Lectures
Throughout these freely accessible lectures, Dr. Peikoff gives his unique perspective on such topics as religion, sex, psychology, capitalism, and education.
Many lectures include brief study guides to aid students in their digestion of the material. You can also take advantage of suggested courses of study, which aim to help students sequence their study of Dr. Peikoff’s courses, lectures, and written works.
Using the trial and verdict in the OJ Simpson murder case as a chief example, Dr. Leonard Peikoff explains the philosophic nature of the American legal system and the contradictions that it embodies. He examines how the classic issues in legal trials—reasonable doubt, the nature of evidence, appeals to emotion, alternate theories of the case—as portrayed at trial and in the media illustrated the deeper philosophical issues at work in American culture. 1 hour, 30 minutes.
After he was invited to engage in an argument using pictures, Dr. Leonard Peikoff examined the shift in American culture to using visual appeals to emotion in the place of reasoned debate. He examines why appealing to visual imagery is not a substitute for evidence and reasoning. Peikoff focuses in particular on how pictures can be used properly to convey information, but why philosophic debate cannot take place on the perceptual level. 1 hour, 37 minutes.
In “A Rational Curriculum,” Dr. Peikoff discusses one of the essential questions of the philosophy of education—what content and subject matter should be taught. Taking reading, writing, and basic arithmetic as the basis of all childhood education, Peikoff focuses on the essential role of history, mathematics, science, and literature in guiding children in the development of their rational faculty and preparing them for successful use of their reason as adults. Delivered at the Jefferson School One-Day Regional Seminar in NYC, on October 11, 1986. 1 hour, 30 minutes.
Two years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Dr. Leonard Peikoff reflects on the nature of Americans’ cultural and political response. Peikoff revisits the essential philosophy of America in its Enlightenment era founding as well as the American response to the Pearl Harbor attack. In contrast, Peikoff notes that Americans in the early twenty-first century embraced futile appeasement and policies that undermine the foundations of the nation under attack. 1 hour, 30 minutes.
Delivered at the Ford Hall Forum in 1984, “The American School: Why Johnny Can’t Think” examines why the American education system consistently underperforms and fails to properly educate children. Dr. Peikoff relates his experience in visiting some of the best schools in New York City, from preschool to teacher’s colleges. Through a series of vivid examples drawn from these experiences, Peikoff concludes that the American education system is fundamentally anti-conceptual in both its methodology and in the thin content it attempts to convey to students. He concludes by identifying the fundamental causes of this malaise and makes a bold recommendation to improve the situation. 1 hour, 28 minutes.
In this examination of higher education in America, Dr. Leonard Peikoff contrasts the reputation of universities as bastions of knowledge and scientific research with their actual approach—undermining rational philosophy and reason. Through detailed examples drawn from contemporary universities, Peikoff illustrates their attack on the ideas at the very heart of American institutions. He diagnoses the problem in the philosophy of irrationalism that has infected the institutions and provides a view of the solution in re-introducing rational philosophy. 1 hour, 13 minutes.
In “Can Capitalism Survive?,” presented in 1990, Dr. Peikoff considers whether capitalism can survive the current philosophic environment. He addresses the fundamental questions underlying a political system—namely, what is good, what is real, and what is true. These questions each identify a philosophic question. Peikoff argues that egoism in ethics, reality in metaphysics, and reason in epistemology is what is required to have a system of capitalism. He surveys the contemporary political scene to note that the intellectuals on both sides oppose these fundamentals, and thus are not supporters of capitalism, and traces how this process began in the nineteenth century. 58 minutes.
Dr. Leonard Peikoff examines the connection between the key concepts of certainty and happiness. He illustrates why a philosophy of success and happiness depends on a rational and properly defined concept of happiness and why the contemporary philosophy of failure grows out of the attack on certainty. He reveals the fundamental error that unites opponents of happiness and certainty and provides a solution to achieve both. 2 hours, 40 minutes.
This 1992 radio interview features Dr. Leonard Peikoff answering a wide range of questions about Objectivist philosophy, his new book on that material, and a variety of contemporary political issues. 34 minutes.
This wide-ranging question and answer session features Dr. Leonard Peikoff exploring crucial ideas about love, sex, and romance. He covers a variety of topics including the nature of masculinity and femininity, pornography, homosexuality, friendship versus love, and much more. 1 hour, 39 minutes.
Dr. Leonard Peikoff contrasts the heroic profession of medicine historically with the corruption of modern socialized medicine. He examines the philosophy behind the statist reforms that corrupted medicine and illustrates how this is, at root, an attack on the mind. Peikoff explains the role that the ethics of altruism play in medicine and offers a way out for those in the profession and those who hope to fix it. 1 hour, 26 minutes.
Drawing from historical accounts and contemporary analysis, Dr. Leonard Peikoff illustrates the disturbing connections between mental disorders, specifically schizophrenia, and modern art. Peikoff indicates the parallels between cultural decline in the arts and the rise of mental illness. 1 hour, 33 minutes.
In the thirty years of knowing Ayn Rand personally and being her student, Dr. Leonard Peikoff experienced a life-changing relationship. In this lecture, he recounts the story of how they met, how he became her student and later intellectual heir, and what it was like knowing her. He relates important insights that he gained, explains Miss Rand’s distinctive approach to ideas, and provides a behind the scenes view of an intellectual giant. 1 hour, 21 minutes.
In 1980’s “The Philosophic Basis of Capitalism,” Dr. Peikoff explores the contrast between the principles and ideas of the American founding, which supported capitalism in principle, and those of today, which are attacking and undermining capitalism. He points out that the specific events or economic interventions by the government are not the fundamental cause, but instead focuses on the philosophic arguments that underlie that attack. He reviews the three main branches of philosophy to focus on one main question in each and the answers that philosophy can give and how those answers either support or attack the basis of capitalism. 1 hour, 38 minutes.
In this indictment of modern philosophy, Dr. Leonard Peikoff contrasts the nature and purpose of rational philosophy—grasping and understanding “the world out there”—with the mental manipulation, language games, and irrationalism of modern philosophy. 1 hour, 29 minutes.
In this lecture, Dr. Leonard Peikoff contrasts the contemporary embrace of religion by Americans across the political spectrum with the fundamental ideas that formed the essence of America as a uniquely philosophic experiment in limited government. He reviews the essential positions of all religious beliefs as they relate to the key questions of government and highlights their opposition to the vital institutions that formed the American experiment. 1 hour, 20 minutes.
In this lecture, Dr. Leonard Peikoff examines the nature of historical causation and the role that ideas play in it. Expounding on Ayn Rand’s argument that philosophy drives historical events, Peikoff illustrates this argument by contrasting this perspective with the contemporary approach that suggests that psychology or even economics is the primary force in historical development. 1 hour, 23 minutes.
Shortly after Ayn Rand’s death, Dr. Leonard Peikoff presented her material that explores why contemporary businessmen are their own worst enemies because they sanction those who attack and undermine them. The lecture explores the nature of altruism and its connection to the sanction of the victim. 1 hour, 19 minutes.
Recorded in 1992, Dr. Leonard Peikoff reflects on the causes of the collapse of the Soviet Union. He explores why common accounts provide an insufficient answer because they do not grasp the philosophic causes. He projects that the bad philosophy that permeates Russian culture will prevent the country from adopting free political and economic institutions. 1 hour, 33 minutes.
By exploring works of great literature that have philosophically false content, Dr. Leonard Peikoff explores how one can benefit from any great work of art. Using literary analysis of plot, characterization, theme, and style, Peikoff illustrates the way that great art helps to shape and tune the use of consciousness and thought processes for the better. 1 hour, 42 minutes.
After two years of hosting a radio talk-show, Dr. Leonard Peikoff presents his insights and reflections on the experience. Having set out on the mission of selling philosophy via radio, Peikoff explains the unique challenges in presenting ideas in that format, including the unexpected successes and failures of different approaches. 1 hour, 12 minutes.
Surveying the contemporary accounts for criminal behavior, Dr. Leonard Peikoff offers a radically different account that places philosophy at the center. Drawing from the statistics detailing the rise in the crime rate, Peikoff identifies pervasive cultural ideas that match these phenomena. Peikoff argues that crime is caused by the ideas held by criminals, and these ultimately trace back to the education they received and the culture in which they live. He concludes that fixing the crime problem can only be done by repairing America’s core ideas. 1 hour, 41 minutes.
In this path-breaking lecture, Dr. Leonard Peikoff contrasts the modern complexity worship with a life lived according to principles. He identifies what a principle is and how principles are essential for thinking and acting through all branches of philosophy. Rejecting the pragmatic approach of the moderns, Peikoff illuminates the uniquely human perspective that is gained by principles. 34 minutes.
In this path-breaking lecture, Dr. Leonard Peikoff contrasts the modern complexity worship with a life lived according to principles. He identifies what a principle is and how principles are essential for thinking and acting through all branches of philosophy. Rejecting the pragmatic approach of the moderns, Peikoff illuminates the uniquely human perspective that is gained by principles. 1 hour, 31 minutes.