Why Should One Act on Principle
by Dr. Leonard Peikoff
Total Time: 1 hour, 31 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.
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 cause of the worship of complexity in the modern mind? |
| What is the proper understanding of the concepts complex and simple? |
| Why does every human, regardless of time, face a complex set of choices? |
| Why does a whole range of facts need to be used for any given decision? |
| Provide the basic definition of a principle. |
| Why does living by principles make someone more predictable? |
| What is the result of attempting to compromise on contrary principles? |
Q&A Guide
Below is a list of questions from the audience taken from this lecture, along with (approximate) time stamps.
| 57:56 | What is the update on the movie of Atlas Shrugged? |
| 1:00:08 | What about situations in which two principles seem to conflict, such as when you are in the State Department reviewing a country that is very supportive of the U.S. and in many respects good, but is also a dictator at home? |
| 1:04:00 | What is the basic underlying epistemological principle that justifies or validates inductive inference? |
| 1:05:42 | What was the subject of your recent talk before the American Philosophical Association (APA) and what was their reaction? |
| 1:09:53 | Isn’t it hypocritical to encourage dictatorship in order to keep out socialism? |
| 1:12:48 | How to you feel about students or citizens who don’t understand the dangers of totalitarianism and believe in relativism and pacifism such as when the Russians shot down the Korean airliner a few years ago? |
| 1:18:42 | Do you think a good deal was made when the Algerians exchanged the terrorists for the lives of the passengers of that plane? What principles were involved? |
| 1:21:15 | Many people may want to abstain from voting in the next election. Can you suggest a write-in candidate or slogan? |
| 1:22:28 | How does your form of atheism differ from Madalyn Murray O’Hair’s? |
| 1:24:33 | What do you think the principles of Alan Greenspan are currently? |
| 1:24:59 | What prompted you to speak at the APA symposium, did they invite you? If so, what prompted them to invite you? |
| 1:26:11 | A question regarding the connection between German industrialization and culture. |
| 1:27:22 | Ayn Rand warned against “the sin of forgiveness.” Should one never forgive someone who acts against principle? |