Archive for the 'Objectivism' Category

Discussion with Caller (Show 066)

Published
by
Brandon
on June 29, 2008
in Objectivism and Show Notes
. 1 Comment

This week Arthur is attending and working at the Objectivist Conference in Newport Beach, California and Brandon was in New York City for the weekend, so they could not attend. (Brandon visited a few sites relevant to Ayn Rand in New York, so expect a write-up on his trip soon.) However, Mosley was able to host the show!

The show mainly consisted of a conversation between Mosley and a caller, but first Mosley discussed a few different topics. First of all, he mentioned the Ayn Rand Institute’s new website design at http://aynrand.org/ which he finds to be much more user-friendly and easier on the eyes. Check it out!

Then Mosley had a brief discussion on video games, which he was playing before the show, and explained how they don’t have to be mindless time wasters like some people think. They can be a form of recreation like any other. In order to stay productive, one sometimes needs to take time to rest and enjoy the fruits of labor. Video games can be one way to do this –  they often exercise the mind and are a good reason to get together with friends and have fun, which can promote a more benevolent view of life.

Mosley also discussed how he discovered Objectivism and gave some suggestions on where to start for newcomers. He suggests that Ms. Rand’s fiction such as Anthem, The Fountainhead, and Atlas Shrugged are great places to start and a good next step would be to move onto some of her other works such as For the New Intellectual, The Virtue of Selfishness, and Philosophy: Who Needs It.

Afterward, there was a caller who explained how he stumbled into talkObjectivism a few months ago and found it interesting. Being familiar with Objectivist ideas through reading Ayn Rand’s works (such as Atlas Shrugged many times over), he and Mosley carried on a discussion about how Objectivist ideas are in the minority and how this can be changed. The caller suggested an experiment: ask around and see how many people have heard of Objectivism and Atlas Shrugged. Other may wish to do this as well. If you do, let us know what your findings are. Also, don’t forget to recommend Ayn Rand’s works if they haven’t read them!

Objectivism vs. Libertarianism & More (Show 063)

Published
by
Brandon
on June 10, 2008
in Capitalism, Objectivism, Politics, Rights and Show Notes
. 0 Comments

For Show 063, Objectivists Mosley and Arthur have a discussion with a Libertarian caller, Charles, about how Objectivism significantly differs with Libertarianism.

It begins as Arthur presents his basic criticisms of Libertarianism from an Objectivist point of view. Two of his mains points were that a) Libertarians generally hold that an underlying philosophy is unnecessary, implicitly if not explicitly, and b) because of this, they do not grasp the concept of individual rights, and therefore have no means by which to determine that which constitutes force, something they hold to be axiomatically bad (which it is not). These deficiencies are very destructive in that they lead to the improper defense and misrepresentation of capitalism.

The discussion then briefly moves on to the topic of cultural change. Mosley and Arthur talk about how to bring about capitalism, which is by changing the dominant ideas of our culture. The continued dominance of altruistic ideas is discussed here as well.

Then the conversation goes back to politics, which lasted for the remainder of a show. It was a very interesting conversation on the initiation force, the enforcement of contracts, and the nature of government. This was an excellent show and I highly recommend that you check it out.

Bringing Objectivism into the Culture (Show 060)

Published
by
Brandon
on May 19, 2008
in Objectivism and Show Notes
. 3 Comments

For Show 060, Mosley and Arthur discuss how best to bring Objectivism into the culture and ways that this is currently being done.

In order to influence the culture, one important factor is changing the academia. Presenting Ayn Rand’s ideas in schools is a great way to get young minds to start thinking about philosophy from a perspective that they might not otherwise consider because of the ideas that they have passively accepted. The Ayn Rand Institute influences the academia through various programs such as offering free classroom sets of Ayn Rand’s novels, holding essay contests on those novels, organizing campus clubs, providing talks, etc. (This is a non-exhaustive list.) Also, the Institute runs The Objectivist Academic Center which provides classes that systematically present the philosophy of Objectivism to help train the academics of the future. If you are a student and wish to help change the schools, some things you can do are: try to convince teachers to participate in the free books/essay contest program, start a campus club, and request The Undercurrent for your school.

Another way that the culture can be affected is through the media, bringing Ayn Rand’s ideas to audiences that may not have otherwise heard of them. ARI intellectuals frequently appear on television and radio spots (such as Yaron Brook on the Fox Business Network), release op-eds, and submit letters to the editor. Writing letters to the editor is a great way that anyone can promote Objectivism.

There’s also something else that everyone can (and should) do: live Objectivism. People need to see the unity between theory and practice, so it helps to lead by example. Besides this, there are all sorts of activism by which one can contribute. Diana Hsieh has created a website for Objectivist activism, OList that is worth checking out if you’re interested.

For details on what Ayn Rand had to say on this topic of influencing the culture, see the essay “What Can One Do?” in Philosophy: Who Needs It.

The show ended with a great discussion on the use of the words “selfishness” and “greed” and whether they help or hurt the cause for Objectivism.

We hope to see you next week! (We’re working on a scheduling a debate.)

Listener Questions & Comments (Show 052)

Published
by
Brandon
on March 24, 2008
in Capitalism, Objectivism, Politics and Show Notes
. 0 Comments

For this show, Mosley and Arthur responded to some of the listener questions and comments.

The first was a question posted on the website asking, “Speaking of capitalism, where are the Google ads?” Mosley explained that he does not use them on talkObjectivism because he would have little to no control over what would appear and does not wish to advertise for sites antithetical to Objectivism.

The second comment was from a listener who kindly inquired about Show 013 which seems to have been mysteriously replaced by another show, from another TalkCast, that is extremely vulgar. Mosley has contacted TalkShoe and is currently working to restore the original show.

For the remainder of the show, Mosley and Arthur discussed a post on talkObjectivism.com regarding Show 049. The essence of the post is contained in his statement saying, “I don’t know how you guys came to the conclusion that the Left would do less damage to Objectivism.” Mosley and Arthur do an excellent job of outlining the points why the Republicans are far more dangerous to Objectivist ideals in the long-run than the Democrats. For anyone still unclear about this, I would also highly recommend listening to Show 049 and reading Diana Hsieh’s post on the matter.

The Coming Election (Show 049)

Published
by
Brandon
on February 26, 2008
in Capitalism, Economics, Ethics, Foreign Policy, Health Care, Objectivism, Politics, Religion, Rights and Show Notes
. 3 Comments

Show 049 was an excellent discussion about the coming U.S. presidential election. Arthur explained his views starting with this question: Which party will do the least damage to Objectivist ideals? (I will try to summarize what he said, but please listen to the show for his own words.)

The Republicans essentially stand for religion. They consistently try to mix faith with government, of which even small amounts can be disastrous, and will lead to a theocracy. Furthermore, their religious altruistic beliefs conflict with the self-interest morality necessitated by capitalism, which they claim to defend. Because of this, they’re misrepresenting capitalism, making it disreputable and therefore harder to realize.

The Democrats stand for a disintegrated attempt at socialism (or pieces of it). But since the fall of the Soviet Union, communism and socialism are no longer the threat they once were. It has been demonstrated that such systems are horrendous. Moreover, since the Democrats’ views are disintegrated, they can not achieve long term success. So, in order to give Objectivism time, it makes the most sense to throw out the bigger threat, the Religious Right, and vote for the Democrats.

Many Objectivists will bring up a third option. What about the Libertarians? The Libertarians say they stand for liberty, but they have an anti-philosophical approach. Their guiding “principle” is the non-initiation of force, but without a proper underlying philosophy, no one can say what initiating force consists of. Politics is a derivative of ethics and must be treated as such. Otherwise, capitalism will continue to be misrepresented, which is immensely destructive. (For those interested, there is also a discussion of Ron Paul on the show.)

It was a great show and I highly recommend you listen to it. You may want to read Diana Hsieh’s post on the election as well.

Listen to this show and more at Talkshoe.


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One Millionth Free Ayn Rand Novel Distributed for 2007

Published
by
Brandon
on February 4, 2008
in News and Objectivism
. 0 Comments

talkObjectivism would like to congratulate the Ayn Rand Institute on its achievements throughout 2007 including its recent distribution of its one millionth free copy of an Ayn Rand novel to schools this year.

Here is what ARI President Yaron Brook had to say:

[T]he Institute has reached yet another important milestone for our Free Books to Teachers program.

Within a very few weeks, ARI will ship—to a high school somewhere in America—the one millionth free copy of an Ayn Rand novel to an educator for use in his classroom.

As I mentioned last year, with regard to the continued growth of the books program, this is not only a significant milestone in and of itself—but more important, it bodes extraordinarily well for the future success of all of our other educational and academic programs.

If you would like to request free novels for your class, please look here.

Listen to this show and more at Talkshoe.


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The Christmas Show (Show 040)

Published
by
Brandon
on December 25, 2007
in Objectivism, Religion and Show Notes
. 4 Comments

First of all, Merry Christmas!! We hope that everyone is having a wonderful holiday season. And in the true spirit of Christmas, Mosley discussed Leonard Peikoff’s article, “Why Christmas Should Be More Commercial” located here for Show 040. Here’s an excerpt:

“…Christmas as we celebrate it today is a 19th-century American invention. The freedom and prosperity of post-Civil War America created the happiest nation in history. The result was the desire to celebrate, to revel in the goods and pleasures of life on earth. Christmas (which was not a federal holiday until 1870) became the leading American outlet for this feeling.” –Leonard Peikoff

As Dr. Peikoff says, Christmas is a time to celebrate and enjoy the world. It is not a time of sacrifice (or of mindless giving for the sake of giving), but a time to be proud of what you’ve accomplished and sharing it with those who are a value to you.

Make it a good one!

The Truth About God

Published
by
Brandon
on December 19, 2007
in Objectivism and Religion
. 17 Comments

What is “God”? A Christian youth group in my town recently concluded that “God is whatever you understand him to be.” In other words, “He can mean anything.” In yet even other words, “He means nothing at all.” This, however, is not what is generally meant when someone says “God”. By “God”, most people mean a personal being, the creator and ruler of the universe, someone that listens to their prayers and cares about them. This is the usage I will use throughout this post.

Does God exist? A god described as all-powerful (omnipotent) and all-knowing (omniscient) would be metaphysically impossible. Nothing can be so powerful so it that may violate the laws of reality. Such a being would necessarily be unreal and, therefore, non-existent. Also, nothing and no one can be conscious of an infinite amount of things at once. To be conscious is to be conscious of something(s), a quantity of things. Infinity, however, is unquantifiable. One may argue that there are only a finite amount of things in the universe of which to be conscious, but it’s important to keep in mind that ideas are included in the universe; and that realm is limitless.

Aside from this, God is simply arbitrary. Even if he were ascribed attributes that fall within the realm of metaphysical conceivability, there is no evidence to support such a being. What about miracles? The extraordinary is not proof of the supernatural. If you were cured of cancer, you should be praising your doctors, not God. And fulfilled prophesies? Many of these “prophesies” are considerably vague, like horoscopes, which can apply to a broad range of situations.

But can there be a morality without God? Absolutely. Nature alone requires that you act a certain way if you want to live; no God is necessary. There can be and is an objective morality that identifies the requirements of man’s life and the means by which to fulfill them. It is called Objectivism.

Are Ethics Really Objective? (Show 034)

Published
by
Mosley
on November 13, 2007
in Ethics, Objectivism and Show Notes
. 0 Comments

On show 034 we discussed a listener’s question about ethics. His argument was that ethics must be a priori and non-objective. Arthur and I talked about how they are objective. I am not going to go over the whole hour-long show here. It was a complex discussion, so it would be better just to listen to episode yourself.

On show 035 we are planning to talk about capitalism and debunk a few common myths about it. What capitalism is and what collectivists call capitalism are two very different things and on this show we are going to show you that. It will be recorded live on Sunday, November 18, 2007 at 8pm EST.

Myths about Objectivism (Show 028)

Published
by
Editor
on September 28, 2007
in Objectivism and Show Notes
. 0 Comments

For this show we will pick a handful of myths and misconceptions about Objectivism and shoot them down. We thought this would be a good approach to help clear up some confusions that may give people the wrong idea about Objectivism and prevent them from wanting to investigate it further. A few possible topics include the differences between selfishness and “cynical exploitativeness”, different kinds of altruism, emotions as a product of ideas rather than a source of knowledge, atheism and agnosticism, and what it means for reality to be black and white. Arthur Lechtholz-Zey from the UCLA Objectivist Club, LOGIC, will be joining us. We hope that you’ll be joining us as well!