All student attendees are invited to our welcome reception. Speakers and Objectivist Academic Center alumni will be on hand to welcome you to OCON. A light fare and drinks will be available. Dress is casual. This event is free, with a cash bar. (Those 21+ receive one free alcoholic drink; nonalcoholic drinks are free.)

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.

Has the time come for the Objectivist movement to enter a new phase of development—one that places greater emphasis on Objectivist communities? Join Onkar Ghate, senior fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute, as he explores Objectivist Movement 2.0, the Ayn Rand Institute’s proposed vision for the future of the Objectivist movement.

The culture of Silicon Valley is the 21st-century embodiment of a spirit that’s been alive in America since its founding: ambitious, forward-looking, entrepreneurial, constantly seeking better ways to work, trade and live. This series of 20-minute talks by tech startup founders will address the personal meaning to each of them of the spirit of Silicon Valley and how it relates to their interest in Objectivism.

Understanding the Silicon Valley Worldview[Jason Crawford]

The leaders of Silicon Valley exhibit the virtues of independence and productiveness; they champion innovation and progress. But at the same time, many are in favor of environmentalism, regulation, and welfare. What to make of them? In this talk, Jason Crawford explains the Silicon Valley worldview—both its conflicts with Objectivism, and its sympathies—and how to appreciate these heroes for what they are: not real-life Galts or Reardens, but modern-day Edisons and Rockefellers.

Big Deal: What’s So Special About Silicon Valley, Anyway?[Carter Laren]

The culture in Silicon Valley s far from perfect. Nevertheless, there is something tangible about it that produces an unparalleled stream of innovation. Why? In this talk, serial entrepreneur and angel investor Carter Laren discusses his hypothesis regarding the one defining value that differentiates Silicon Valley from anywhere else in the world, and what you can do to build your own local microcosm of it.

The Power of Philosophy in Everyday Business[Danielle Morrill]

Must entrepreneurs and professionals compromise their values to achieve success in today’s business world? Setting and upholding a company’s mission, vision and values provides a unique opportunity to create a microcosm of the world as it ought to be. Silicon Valley startup co-founder and CEO Danielle Morrill explores the power of leadership from first principles and shares her own experience bringing Objectivism to life in the workplace.

The Valley of the Prime Mover[Dakin Sloss]

Imagine a world in which creators are celebrated for their accomplishment and looked to as moral exemplars. Fortunately, we do not have to imagine, because in a nutshell, this is the ethos of today’s Silicon Valley, the valley of the prime mover.This talk focuses on the parallels between Silicon Valley and Galt’s Gulch, emphasizing the features that empower Prime Movers to thrive and create world-changing businesses.

Prior to the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain during the late 18th century, abysmal poverty was prevalent the world over, including in Britain. With the Industrial Revolution, conditions began to dramatically improve, first in Britain, then in Western Europe, then in North America, then, most recently, in the Asian Tigers. Who were the towering heroes in both Great Britain and the United States responsible for so markedly improving human living conditions? This is the question answered in this talk.

Salsa is a popular form of social dance that originated in several Latin countries, particularly Puerto Rico, Cuba and Colombia. The movements of salsa have origins in Cuban Son, Cha-cha-cha, Mambo and other dance forms, and the dance, along with the salsa music, comes from the mid-1970s New York.

These guided discussions of the day’s general sessions are exclusively for students, and are led by Objectivist Academic Center alumni.

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.

 

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.

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!

 

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.

Gift & Estate Planning Manager Kathy Cross presents an introduction to planned giving and ARI’s Atlantis Legacy. Topics include minimizing taxes through charitable giving and providing future support for the Institute while achieving one’s estate planning objectives. Strategies and techniques will be illustrated with real-life examples of legacy gifts arranged by Atlantis Legacy donors, with the donors themselves in attendance at the session. A lunch buffet will be served, compliments of ARI. No RSVP is necessary, and attendance implies no obligation.

Despite what Federal Reserve authorities and many other economists claim, the Federal Reserve’s extraordinary policy actions of 2008, far from saving us from a still-worse economic downturn, actually made the downturn that did occur far deeper and more persistent than it might otherwise have been. Instead of being aimed at preventing a general contraction in the supply of money and credit, the Fed directed its efforts toward rescuing particular financial firms.

Instead of being proof of the inherent instability of capitalism, as is often claimed, the Great Depression was largely the result of mistaken government policies, including misguided attempts to “economize” on gold, policies aimed at keeping wage rates from declining, and Treasury’s sterilization of gold inflows. The combined effects of these and other policies sufficed to account for the downturns of the early and later 1930s.

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.

The foxtrot is a smooth, progressive dance characterized by long, continuously flowing movements across the dance floor. It is danced to big band (usually vocal) music. The dance is similar in its look to waltz, although the rhythm is in 4/4 time signature instead of 3/4. Developed in the 1910s, the foxtrot reached its height of popularity in the 1930s, and remains practiced today.

Students will meet in small groups to ask questions of OCON conference speakers who are experts in various topics.

ARI will host a reception for Prime Movers Club members and other donors who contribute at an annual level of $5,000. This special event is by invitation only.

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!

 

Listening to Music: An Ear Training Approach (Part 1) [Today's talk]

 

Music is a subject that many people are very passionate about, yet also a subject that many people find very difficult to describe. These two courses will present the basic principles of music and examine the various elements that make it up. With the help of many live and recorded examples, attendees will gain a better appreciation of how musical materials are integrated and will also be given strategies for further studies that will deepen their understanding of this most elusive of art forms.

Philosophy is a demanding discipline that requires intellectual rigor and scrupulous honesty, and Objectivism is an especially demanding philosophy. It takes years of disciplined thought to understand and evaluate its principles and to incorporate them into one’s life. And the work continues across a lifetime as one uses the philosophy to keep integrated an ever growing body of knowledge (checking one’s premises as necessary). Join Gregory Salmieri as he discusses how to be objective about Objectivism, including the need to be mindful of which philosophical principles you know to be true, how you know this, and what questions remain for you to answer. He pays special attention to common mistakes enthusiastic students make when approaching the philosophy, and he emphasizes the need for the members of an Objectivist group or movement to respect one another’s cognitive needs and context of knowledge.

Board Games available.

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.

 

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.

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.

 

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.

Over lunch, we will celebrate and discuss two new scholarly works related to Objectivism: Tara Smith’s Judicial Review in an Objective Legal System and the multi-author volume A Companion to Ayn Rand, edited by Allan Gotthelf and Gregory Salmieri. The program will begin with Robert Mayhew interviewing Smith and Salmieri about their respective books. Then other contributors to A Companion to Ayn Rand will join Salmieri and Smith to answer questions from conference attendees.(This lunch is free for those with a Student Week Pass and discounted to $20 for students on a Day Pass.) Registration deadline is Wednesday, June 29, 2016.

This talk describes various means by which people can enhance their ability to think and act long range. The core requirement is to integrate the future with the present. Useful techniques include: tying short-term goals to longer-term goals, prioritizing, using role models, tracking progress, writing down goals and plans, evaluating your pleasures, tying goals to your self-concept, building skill at introspection and holding context.

Learn about the Institute’s current projects and recent successes—as well as its future goals and other exciting news. This is your opportunity to see what’s happening in the movement to support and advance free markets and a pro-reason culture.

The presentation is followed by a reception and a cash bar will be available.

If you have a talent for remembering facts, you’ll excel at this event. Put your knowledge of Ayn Rand’s life, writing and ideas to the test with some friendly competition. Who knows—you might go home a champion! A cash bar will be available.

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.

 

Concept-formation (Part II) [Today's Talk]

 

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.

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.

 

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.

Registration deadline is Thursday, June 30, 2016.

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.

Ayn Rand wrote, “If men identified introspectively their inner states one tenth as correctly as they identify objective reality, we would be a race of ideal giants.” This panel will discuss why introspection is important and offer advice for when and how to introspect in different areas, such as romantic love and goal-directed action. There will be about twenty-five minutes for Q and A.

What does it take to propel Objectivism as a philosophic movement? It’s essential to articulate the meaning of Objectivism and to exhibit its value in concrete form, by reference to the events, trends and developments of the times. To that end, books are crucial. In this panel, Elan Journo, Steve Simpson and Don Watkins will discuss ARI’s book-centric strategy and the thinking behind it, and they will take questions on the topics of their current book projects.

Students will meet in small groups to ask questions of OCON conference speakers who are experts in various topics.

Come showcase your special talent at this fun event with MC Mike Dartt.

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!

 

Cinema as Art—It’s Not Just Entertainment: How to Analyze, Judge and Discuss Movies [Today's talk]

 

From formulating a movie’s theme to isolating the various cinematic elements that make up a film, this session will present an objective template for analyzing and discussing movies. A quick conceptual and practical guide for lovers of the most complex art form, the session will also define the role of the director, cinematographer, screenwriter, editor and other key roles. This will help those who want to be able to discuss movies intelligently and objectively, and with the proper terminology.

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?

 

The Objectivist Ethics Applied to Life and Business [Carl Barney]

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.

 

Trading Values: The “Why” of Enterprise [Rajshree Agarwal]

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.

 

Applying Objective Virtues for Competitive Advantage [John Allison]

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.

Come ready to dance the night away! The final evening of the conference will begin with a reception and dinner, followed by dancing until 11:30 PM. This event is dressy; coats and ties for gentlemen, evening wear for ladies, please. A plated dinner will be served with a cash bar available. Cost to attend: $150, which includes one drink. Registration deadline is Thursday, June 30, 2016.