Ghate

If Samuel Alito’s leaked first draft of a potential majority decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization is a reliable indication, the Supreme Court will overturn (and may have already done so by the time of the conference) Roe v. Wade. Onkar Ghate examines the arguments offered in Roe, good and bad, the vulnerabilities of the decision, and the case being made for its overturn.

Recorded live on July 2, 2022 as part of the Objectivist Summer Conference.

Building the Ayn Rand University by Tal Tsfany

Tal Tsfany, ARI’s president and CEO, will review ARI’s mission to spread Objectivism and the progress made during 2021-22. ARI’s strategy for the future will be presented together with many data points and insights, collected through newly implemented technologies and methodologies.

Recorded 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.

Raising Ourselves: A Montessori-Inspired Self-Parenting Guide for All Ages by Gena Gorlin

Selfishness, as Rand conceived it, is a demanding discipline: only by tending to one’s character and nurturing one’s psychological development can one become fully a rational, self-esteeming being capable of authentic happiness. This self-nurturance is a continuation, applied to oneself, of the work a good parent does in raising a child. This workshop will synthesize insights from psychology, Objectivism, and Montessori education and parenting to offer a practical approach for lovingly observing, managing and, when needed, changing one’s own psychology.

Recorded live as part of The Objectivist Conference on August 30, 2021.