[Lecture Twelve] Advanced Seminars on Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand
by Dr. Leonard Peikoff
Total Time: 1 hour, 29 minutes
Course summary: In this course, Dr. Peikoff presented material from his then-new book, Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand. The manuscript had its earliest roots in Peikoff’s comprehensive 1976 lecture course on Objectivism. As he worked on the material for publication, he discovered new connections and implications of major ideas in the philosophy as well as new insights on its integrated, hierarchical structure. Peikoff used these seminars to discuss what he learned in the process and to demonstrate how it would allow students of Objectivism to gain a new understanding of the philosophy. Read more »
In this lecture: Dr. Peikoff reviews the six derivative virtues as embodiments of the central virtue of rationality. He explains why each virtue encompasses both thought and action.
Q&A Guide
Below is a list of questions from the audience taken from this lecture, along with (approximate) time stamps.
| 20:24 | Why doesn’t the book contain more extended polemics against altruism since that was one of Ayn Rand’s most famous unique points? |
| 23:11 | Why is this not an exhaustive list of virtues? What about “toleration” or how would you know what else might be a virtue? |
| 39:47 | Does life demand that every decision you make be correct? |
| 43:38 | Did Ayn Rand consider We the Living‘s Andrei as “the most unrealistic character in the book” because, in reality, a Communist couldn’t have integrity? |
| 45:30 | Could an honest person like an American in the 1930s have believed in Communism? |
| 56:48 | To what extent can and should virtues be part of one’s psychological make-up? |
| 58:41 | Could you give a concrete example of when it is necessary to lie to protect your privacy? |
| 1:11:28 | Is “compromise” a stolen concept if used to say “compromise on a principle”? |
| 1:13:22 | Why do people object to looking at the world in terms of black and white? |
| 1:25:14 | Is “pride” synonymous with self-esteem? |
| 1:27:38 | Shouldn’t there be two concepts to represent the different usages of “pride”? |