Speakers, talks and events will be added periodically, as they are confirmed.
Check back for updates—or, to get email updates from ARI, sign up here. Get Updates
Download to view and print the current schedule.
Objectivist Conferences/Ayn Rand® Institute reserves the right to make necessary adjustments to the schedule.
What is knowledge? What does it depend upon? What are the means of acquiring it? In answering these questions, this course covers the essentials of metaphysics and epistemology from an Objectivist perspective, drawing on the material in Dr. Binswanger’s recent book, How We Know: Epistemology on an Objectivist Foundation.
Knowledge and Reality [Today's Talk]
Ayn Rand’s definition of “knowledge”; the fundamentals of all fundamentals: the axioms of existence and consciousness; the primacy of existence; the irreducibility of consciousness; consciousness and life: a biological perspective on consciousness.
This course provides an orientation to Ayn Rand and her philosophy of Objectivism. Each session addresses an important aspect or application of her philosophy. Beginning with a session on Rand as both novelist and philosopher, the course will explore the relation between Objectivism and religion, the implications of selfishness for our relations with others, the proper role of government and the nature of a rational foreign policy. The course is sure to provoke a variety of questions, which is why the final session of the course will be a general question-and-answer period, hosted by Onkar Ghate and Gregory Salmieri.
Ayn Rand: Novelist-Philosopher [Today's talk]
Rand was often asked whether she regarded herself primarily as a novelist or a philosopher. In response to one such questioner, Rand answered: “I am primarily both.” What did she mean by that? And why do you have to pay attention to both Rand’s fiction and nonfiction to learn Objectivism? In this session, Onkar Ghate explores the relationship between Rand’s philosophy and her literary goals.
Ayn Rand viewed art as indispensable to human life—as a form of spiritual fuel that offers a vision of what life “might be and ought to be.” But different artistic forms provide that fuel in different ways, and it takes a special effort to learn how to appreciate the value in, say, a piece of music versus a work of literature.
This course will help you find value in art—offering guidance on how to savor a variety of artistic media. The course begins with an overview of Rand’s theory of art and its role in human life, and then each session will focus on a particular artistic form and be taught by speakers with professional expertise in that form.
Start each day at OCON with this unique esthetic experience and get your daily dose of spiritual fuel!
What Is Art and Why Does It Matter? [Today's talk]
Perception as the Base and Standard of Knowledge [Today's Talk]
Perception as axiomatic; perception, not sensations, as the given; J. J. Gibson’s direct realism; perception as an ongoing achievement.
Objectivism and Religion [Today's Talk]
What is the Objectivist position with regard to the concept of God? Is Objectivism compatible with religion? Why is Objectivism opposed to faith? In this session Aaron Smith addresses these questions from the perspective of Ayn Rand’s view of the nature of reason and the means by which we acquire knowledge about reality.
The value of the visual arts: How to Appreciate Sculpture and Still Life Painting [Today's talk]
Sculpture chiefly dramatizes the human figure in three-dimensional form for us to contemplate. As with all art, what we look for in sculpture affects what we gain from it. This talk will explain how sculpture embodies ideas that enhance our lives. Key aspects of sculpture will be highlighted in a vivid slide presentation. The nature of sculpture, and the esthetic value that is unique to it, will be demonstrated with sample artworks from the past and present.
What is the value of still life painting? A good still life presents us with an intimate, intentional, largely man-made world to contemplate. Free of the randomness of nature seen in landscape painting and the emphasis on man’s character in figurative painting, the viewer can focus on composition and how objects are portrayed. Linda Mann will demonstrate how these aspects of still life can emphasize the crucial ideas that the external world exists, is beautiful and that man is capable of the delight of seeing it.
In the past year, STRIVE started eight campus clubs, co-hosted a fall student conference with a record 120 students attending, launched an online mentoring program led by inspiring Objectivist professionals and ran a successful campus letter-to-the-editor campaign: #CapitalistAndProud.
Students: Want to help shape this exciting movement? Join us and learn how YOU can become a STRIVE leader.
Adults: Join us and learn how STRIVE inspires students to learn about Rand’s ideas and the value of applying them to their own lives.
Perception Defended [Today's Talk]
The three basic attacks on perception, and the answer to each; Representationalism: public enemy #1; the proper understanding of appearance vs. reality.
Listening to Music: An Ear Training Approach (Part 1) [Today's talk]
Selfishness and Other People [Today's Talk]
It is common to associate benevolence and goodwill toward others with unselfishness and morality, while associating selfishness with immorality and a lack of concern for other people. Rand rejects this approach. In this session Aaron Smith discusses how a truly selfish person should view other people.
Price per person: $45 (includes tour ticket and bus transportation; each adult and child needs his or her own ticket)
We have obtained 49 tickets for the Boeing Factory Tour on July 4, 2016 at 3:30 PM. A bus will pick us up from the hotel at 2 PM, deliver us to the factory in Everett, and return us to the hotel at about 7 PM. There will be some time after the tour to browse the museum gift shop and have a snack at the cafeteria.
From Boeing’s website www.futureofflight.org/: This is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to view 747, 777, and 787 Dreamliner jets being assembled on the Everett production line before they take to the sky. Each tour is approximately 90 minutes long and includes fascinating facts about Boeing and the planes that bear its name.
Please note: Children must be at least 4 feet tall (122 cm) to take the tour, and all tours are conducted in English. Cameras and electronic devices, including cell phones, are allowed only in the Future of Flight Aviation Center and may not be taken to the factory. Free lockers are available at the Future of Flight.
The Boeing Factory Tour involves walking down and up two steep flights of stairs at each end of the factory, walking through two large tunnels, the first .3 miles (.5 km) round trip, the second shorter, and riding two freight elevators to balconies overlooking the Boeing factory floor. With advance notice, special accommodations can be made for wheelchairs or physically challenged guests.
Concept-formation (Part I) [Today's Talk]
What concepts are; the historical problem of “universals” and Ayn Rand’s solution to it; Realism vs. Nominalism: the false alternative dominating the history of philosophy; Ayn Rand’s new theory of abstraction; similarity and its metaphysical base: quantitative variation; “measurement-omission” explained; the “Conceptual Common Denominator” and its crucial role in concept-formation.
Listening to Music: An Ear Training Approach (Part 2) [Today's talk]
Why Laissez-Faire? [Today's Talk]
Ayn Rand was a champion of capitalism—not of today’s mixture of freedom and government controls, but of “full, pure, uncontrolled, unregulated laissez-faire capitalism.” Why does Rand think that it’s so important to uphold such a radical position (a position that even many libertarians do not take)? In this session Steve Simpson situates Rand’s view of a proper political-economic system within the broader context of her moral philosophy, explaining the fundamental principles that account for Rand’s uncompromising position.
Concept-formation (Part II) [Today's Talk]
Concept-formation (Part II)
The “some but any” principle and the fatal consequences of its denial; integration and the role of words; the principle of unit-economy (“the crow epistemology”) and its ramifications in every field of human endeavor. The biological perspective on concepts.
Finding Fuel in Short Fiction: Giving Full Conscious Value to the Writer’s Choices [Today's talk]
The Virtue of Selfishness in Foreign Policy [Today's Talk]
In debates over US foreign policy, no side says that it plans to sacrifice America’s interests. Yet this is what our foreign policy continuously does, no matter who is in charge. Why? By reference to developments in the Middle East, Elan Journo contrasts a proper, Objectivist conceptualization of America’s self-interest from prominent views in the debate.
The idea that a person should be selfish is so alien in our culture that people struggle to understand what Ayn Rand could possibly mean. These talks explain crucial features of what rational egoism is, what it is not, and what it is for. They explore the way in which a man’s selfishness is his only means of achieving sustainable happiness.
Egoism’s principle is reason. Its point is personal flourishing. The question: What does this mean for you?
Objectivism is radical not only in its moral and political ideals, but also, indeed especially, in how it guides thought. It offers a potent intellectual framework for conceptualizing—and impacting—cultural-political issues. Drawing on new and upcoming books, these diverse talks present distinctively Objectivist perspectives on economic inequality, freedom of speech, and foreign affairs.
Don Watkins: Equal Is Unfair: Writing the Right Book at the Right Time
When Equal Is Unfair was released in March 2016, it became the first major book challenging the inequality crusade—at a time when the Democrats were choosing between two presidential nominees who built their campaigns around fighting inequality. In this talk, Don Watkins discusses the strategy behind Equal Is Unfair, highlighting some of the considerations that go into producing books that maximize readership, influence and ARI’s overall mission.
Elan Journo: America’s Bewildering Mideast Policy
America’s foreign policy in the Middle East is bewilderingly haphazard, costly, self-contradictory, ineffectual. Why is that so? In this talk Elan Journo explores Washington’s policies in the region and points to key factors that make sense of the chaos.
Steve Simpson: The Value of Free Speech
Most Americans would claim to support freedom of speech in principle, yet many increasingly call for restrictions on the right in practice. What explains this ambivalence? This talk explores the flaws in mainstream views of the right and explains why its continued vitality depends on a proper moral defense of free speech.
This session consists of two talks, each 30 minutes long, followed by a Q&A panel with the speakers. First, Eric Daniels will discuss the place of the self-made man in American thought. According to him, the idea of the self-made man is a uniquely American creation, and he explores the origins, development and corruption of this concept in American culture and thought. The talk culminates in an explanation of why Ayn Rand’s individualist conception—the man of the self-made soul—is the only true conception of self-making, and that all other aspects—economic, physical and beyond—grow out of it.
Andrew Bernstein will present a talk titled “Giants of Contemporary Business.” The story of Steve Jobs is both well known and, because of the lessons it contains, worthy of continued study. But other great figures, although not as well-known, are equally deserving of admiration. Li Ka-shing, for example, left school before age fifteen, worked sixteen hours a day, eventually founded his own company, and today is the wealthiest man in Asia. Who are some of the other giants of contemporary business—and what are their achievements? This talk tells their stories.
This session consists of two talks, each 45 minutes long. First, Amesh Adalja will discuss the history of vaccination with special attention to the heroic figures that developed this technology. Particular consideration will be given the chain of reasoning leading to the first vaccine, as well as how the germ theory of disease led to a plethora of vaccines that allowed humans to experience a rapid improvement in lifespan and quality of life.
Then, Amanda Maxham will discuss the myth of organic superiority, how concern about the safety, value and production of food is prompting a growing number of shoppers to fill their grocery store carts with food labeled “organic.” But despite a reputation as the “Cadillac of foods,” organic foods aren’t actually healthier, safer or better than their conventional counterparts. The growing popularity of organic is rooted in consumers’ belief that when it comes to food, “natural is better.” But is this really the ideal?
Course Q&A [Today's Talk]
Cinema as Art—It’s Not Just Entertainment: How to Analyze, Judge and Discuss Movies [Today's talk]
Objectivism Q&A [Today's Talk]
Chances are, previous sessions of this course and your experience at OCON, in general, have sparked a lot of thinking and raised many questions. Now is your chance to ask away. In this final session of the course, Onkar Ghate and Gregory Salmieri answer audience questions about Ayn Rand and Objectivism.
Philosophy is fundamental to all of our activities, personal and business. When we discover and apply a new philosophy, our activities change; we begin making our lives anew. Ayn Rand wrote, “As man is a being of self-made wealth, so he is a being of self-made soul.” We make our own character; we make our own life. This presentation shows how I applied Objectivist ethics to creating my life anew and a prosperous business.
Superior performance in business stems from sustained effort at collaboration, not competition. In this talk, Dr. Rajshree Agarwal integrates insights from research, teaching and experience as an intellectual entrepreneur to illuminate how Objectivist principles form the foundation of excellence in business pursuits through the creation of meaningful and successful alliances. Come learn what it takes to be the CEO of Me, Inc.—in the form of Objectivism’s answers to four fundamental questions for your strategic roadmap.
This is a case study in using Objectivist virtues as the foundation for organizational success and personal self-esteem. Objectivism is not as an end in itself but is a means to increasing organizational and personal productivity.
Students of Objectivism can become lost in the details of the philosophy and fail to apply Objectivist principles and concepts when trying to improve the quality of their lives. Objectivist virtues, properly employed, are a major competitive advantage in business and life.