In a prior radio show, you said that adopting a rational philosophy like Objectivism is not a guarantee of rationality and other virtues in practice, but appears more to be a kind of "moral amplifier." If I remember correctly, you said that...
I come across right-wing people who proclaim to me that the State is justified to use physical force to deport undocumented Latino immigrants. They tell me this is justified because Latinos consistently vote in favor of politicians who expand the...
Recently, when an interviewer asked the famous astrophysicist and science popularizer Neil deGrasse Tyson about his opinion on philosophy, Tyson replied that he has low regard for the entire discipline of philosophy. Tyson said that the problem...
I believe in ethical egoism, and I think humans can validly achieve certainty in their convictions. I don't think people should apologize for their virtues or for being right. I think ethical egoists who believe in rational certainty tend to come...
Ayn Rand said, "Art is a selective re-creation of reality according to an artist's metaphysical value-judgments." Do magic shows, such as those performed by Harry Houdini, David Copperfield, and Penn & Teller, count as "art"? Their magic acts,...
In your June 26, 2014 podcast, you raised the idea that what makes a story compelling is that it focuses on characters and the volitional choices they make. The idea was that if all the characters are assumed to be mere automatons with no free...
