Tag Archives: ethics

podcasts

Universal Basic Income, Either-Or and More – Podcasts for June 5

Each week I present a round-up of the podcasts I listen to. These podcasts are all centered around the theme of looking at current events through the lens of Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism. The goal is not to provide all the information they talk about, but rather to highlight the things I found interesting in the hope that it will intrigue others to take a listen.

In this week’s edition:

Yaron’s AM560 Rewind: What is life really about?

In this episode of Yaron’s Chicago radio broadcast, he discusses the morality of Ayn Rand’s read more

Podcasts and More for February 23

Weekly podcastsThis week’s podcasts cover a wide range of topics from should people be forced to govern, the true nature of Christmas, ISIS, vaccinations and much more.

Podcasts

Don’t Let it Go … Unheard: Comparing the Language of Creators and Destroyers – As Amy Peikoff described it at the start, the integrating idea for this week’s show is the choice of language read more

Social Principle of Ethics – Quotation of the Day

I just finished up this week’s “homework” for Yaron Brook’s podcast, reading, or rather re-reading in my case, the first chapter of Ayn Rand’s The Virtue of Selfishness. (The podcast is presented live on Mondays at 11:00am EST. You can find it here.) The first chapter is titled The Objectivist Ethics and presents “the barest essentials” of Ayn Rand’s system of ethics.

I had read this essay, indeed the entire book, a couple of years ago, so I was a read more

Morality of War by Yaron Brook

[Video] Morality of War

Yaron Brook gives a passionate talk on applying the morality of Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism to the concept of war and how war should be fought. While no philosophy can properly specify tactics, the specific means and methods used in fighting a way, it can provide the basis for deciding from what pool of possibilities these tactics can be drawn from.

In the early part of the talk Yaron discusses “just war theory,” the theory that in part says a country should not go to read more

Ayn Rand’s Ideas: An Introduction

An excellent introduction to major topics in Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism presented by Onkar Ghate from 2003. The video includes a Q&A session with Onkar Ghate and Yaron Brook. Topics include: Individualism vs Collectivism, What are rights?, Proper role of government, Egoism vs Altruism, Ethics, Mysticism vs Reason and more.

The Q&A session is particularly interesting. Many of the folks had challenging questions which resulted in some great answers. I was somewhat surprised read more

My Comment in Support of “Objecting to the ‘Season of Giving'”

This is a somewhat edited and greatly expanded version of a comment I posted to Peter Schwartz’s Washington Post article, “Objecting to the ‘season of giving’.” You can find my posted comment here. 2000 characters was just not enough space to get across fully what I wanted to say in support of his article in the face of the vast majority of comments that had been left. Or at least I didn’t have the time to make my comment that short.

I would like to thank Peter read more

[Video] Yaron Brook Q&A on Selfishness from Maastricht

As I have written before, one of my favorite parts of any of Yaron Brook’s talks is the Q&A that follows the prepared remarks. This one from his recent talk in Maastricht in Holland is definitely one of the best I have seen so far. While a good number of people, to judge by applause at some points, are sympathetic to the ideas he discussed, the vast majority of questions reflected antagonism towards the idea that selfishness, properly understood, is the key to a successful life. Definitely read more

Podcast Roundup – May 5 (Double Edition)

There was a major project that came due last week which left me no time to do my regular post on the week’s podcasts, so this week is a double edition of the podcasts I try to listen to each week.

From last week:

Philosophy in Action – Dr. Diana Hsieh, along with Greg Perkins, answer questions on ambition as a virtue, being happy without having close friends, refusing involvement with your biological child’s life and more.

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Podcast Roundup – November 26

Here are this week’s episodes from the Objectivism related podcasts I try to listen to.  They are all great sources of information and insight on applying objectivist principles to everyday life.

Philosophy in Action with Dr. Diana Hsieh

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Moral and Practical – Thinking in Essentials 2

What would you think if someone told you, “don’t worry if it is right or wrong, just do what you feel like?”

That was, in essence, an idea presented by Hedrick Smith during a debate last week with Yaron Brook as part of the Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University.  This is hardly unique to Hedrick Smith, or to the liberals whose positions he represented in the debate, but is becoming common in society today, especially in politics.

In answering questions about government action to produce desired read more