Topics include: the objectivity of ethics; life as the standard of value; two methods of approach on the issue; what gives rise to values; life as an end in itself; rational goals as dependent on the pursuit of life; subjectivism defined; ethical subjectivists and their arguments; the purpose of ethics; types of subjectivism; the relationship of happiness to ethics; what virtue is; the cardinal values and virtues; The Virtue of Selfishness & OPAR as useful resources; Objectivism & dogmatism; etc.

There was no show on the following Sunday, December 28th, but there will be this Sunday, January 4th. We hope to see you there, and Happy New Year!

Topics include: Thomas Hobbes and the view of man as a brute; man as neither inherently good nor evil; the reward and motivation for choosing to be good; contradictions in the Hobbesian view and argument for government intervention; altruism as wrongfully assumed as standard for whether man is good; the good as in man’s interest, but remains his choice; charities in a capitalist society; government “charity”/welfare parallel to FDA and regulatory institutions; cultural shift required for capitalism to work; example of paying tips at restaurant; capitalism in theory vs. practice; activism and successful argumentation; etc.

Topic include: government bailout of the auto industry; the expression “too big to fail”; “are we all socialists now?” and the socialist trend in America; “bailout” and “aid” as buzzwords; learn from mistakes, don’t appease them; the role of unions; the industrial revolution; connection between economic and political freedom; separation between state and economics; legalization of drugs, prostitution, etc.; possible topic for next show: is man inherently good?

On the issue of being “too big to bail,” feel free to check out Alex Epstein’s article Too Big to Bail. Also related to the show, you can check out Yaron Brook’s article Are We All Socialists Now?.

Topics include: taking advantage of other people’s irrationality; gambling as not categorically immoral; gambling with false belief of luck vs. rational understanding or skill; gambling as possibly a form of rational recreation; gambling as skill or luck or combination of both; morality and responsibility of casino owners; analogy to bar owners and tobacco companies; fraud vs. asymmetric information; morality of card counting; stock markets and gambling; Arthur and Leonard Peikoff anecdote; playing the lotto.

Also, for those interested in the relevant topic of addiction, feel free to check out Show 056 where that is discussed (mp3, iTunes).

Update: Arthur describes Show 085 as follows: “This episode addresses three arguments that are frequently given against being philosophical. They come primarily from the first half of the first lecture of Dr. Leonard Peikoff’s course, Understanding Objectivism.”

Being somewhat distracted in the chat room, I was not able to note all the topics, but they include: the supernatural; ghost stories for entertainment; philosophic significance of Halloween; dressing up and trick-or-treating; haunted houses; horror movies; fiction vs. non-fiction movies & TV shows; benevolent and malevolent universe premise; the election; Obama & religion; lesser of two evils; voting; and more.

We hope you enjoyed the show and will see you next week!

Topics include: TalkObjectivism blog and content; upcoming Objectivist events (see post below for more information); Paul’s email; choice and being able to do otherwise; the introspective evidence for volition; development of life compared to development of volition; volition and deliberation; determinism as an excuse; “could have done otherwise” as shorthand; determinism as necessary for understanding; genetic influences on behavior; what is under volitional control; sexual attractions; can choices be foreseen; volition and animals; consciousness as an action process; emotions; and much more.

Topics include: follow-up on Pittsburgh smoking ban; review of judgment; examples of applied judgment; what free will is; the primary choice as the choice to focus or not; focus vs. being aware; determinism; policeman thought experiment; consciousness reduced to material processes as non-problematic; suspending judgment because of determinist view as erroneous; nature of consciousness; searching for causes of behavior; materialism; causality; and much more.

There was not enough time to discuss all the questions and so some of these issues will be discussed next week. If you have any questions and comments, feel free to post them here or join us next week!

Here are some relevant links to the Ayn Rand Lexicon on moral judgment, justice, free will, consciousness, the soul-body dichotomy, and causality.

Topics in the show include: Mosley and iheartcell’s discussion; making unwarranted judgments; judgments as not just for the bad, but for the good; today’s negative connotation with judging others; different types of judgment; justice as a virtue of making rational judgments and acting accordingly; judgments as requiring rational standards; the need for and evaluation of evidence; judging friends; moral agnosticism; the morality of being overweight; making assumptions; the source of the need of rational judgment as self-preservation; praising the good as of primary importance; rash judgments; judgment applied to the financial crisis.

In the end, Mosley concluded that he did not have enough information to make his judgment, with the understanding that judging others and making sure that one does so rationally is of crucial importance.

On this topic, Ayn Rand said:

One must never fail to pronounce moral judgment.

Nothing can corrupt and disintegrate a culture or a man’s character as thoroughly as does the precept of moral agnosticism, the idea that one must never pass moral judgment on others, that one must be morally tolerant of anything, that the good consists of never distinguishing good from evil.

To see more of what she had to say on this and other issues, feel free to check out The Ayn Rand Lexicon.