Objections to Objectivism: critiques of Ayn Rand from a moderate

Patrick Szalapski

Critiques and learning about Ayn Rand's philosophy from a moderate point-of-view.

  • 25 minutes 2 seconds
    O2O E05 - The Will of Other Individuals - guest Zach Schmitt
    Do we need other individuals to override our will, our purpose, or our judgment in order to promote our own life? Does Ayn Rand simply overreact to postmodernism? Is Objectivism mostly modernism repackaged? Where does our understanding of reality come from? How well does Rand argue for Objectivism? How does Objectivism compare and contrast with Christian theology?
    27 April 2017, 12:00 am
  • 23 minutes 57 seconds
    O2O E04 - The Will of Society - guest Zach Schmitt
    Do individuals need the will and overriding judgment of others to be their best selves? Is there really, as Ayn Rand says, no place for society to override and correct my self-interest? Can I know myself well enough to assert my own will? Guest Zach Schmitt joins to help answer these questions and also tells us more of Ayn Rand's origins and contrasts her with Walker Percy and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
    13 April 2017, 12:00 am
  • 30 minutes 9 seconds
    O2O E03 - Rational Self-Interest
    Is rational self-interest sufficient as a basis for morals and indeed all philosophy? What does Rand mean by rational self-interest? How must I decide what is rational? Is our rational self-interest often obvious? Is rational self-interest enforcable or at all self-enforcing? Is rational self-interest persuasive? Can it change the hearts of evil men, or at least lead them into less evil? Plus, taking potshots using Ayn Rand as ammo, and considering the context of the non-initiation-of-force principle.
    27 March 2017, 6:16 am
  • 24 minutes 9 seconds
    O2O E02 - The Non-Aggression Principle
    Is the non-aggression principle wise or naive? Can the idea that those who initiate force are always in the wrong be the foundation for all ethics? Plus, a Washington Post article by Jennifer Burns proclaims Ayn Rand's ideas dead.
    16 March 2017, 5:17 am
  • 17 minutes 46 seconds
    O2O E01 - Overview of Objectivism
    Objectivism is Ayn Rand's philosophy that she claims can be derived from Aristotle's basic axioms of logic, specifically, from the idea that A=A--that existence is identity. Reason, purpose, and self-esteem are paramount, and the meaning of life is to be happy through rational self-interest.
    11 March 2017, 10:04 pm
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