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Unofficial Index to Dr. Peikoff's Podcasts

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Episode 205 - February 27, 2012



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01:08: Hypothetically, if Socialism were the only system that brought about prosperity, and Capitalism brought nothing but misery, would you then support Socialism, even though it violates individual rights?

02:44: What is your view of the emotion of contempt?

04:24: Would it be beneficial to give up masturbating to be a better composer?

05:40: What does it mean to "forgive," and how does one do it?

08:10: What is wrong with the Golden Rule- do on to others as you would have them do on to you- when applied to persons who have not yet hurt you in any way?

09:12: Recently, the government removed several children from their home because the parents have named them after Hitler and the Aryan nation. Is it always immoral for the State to intervene in parental behavior unless there is demonstrated physical harm to the child?

10:18: Why is cannibalism a moral taboo?

11:42: No man has a claim on me. So do I have any duty to call the police and report a crime that I witnessed? Edited by Forum Publisher
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Episode 207 - March 12, 2012



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01:08: Is there a good reason to like and follow sports?

03:40: Who is the most evil character in Atlas Shrugged and in The Fountainhead?

05:32: Was Frank O'Connor ever jealous of the love Ayn Rand had for her male characters?

07:06: Can it be just to feel bitter about being laid off from work irrationally, by a whim-worshiping boss, even when one understands he had the legal right to his decision?

09:36: I love my mother, but not my father. Is it immoral to tell him that I love him in order to spare his feelings?

12:02: In Atlas Shrugged Eddie Willers says to John Galt, "You look as if you've never known pain or fear or guilt." Why does Ayn Rand include lack of pain as a fundamental attribute? Hasn't Galt felt pain more than anyone in the book?
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Episode 208 - March 19, 2012



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01:08: Is it irrational to end a love relationship purely because of the other person‚'s looks?

04:28: Every time I suggest to my friends that I am in favor of egoism, the conversation turns into an argument. I don‚'t care if they become Objectivists, but I want to keep these friends and I‚'m not comfortable remaining silent when I‚'m attacked. What should I do?

08:10: My father is campaigning for a small political position and has asked me to help. His cause is diametrically opposed to Objectivist views, but I don‚'t want to betray my family. I am not 18 yet. What should I do?

11:14: My boyfriend of nearly four years suddenly decided he wanted to be on his own. We had no previous problems. He claims he wants time alone to figure out what he wants out of life. How should I deal with this situation?
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Episode 209 - March 26, 2012



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01:08: The captain in a recent cruise line case abandoned his ship before all of the passengers and crew had done so. He has been criticized for breaking the rule of the sea: that the captain will be the last to leave a ship in distress. Was he immoral, since all he did was to hold his life as his standard of value?

04:22: I am struggling to quit smoking. I can quit for 7 months on nicotine, but then I start again. Why do I do this again since I value my body much more than smoking?

07:26: If something is neither moral nor immoral is it amoral?

08:08: What are a man‚'s limits? Would it be rational to try to be a man like Leonardo Da Vinci?

10:02: In Galt‚'s speech why does he say, "The greatest of your philosophers" to refer to Aristotle. Why not "our" philosophers?

11:02: In your books you refer to Ayn Rand as Miss Rand. Why Miss rather than Ms. or Mrs.?
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Episode 210 - April 02, 2012



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01:08: An army officer describes the U.S. method of waging war in Afghanistan, and the morality it rests on.

03:46: Could you define your reasons for choosing Kira as your daughter‚'s name?

04:50: How quickly do you adapt to changing technology? Do you own a Smartphone?

07:14: Should a racist comment made in the heat of battle about a sports pitch be treated any differently than that of any other derogative comment, any other verbal execration or swearing, that is directed at an individual player?
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Episode 211 - April 09, 2012



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01:08: Suppose I discover a previously unknown and brilliantly argued Platonic dialogue. If I were to publish it, it would probably revitalize his influence. Should I make it known or burn it?

02:00: Studies show that people who use bitter or painful placebos show better beneficial placebo effects, whereas easy, good-tasting placebos work less effectively. Why?

03:14: Did you find any value in teaching to non-Objectivist students in a university? In regard to your personal enjoyment, what were the pros and cons of teaching non-Objectivists vs. Objectivists?

05:52: Is it ever justified for a woman to slap a man?

07:50: [Was college teaching worth the years of torture required to get the PhD?]

09:48: If you were offered a million dollars to do a TV commercial stating that you use a certain brand of shampoo, would you do it if you in fact did not use that brand?

10:44: Is there a difference between the concept of individual rights and human rights?
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Episode 212 - April 16, 2012



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01:08: At the end of the 1953 movie Titanic there is enough room on the lifeboats only for the woman . In one touching scene, a woman prefers to die with her husband. Would Ayn Rand have done the same thing, even over Frank‚'s objection?

02:16: It is time-consuming and difficult work to get a solid grasp of Objectivism. Will this change if and when the culture improves, or will it always be difficult to learn?

06:06: Can love by the Objectivist definition be experienced deeply between friends, or is the concept reserved only for romantic partners?

08:18: >Many Objectivists believe that as long as one agrees with the basic tenets of Objectivism, he ought to be supported by other Objectivists, no matter how wrong or even rotten his positions are on derivative intellectual topics. What is the proper way to evaluate such a person?
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Episode 213 - April 23, 2012



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01:08: Should I work on finding self-fulfillment and confidence before looking for a partner in life? If I have not yet reasoned out my goals, values, and morals is it wrong to pursue a relationship with a woman, considering that I don‚'t yet know what to look for in a woman?

04:44: Does it ever get any easier to see everyone working toward the destruction of this beautiful world?

08:48: Do you have any plans to release Ayn Rand‚'s work to the public domain before their copyright expires? It would be very helpful in the struggle for freedom.

13:02: What is the Objectivist moral stand on plastic surgery?
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Episode 214 - April 30, 2012

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01:08: What is the difference between an egoist and a braggart? Are all braggarts, egoists?

04:20: The great chess player, Bobby Fischer, was offered a million dollars to do a TV commercial stating that he used X shampoo. He replied that he couldn't do it because he didn't use this brand of shampoo. What would you do?

05:58: Instead of the Oscars, which are picked by only a few thousand members of the Academy, would there be a more objective way to select the best films of the year?

10:14: Is euthanasia immoral? Should it be illegal? Since it is my life, shouldn't I be able to enter into a contract that allows someone to help me end it?

11:00: What is the significance of actors or even everyday people who cannot stand to watch themselves on film? Is this normal or a sign of something unhealthy?

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Episode 215 - May 07, 2012



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01:08: Peikoff reads a document titled, "No rational intellectual should ever have children" and identifies the invalid method of thought it exemplifies.

11:04: I was bullied severely in school. It was many years ago, but I‚'m still deeply disturbed. Is it the bully‚'s fault for traumatizing me for this long‚ or is it my fault for still being irrationally bothered by such long past events that I know will never happen again?
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Episode 216 - May 14, 2012



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01:08: My girlfriend of a year just dumped me. She was my first love and I adore her. She said that she grew to resent my Objectivist views. What should I do?

02:46: My company has asked me to send out a notification to our employees about our 401k matching program. The message states- falsely, in my view-that this is free money period. Is it okay to refuse my employer‚'s request?

04:20: Re prenuptial agreements. Isn't it unromantic to make plans before marriage for what will happen in case the marriage fails? Isn't it better just to figure things out if and when it fails?

08:24: Is defamation a form of free speech or a form of force that violates rights?

09:50: I like comic books and super heroes. Does Objectivism condemn these figures? Are comic books harmful to young readers?

11:46: In her introduction to Ominous Parallels, Ayn Rand says that the book taught her something about how ideas influence a culture. What did she learn, and were there other things she also learned from you?
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Episode 217 - May 21, 2012



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01:08: Why did Ayn Rand require proof that smoking is harmful before she stopped, instead of going with the safety principle, requiring positive proof of it being safe before starting?

04:52: In Rand‚'s 1980 Donahue appearance, right after her husband‚'s death, she said Frank was more of an atheist than she was if there could be degrees. What did she mean?

06:26: How should I judge a person who believes the global warming hysteria?

08:48: You suggested in a past podcast the real possibility of a child in the public schools in the early grades being subject to bullying. Why did you send your daughter there? Was there no alternative?
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Episode 220 - June 11, 2012



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01:08: Do you think Ayn Rand‚'s ideas can be communicated on Twitter? In other words, in the space of 140 or fewer characters?

04:30: When you were in graduate school, how did you choose your supervisor? What qualities were important to you?

06:26: How did you get your start as a philosopher?

09:06: Objectivism says that human mortality is necessary to morality, since life can be the standard of value only because action‚ a certain kind of action‚ is required to protect it. Therefore, if we were immortal we wouldn't need morality to guide us. Does it follow that, according to Objectivism, immortality is immoral or else impossible?

12:52: How is that some people can be happy even if they hold irrational ideas and values?
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Episode 221 - June 18, 2012



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01:08: I have recently fallen madly in love with a woman 14 years younger than me. I am too old for her and she would be out of my league even if I wasn't. Isn't the fact that I will never have sex with her proof of the malevolent universe?

02:34: If man is Tabula Rasa, then how does Objectivism evaluate the work of Sigmund Freud?

05:30: In my divorce, in a moment of weakness, I promised my now ex-wife not to share my atheist views with my children. But now I am wondering. She is proselytizing them for Christianity. Is my greatest responsibility to keep my word toward their mother, or should I raise my children in accordance with the ideas I myself regard as true?

07:28: If Kant is the worst man in history, is it impossible for someone to be more evil?

08:50: After a history of bullying in school, I moved to a new school where I was targeted by another individual. This time I responded by punching him in the face, and the bully stopped and left me alone. Was my use of force justified in this case?

10:32: What is the Objectivist view of housewives or stay-at-home moms?

12:16: Too many people say to me, "I went through the Ayn Rand phase when I too was in high school." How should I take this?
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Episode 222 - June 25, 2012



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01:08: Recently I discovered that my boyfriend was cheating on me. I have since learned that he is also lying to his new girlfriend. I have the urge to tell her what is going on. What would you do?

03:14: My mother is Catholic and I am an Objectivist. She claims that I am closed-minded simply because I am 14 and call myself an atheist. How should I respond to her?

05:38: Ayn Rand said that Objectivism is a philosophy for living on earth. If moon or Martian colonies are created what happens to her description? Why not just say a philosophy for living?

07:30: A prominent Objectivist has stated that the evil is the mindless. How than can Kant, one of the most powerful minds in history, also be judged the most evil?

08:32: Is an eye for eye and a tooth for a tooth a moral principle?

10:16: What value should one attach to popularity and fame?

12:10: What if any is the rational basis for loyalty? Is loyalty a virtue?

13:48: Why is it that the older I get the better the past seems?
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Episode 223 - July 02, 2012



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01:08: Was your relationship with Ayn Rand like an apprenticeship where she instructed and mentored you in Objectivism?

02:38: Putting aside the obvious restrictions on parents, such as physically abusing their offspring, how does one determine whether a child‚'s consent is required for a parental action involving the child?

05:24: Did Ellsworth Toohey have low self-esteem?

06:46: The emotion of shame is said to come from violating social values, while guilt comes from violations to one‚'s internal values. Is this true?

08:14: A television program quotes Ayn Rand as writing that "we are all brothers under the skin and I for one would be willing to skin humanity to prove it." Is this honest?

09:10: As I understand it, Dr. Peikoff, you endorsed Obama in the last election, but changed your mind in the face of the facts after Obama‚'s true nature was exposed by his actions in office. What error in your own thinking would you say made you draw the conclusion so late as you did?

10:40: Is there really a video of you acting as a cop in a skit? I heard about it on an Ayn Rand walking tour of New York City.

12:04: In regard to the trader principle, is it moral for me not to tell my trading partner what I think the real value of the article or service is, when I know I‚'m getting more value out of it than they are? In other words, is withholding information in this context fraud?

13:38: Do you consider the actions of Eduardo Saverin, co-founder of Facebook who renounced his citizenship for Singapore, moral and rational?
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Episode 224 - July 09, 2012



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01:08: Evaluate the slippery slope argument as a type of reasoning.

04:38: Is there an actual movement called Objectivism or is it just a philosophy? Or both?

05:28: Are there authorities qualified to issue statements on what ideas are or not consonant with Objectivism?

07:16: What is the danger of listening to amateurs in philosophy who pretend to be experts?

09:10: You and Ayn Rand have both lectured on difficult topics to people that were sometimes unreceptive. Do you have any general tips on public speaking?

12:50: Will you publish in book form your lectures on the History of Philosophy?

13:40: When you first met Ayn Rand at the age of 17 and were learning her philosophy, was it so revolutionary that you felt alienated from the world and other people?
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Episode 225 - July 16, 2012



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[This podcast is devoted to several questions that have been raised on love and sex.]

01:16: I love a girl who says that she looks up to me more than anyone else in the world because I model the values she desires. But she doesn't feel a "spark" with me and so she is unable to love me romantically. Is it possible to deal with this situation objectively?

03:36: I was in a relationship with a man who says he loves me for those values which I regard as my highest. When I first met him, I saw nothing of value in him, and I still don‚'t, but he loves me. How can he love a person who embodies a set of values which are in opposition to his own?

05:20: [in Atlas Shrugged Dagny expresses her "need" of Hank. Isn't this incompatible with the virtue of independence?]

07:04: If a person doesn't like oral sex, is this a form of nihilism or just an arbitrary sexual preference?

10:12: Why does your new book study the effects of integration on cultures as a whole, whereas your podcasts focus on the problems of individuals, not of cultures?

11:56: Ayn Rand said that in any conflict between two groups who hold the same basic principles it is the more consistent one who will win. But the Communists in Soviet Russia were more
consistent than the West in regard to altruism and statism, so why didn't they win the Cold War?

13:36: When writing fiction, is there a proper way to choose the race of a character?
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