Objectivism | An Introduction to a Philosophy of Reason [Full Length]

[MrAdvancedAtheist]

Ayn Rand should have said that man's mind is woman's basic tool of survival, because women lack the cognitive goods to survive on their own. For example, men had to invent obstetrics & gynecology; men also had to invent veterinary medicine. The common denominator? Women and animals lack the ability to invent their own health care, though the smarter women can learn the procedures of both human and veterinary medicine after the fact.

[BDMurrietta]

this guy is handsome.

[AlexanderEBott]

I can't believe that there are lectures like this outside of the Ayn Rand institute. It was great. Does James Steele have a youtube account?

It is always cool when a man from England invokes the Declaration of Independence.

[MHellerslien]

This lecture is missing the historical context of Rand's Objectivism. The theory itself is missing the concept of "virtue" from an existential perspective. Here's a good lecture on that topic;

youtube . com /watch?v=gwUJHNPMUyU

[Shredrlz]

don't bother responding to this comments. if your lecture didn't impress them then nether would a simple comment.

[Rad1ka1]

For more information on voluntary socialism, check out "Participism" and ParEcon.

[Under21convention07]

@Rad1ka1 Voluntary socialism is a contradiction, much like "voluntary slavery". It doesnt exist.

[hughtub]

@Under21convention07 Not necessarily true. A hippy commune would be one example. As long as people entered into a socialist community on their own accord and could leave when they no longer want to stay, that's voluntary. I think all of the overproducers would soon want to leave, unless they stayed because they were "true believers".

[DiegoAravenaRamirez]

Also, man-made psychological concepts can have physical "reality based" manifestations, such as fake pregnancies or alopecia (hair loss due stress)

[DiegoAravenaRamirez]

Also the use of Reason is arbitrary. I can decide to be unreasonable and the whole cognitive process will function exactly the same way. Humans are not rational beings. Humans are emotional beings who rationalize their actions

[Under21convention07]

@DiegoAravenaRamirez You can choose to be irrational and abandon your mind. Welcome to free will. You can also choose to commit suicide. Life is not an arbitrary choice. You seem to love that word however.

[db11289]

@DiegoAravenaRamirez The use of reason is a CHOICE. What do you mean the "the whole cognitive process will function exactly the same way?" By Ayn Rand's definition of reason - "the faculty that identifies and integrates the material provided by man's senses" - this makes no sense. If you are using reason, you are cognitively functioning in a specific way.

[bensima]

@DiegoAravenaRamirez it's impossible to argue against reason and logic. to do so would require some justification, and within your justification you must use some sort of logic. so in arguing against logic you are using logic, thus you are acknowledging the existence and necessity of logic

[DiegoAravenaRamirez]

the problem with treating as "capital" elements with low value of exchange but high value of use is that we´ll end up consuming them and exploting them without balance. For instance treating animals, nature or water as markets, will seriously bring horrible consequences to society as a whole

[DiegoAravenaRamirez]

The main foundations are kind of screwed up. A is A, but A to me is whatever i decide it to be. Reality has no inherent meaning. Perception is Reality

[Under21convention07]

@DiegoAravenaRamirez "Perception is reality" is another way of saying subjectivism, which is another way of saying A=B if you *wish* it to be so, which is a denial of A=A.

Funny you say reality has no meaning. Over the internet as it may be, you seem very certain of this. What exactly are you basing your certainty on? Does reality have no meaning or does it have meaning? In either case, you are resting on A=A. That what you are asserting IS what you are asserting.

[DiegoAravenaRamirez]

@Under21convention07 you give meaning to things when you conceptualize them as Charles Sanders Peirce (father of semiotics) stated in his many essays, form, essence and meaning can be linked as you choose, also there is the begining of creativity. by the same token value is also arbitrary

[Under21convention07]

@DiegoAravenaRamirez Value is arbitrary eh? Your life is a value. Is your life arbitrary? Are life and death equally valid "options" to choose from on a daily basis, or is one universally and fundamentally better than the other? If you answer this question honestly, your value judgments will only differ in that which is optional and subject to individual preference.

[DiegoAravenaRamirez]

@Under21convention07 A can either be a symbol, a grade, a letter, your "favorite" letter. it is a consensus. It can be pronounced differently in spanish and english. Things are what they are, but what they mean to you is different. The cognitive mechanics may work with whatever input you stick in them

[StudentOfObjectivism]

@DiegoAravenaRamirez lol. 'Perception is reality' is an attempt to negate the axiom that existence exists.

[Rad1ka1]

Yay for capitalism and the complete ecological destruction of the planet which we live on!

[Under21convention07]

@Rad1ka1 Corporatism is not capitalism. Others being idiots towards the environment does not negate man's individual right to his own life.

[Rad1ka1]

@Under21convention07 How is a system based on continuous expansion and never ending growth going to be able to handle a world with limited resources?

I also believe in the rights of the individual and personal freedom, but I also think collective problems have to be solved collectively. Preferably through non-coercive voluntary federations and councils.

[Under21convention07]

@Rad1ka1 Because wealth, knowledge, and human values are not a product of "natural resources", they are a product of man's mind.

You cannot "believe" in individual rights and at the same time "prefer" voluntary means. You must demand them and nothing less. Problems are solved either voluntarily and with respect to man or involuntarily as if he were cattle.

What's your pick? You can't have both.

[Rad1ka1]

@Under21convention07 You can't provide for peoples material needs without natural resources. It won't just appear out of thin air. I have yet to see how capitalism can solve ecological problems and problems of scarcity in resources, in a way that doesn't lead to a complete catastrophe.

However, there are voluntary systems of socialism that can fix the underlying systemic problems (mutualism or other forms of social anarchism).

[MrHeroUser]

What about medical products-medicine-where in order to understand what you are buying you would need to have learned about the product in depth which is usually gained by going to medical school, and thus most people would not be able to completely understand it? Or does that still rely on the person?(not trying to sound like a whiner or asshole trying to poke holes in the theories. I am an objectivist, but I'm not particularly sure about this particular subject)

[Under21convention07]

@MrHeroUser Well, look at it from the ground up. What is fundamental in the questions you are asking (good questions btw), man's individual right to his life and liberty, or to what degree a few hundred million, on average, understand about various medical products, biology, etc. Answer: man's rights, which are not contextual.