The Role of Philosophy and Psychology in History
by Dr. Leonard Peikoff
Total Time: 1 hour, 22 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.
Study Guide
This material is designed to help you digest the lecture content. You can also download a printable PDF version below.
| What is the fundamental question of the philosophy of history? |
| What is the psychological theory of history? |
| Describe the basic premises of this argument. What is the best case for it? |
| How does the psychological approach account for philosophic causes? |
| Where would a psychological phenomenon pervasive enough to move a culture actually come from? |
| Why can a man who is a psychological exception to his age not affect history without philosophy? |
| Why is philosophy not just a rationalization for someone’s psychology? |
| If philosophy is the prime mover, where do a philosopher’s own new ideas come from? |
| Why can you not explain the origination of an original philosophy? |
| What are the two factors that account for the creation of a new philosophy? |
| What are the preconditions for a new philosophy to arise? |
Q&A Guide
Below is a list of questions from the audience taken from this lecture, along with (approximate) time stamps.
| 57:58 | Would you advocate civil disobedience against existing laws that disagree with the Objectivist ethics as a principle? |
| 1:00:00 | Would you say that the philosophies that have always dominated have been the ones with the strongest arguments? |
| 1:02:35 | Could you explain how ideas are disseminated through the institutions? Is it all through the colleges? |
| 1:03:50 | Would you say that it’s basically the epistemology of an originating philosophy that gives it its strength? |
| 1:05:27 | How can evasion lead to a system of ideas? |
| 1:09:06 | How do you go about changing the culture? |
| 1:13:49 | What is the interaction of psychology and philosophy in a developing child? |
| 1:17:59 | Why do you want to accelerate the course of history? |
| 1:20:01 | What is the latest on the Atlas Shrugged movie project? |