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Unofficial Index to Dr. Peikoff's Podcasts

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Episode 045 - January 19, 2009



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00:44: [Do Dr. Peikoff's listeners prefer the group format or Peikoff alone for his podcast?]

03:04: What does Objectivism say to high school and college students that will help us to face growing older with equanimity?

11:10: Is professional comedy a rational undertaking that would be proper in a society composed of Objectivists? Edited by Forum Publisher
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Episode 044 - January 12, 2009



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Excerpt from session held at Dr. Peikoff's home in October 2008.

00:54: Is it immoral to use "Green" in product advertising?

02:20: Is it immoral to let a fetus survive outside the womb (by choice) using medical technology?

07:56: What is your opinion of patriotism?

18:06: A discussion of a listener‚'s statement that he has found two instances of dishonesty in Ayn Rand‚'s novels. Edited by Forum Publisher
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Episode 043 - January 05, 2009



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Excerpt from session held at Dr. Peikoff's home in October 2008.

00:54: What would you tell a fifteen year old boy who‚'s trying to figure out what his philosophy [should be]?

08:52: What books did Ayn Rand recommend to you?

09:42: What do you think of the morality of making money if you are the owner of a casino and profiting when people lose? Edited by Forum Publisher
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Episode 042 - December 29, 2008



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Excerpt from session held at Dr. Peikoff's home in October 2008.

00:54: If Ayn Rand was moral, and morality is practical, and her morality stood for life as an absolute, why did she die?

08:54: If the universe is finite, then couldn't man travel to the boundary, and then, if he could do that, couldn't he go through that boundary? Edited by Forum Publisher
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Episode 041 - December 22, 2008



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00:44: Was McCain being stupid and self-sacrificial in refusing to be let go from his Vietnamese captors, on the grounds that he would be leaving others behind, and didn't want special treatment for being the son of an admiral?

02:32: Is it easier to influence the culture today compared to 2000 years ago or 300 years ago?

06:20: Is it wrong to participate in acts of pure self-indulgence, be it drugs, alcohol, sex, or otherwise?

08:32: If I am a committed [O]bjectivist, and other people know it, is it wrong to tell them that I am religious?

10:24: Is there a moral obligation to call for help if you see someone in a car accident or experiencing a heart attack?

11:42: Isn't it a violation of property rights for the government to forbid the use and sale of drugs such as cocaine and marihuana?

12:46: Is it acceptable to say that morality is warranted by the law of causality?

13:40: Is the arbitrary a subset of the possible, or is it something separate? Edited by Forum Publisher
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Episode 040 - December 15, 2008



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Excerpt from session held at Dr. Peikoff's home in October 2008.

05:14: What is greed?

10:30: To what degree should somebody attempt to make amends for immoral actions they have taken in the past?

17:46: [Ayn Rand was asked once: "Suppose Hitler reformed completely, and he wanted to follow the Objectivist morality, what's the first thing he should do?"] Edited by Forum Publisher
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Episode 039 - December 08, 2008



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00:44: Is it a rational attitude to like someone but not want to date this person because he does not make very much money?

02:20: How can Alan Greenspan go from writing "Gold and Economic Freedom" to being such a corrupt and intellectually dishonest statist?

06:58: Why do so many people who were once involved in Objectivism end up betraying everything the philosophy stands for?

08:52: Have you ever met anyone who describes himself as both an Objectivist and religious?

10:32: In one of Obama‚'s speeches, he makes the point that, "Some have made selfishness a virtue, and so I am a bad person for wanting to share my toys when I was in kindergarten". Do you agree that this is a not-so-valid attack on Ayn Rand?

12:34: What is the difference between a wish and a whim?

13:54: Should the government be able to give private companies money for research and development, because without the government money we wouldn't have all the technological wonders of the electronic age? Edited by Forum Publisher
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Episode 038 - December 01, 2008



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Excerpt from session held at Dr. Peikoff's home in October 2008.

00:54: Since anger is the result of a moral evaluation, is it unjustifiable to be angry at your dog?

07:34: Why are there very few blue-collar Objectivists? Edited by Forum Publisher
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Episode 037 - November 24, 2008



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00:44: Man has been defined as the rational animal, but how about the higher primates, like chimps and gorillas, who have demonstrated the capacity to reason?

03:12: What are your thoughts on California Proposition 8 which states that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized?

05:00: Not a question, but an interesting clipping that show what happens when skeptics crusade for a cause.

07:34: How can you say the universe is eternal?

08:44: Does giving away your own wealth, as long as no sacrifice to yourself, break any tenets of Objectivism or of capitalism?

10:50: A linguistic question: Are humanism and individualism incompatible?

12:22: [Does Dr. Peikoff offer any help for organizing discussion groups for any of his lectures?]

13:00: Private, for-profit organizations, deliver superior products than do not-for-profit, amateur, government, or volunteer organizations, in virtually all aspects of life. For a top-notch, sexual experience, therefore, why shouldn't someone engage a professional? Edited by Forum Publisher
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Episode 036 - November 17, 2008



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Group discussion.

00:54: If you know that your philosophy cannot succeed in your lifetime, why should you fight for it?

11:14: Is it possible for an Objectivist to be friends with someone who does not like to discuss reality? Edited by Forum Publisher
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Episode 035 - November 03, 2008



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00:54: Dr Peikoff, what are some of your favorite movies and why?

03:34: What should be considered when choosing a country to live in?

05:00: Is lying okay to protect your privacy?

06:28: How do you evaluate the action of a woman who knows that tests show her fetus has a high probability of downs syndrome, yet carries it to full term?

09:12: Should choosing a sperm donor that will make your child deaf be criminalized?

10:24: Can one be a true Objectivist and be a good parent, or isn't good parenting really altruistic?

11:22: If sexual orientation is not a choice then why isn't it an instinct?

13:00: Is there a legal responsibility or moral obligation for the owner of an animal in it‚'s treatment? What role can the government take, if any, to ensure that these despicable acts do not take place?

14:18: How would Objectivists answer the phrase, "What would John Galt do"? Edited by Forum Publisher
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Episode 034 - October 27, 2008



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00:54: Did Ayn Rand ever act irrationally?

02:46: Should parents be obligated to provide an education for their children?

05:16: What right does a parent have to alter a child‚'s body?

07:30: Do Objectivists believe that unless a child is dying, a parent has the right to raise him without government intervention?

09:26: if a man sacrifices an animal to a supposed god, is he not sacrificing a lesser value, the animal, for the acceptance of a greater value, which is the approval of the god? [Motivated does not equal non-sacrificial.]

11:28: If Objectivism holds that we live in a predictable, clock-work, reality, and rejects dualism, does this mean that our material brains comprise our entire consciousness?

13:16: Would a properly delimited government have allies, in the sense of other countries? Edited by Forum Publisher
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Episode 033 - October 20, 2008



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00:54: Dr. Peikoff, for whom will you vote for the presidential election this November 2008, and why?

04:14: At what moment does the mass of cells, the fetus, go from having no right to human rights? [Abortion]

06:20: Is it morally wrong to quote approvingly a theoretical work from a person one knows to be dishonest and immoral?

09:22: In regard to Bill Gates‚ how far should the morality of a businessman affect your transactions with him?

10:56: Should Canadian doctor‚'s spend more time examining patients vs. spending 3-5 minutes on symptoms and then prescribing medication?

14:06: What would be the ethical way to decide ownership of property on newly discovered land? [The Homestead Act in 19th century United States] Edited by Forum Publisher
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Episode 032 - October 13, 2008



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00:54: How can the average laymen, who doesn't have time for hours of research, be sure they are being objective in what they believe they know about history from reading history books today?

03:40: Is Kant a criminal or not? Could he have been prosecuted for fraud for advocating, saying he is for reason when he is really for irrationalism and destruction?

07:02: In a proper society should it be illegal merely to advocate the initiation of the use of force?

08:50: [Could Kant have foreseen or intended the harmful consequences of his ideas?]

10:32: Once you are in focus and aware of the value of grasping reality, might that not be an antecedent factor motivating one to remain in focus? [Choice to Focus]

12:46: If I knew that I only had one week to live and I decided to steal some money so that I could live it up for one week, would it be moral? [Morality and emergency or life-boat situations.] Edited by Forum Publisher
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Episode 031 - September 29, 2008



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00:54: I‚'m experiencing a conflict between what I want and what is practical. I want to write fiction and I also don‚'t want to worry about money. What should I do? [Career Choice]

05:00: Would Howard Roark look back on his decision to build the Cordlandt Homes and say to himself, I made an error in judgment?

06:16: At the end of The Fountainhead, Gail says that he is building the last skyscraper ever to be built. He was a smart man; how did he not realize that the world still had hope when Roark won the case?

07:40: After examining personal paintings from Keating, Roark informs Keating that it is too late, and Keating assents. Why does Roark say it‚'s too late?‚' [The questioner goes on to say that Dr. Peikoff said in some lecture that even if one is 80 or 90 one has the chance to rethink one's errors and start again.]

10:30: The Fountainhead‚ Gus Webb tells Toohey that he‚'s an incurable specimen of the intelligentsia, that‚'s all he is, that he‚'s not the man of the future. Does this contradict Ayn Rand‚'s notes where she says, with regard to communism, that it "places among single individuals, Toohey at the top of the human pyramid"?

11:50: Is there no present tense? [Augustine]

13:44: What do you think of debates where students are preassigned to argue for or against an issue regardless of it‚'s merits and their beliefs? Edited by Forum Publisher
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Episode 030 - September 15, 2008



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Excerpt from a Q&A session held by Dr. Peikoff on July 2 of the Objectivist summer conference in New Port Beach, California.

01:06: In the title, Atlas Shrugged, is the word "shrugged" a verb or an adjective?

01:54: Once a mind is in focus, is the choice to remain that way motivated?

02:56: Who are the ‚"low-lying fruit‚' in accepting Objectivism, and what‚'s the best way to reach them?

04:46: Have your observations about the transitional periods between Ds and Ms in history, been characterized by the rise of false defenders, like capitalism?

07:42: How did Ayn Rand approach mind-altering pharmaceuticals, narcotics, and psychedelics?

08:52: What do you think about a woman who makes more money than her man but still expects him to support her?

10:08: Is it morally permissible to approvingly quote the work of a person one knows to be immoral and dishonest, or would that constitute a sanction of that evil? Edited by Forum Publisher
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Episode 029 - September 08, 2008



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Excerpt from a Q&A session held by Dr. Peikoff on July 2 of the Objectivist summer conference in New Port Beach, California.

00:54: Did Ayn Rand ever talk to you about why she admired Carmine's music so much?

03:10: How does one recognize altruism and pragmatism?

05:26: Dr. Peikoff tells of his favorite episode of the Twilight Zone.

07:08: What did Ayn Rand think about the theory of evolution, and is the Objectivist ethics based on it?

07:44: Why was there an Aristotelian revival in the Latin church but rejected in the Greek church?

08:14: Is it proper to ask for a reason why one should live, for something that is motivating this choice?

09:32: What kinds of lies are appropriate to protect one‚'s privacy?

11:56: Can you share the most memorable and pleasant moments that you had with Ayn Rand?

12:40: What is your opinion on the recent decision about immunities for the telecom companies? Edited by Forum Publisher
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Episode 028 - September 01, 2008



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00:54: Is purchasing sex from prostitutes wrong if your motive is just to get physical pleasure, and perhaps some degree of intellectual pleasure from conversation?

02:24: Is it possible for a whore to develop and have a heart of gold, meaning a selfishly idealistic and loving spirit?

03:42: Is or is not the absence of evidence an evidence of absence?

06:00: Can someone be the kind of man that Howard Roark or John Galt was and still believe in God?

08:10: Why does Howard Roark say on the yacht that he would sacrifice his life for that of Gail Wynand?

09:20: There is strong evidence that there is a correlation between religious faith and health. So, can it be argued it‚'s within our selfish interest to hold religious faith for better health?

13:00: Why does Howard Roark say on the yacht that he would sacrifice his life for that of Gail Wynand?

14:06: Are people who first read Ayn Rand‚'s non-fiction work more likely to become lasting intellectuals vs reading her fiction work first? Edited by Forum Publisher
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Episode 027 - August 25, 2008



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Excerpt from a Q&A session held by Dr. Peikoff on July 2 of the Objectivist summer conference in New Port Beach, California.

01:10: Is part of Ayn Rand‚'s validation of Objectivist ethics in conflict with modern biology?

04:16: How is Dr. Peikoff‚'s book, DIM, going?

08:10: What is there still to study within Objectivism, within philosophy?

09:54: [A questioner asks about what he thinks to be an asymmetry in the categories in Dr. Peikoff's DIM hypothesis.]

11:16: Is there anything that you would write differently if you were writing Ominous Parallels today?

13:22: What you think the goal of education is, and also, how does that goal connect to the intrinsic or extrinsic motivation of children? Edited by Forum Publisher
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Episode 026 - August 18, 2008



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00:54: Do you disagree with Aristotle‚'s ‚"Doctrine of the Mean‚'?

04:06: Should we, who are alive as a consequence of evil, wish not to have been born because of the evil that made our birth possible?

08:06: What moral incentive does a terminally ill patient have to continue to respect the rights of other individuals?

11:26: What do you think of the campaign to add "None of the above" as one of the choices on the ballot, with the idea that if more than 50 percent of the voters choose it, then the candidates are not allowed to run?

12:34: You've said that philosophy deals with fundamental issues which can be answered by men at anytime and any state of knowledge‚' yet Ayn Rand said herself that her idea, that man‚'s means of survival is reason, could not have been reached prior to the Industrial Revolution. How do you reconcile this?‚'" Edited by Forum Publisher
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Episode 025 - August 11, 2008



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Excerpt from a Q&A session held by Dr. Peikoff on July 2 of the Objectivist summer conference in New Port Beach, California.

00:54: Why are there fewer women Objectivists than men?

04:06: Can one have a happy retirement past the age of 70 while existing off past productivity with no attempt at new productivity?

06:32: What is the role of philosophy in history and its influence now?

08:40: How does Objectivism approach the arguably collective problem of polluting externalities of industries and governments of multi-national corporations as an attempt to promote development and innovation at the same time

11:06: What do you hope to achieve with your podcasts, and where do you see it going in the future?

12:54: Should theoretical, scientific research be guided by application?

14:14: Dr. Peikoff identifies his favorites in each of the following genres: novel, play, painting, sculpture and song.

15:40: Are gays over-represented in Objectivism? Edited by Forum Publisher
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Episode 024 - August 04, 2008



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00:54: Can someone who is inherently non-conceptual correct this as an adult?

03:40: What‚'s wrong with a government ban on smoking?

07:14: To understand something you need to rely on your own experience and culture. Does this mean that it is impossible to have objective knowledge?

09:14: A discussion on treason during non-wartime. [Dr. Peikoff defined treason in the context of war in Episode 017.]

12:10: What is a contextual absolute?

14:20: In Ayn Rand‚'s definition of capitalism, she says that all property is privately owned. Is that really true? Edited by Forum Publisher
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Episode 023 - July 28, 2008



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00:54: Why did Ayn Rand give Howard Roark orange-red hair?

01:58: What kind of commitment does it take to master Objectivism as a tool for living a just and happy life? [Philosophy for Rearden vs. philosophy for Akston]

06:46: Where can a child desperate over the state of the world and with no heroes find hope and solace?

11:52: If the modern scientific consensus says there is a beginning point to the universe, doesn't this put our understanding of the axiom of existence into a contradiction with the widely accepted big bang theory? Edited by Forum Publisher
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Episode 022 - July 21, 2008



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Excerpt from a Q&A session held by Dr. Peikoff on July 2 of the Objectivist summer conference in New Port Beach, California.

05:42: With regard to people who, acting on Ragnar‚'s imperative, fail to file their personal income tax return, do they help or hurt Objectivism?

07:20: What kind of fiction are you reading these days, Dr Peikoff?

08:40: Why have Objectivists not established a program to challenge current government practices? [The Constitution and Philosophy]

11:28: Do you think that any attempt to do a DIM analysis in the field of music would first require the development of what Miss Rand had described in "Art and Cognition" as the appropriate esthetic principles which would serve as the base of the objective validation of esthetic judgment within music?

12:50: Is environmentalism turning America more towards the society depicted in Anthem?

14:20: What should be done to bring about change in the culture?

15:18: What is the significance of John Galt saying to Dagny Taggart at the end of Atlas Shrugged, "Don‚'t look down"?

16:34: Why do Objectivists not mention Ayn Rand in social situations? Edited by Forum Publisher
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Episode 021 - July 14, 2008



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00:54: Is government intervention in business ever justifiable for environmental purposes?

04:32: Is it possible to learn to desire someone, to create a desire from love when it does not come spontaneously?

10:32: Can reading Ayn Rand ever be escapism rather than legitimate refueling? [sex in bomb shelters.]

12:54: Is it immoral to not help a complete stranger in a matter of life and death if you don‚'t think it‚'s a valuable investment of your time and effort? Edited by Forum Publisher
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