Courses
The following courses of mine are available on CD from the Ayn Rand Bookstore:
The Elements of Thinking in Principles
Thinking in principles is a process of identifying and applying relevant fundamentals. This course examines crucial components of the method, including: naming one's primaries, excluding the middle, classifying by essentials, respecting hierarchy, keeping context, and dismissing the arbitrary. Using a wide variety of examples, I show how these elements unify into the whole that is the hallmark of objectivity: the method of thinking in principles. (The course presupposes an intermediate-level understanding of Objectivist epistemology and ethics.)
Purchase this course from the Ayn Rand Bookstore.
Back to topGod Said
Ayn Rand distinguished between a disciple of causation and a disciple of "duty." The first is reality-oriented and goal-directed; he recognizes that the achievement of every end requires specific means, and he pursues his values accordingly. The second is directed not by goals, but by an inexplicable moral "must"; his actions are unrelated to his values; they are intended to fulfill alleged obligations that have nothing to do with his life. This course examines and elaborates on that distinction—offering techniques and standing orders for living as a disciple of causation, and suggesting ways to expunge remnants of the duty premise that might still infect one's soul.
The metaphysical attitude and guiding moral premise of the disciple of causation, wrote Ayn Rand, is summed up in the Spanish proverb: "God said: 'Take what you want and pay for it.'" This course systematically "chews" the profound Objectivist meaning of this proverb—and how to fully embrace it.
Purchase this course from the Ayn Rand Bookstore.
Back to topThe Science of Selfishness
This course demonstrates that ethics, like physics, is scientific through and through—that its principles are observation-based, logical, and absolute—and that if one grasps and applies them, one can achieve and maintain a life of profound happiness. I examine, concretize, and clarify the principles of selfishness, showing their connection to perceptual reality, emphasizing their life-serving purpose, demonstrating their interrelationships, discussing their proper applications, and offering techniques for incorporating them into one's daily life. Topics include: the nature and essential criteria of science, Ayn Rand's scientific approach to ethics, the purpose of morality, the derivation and meaning of the principle that man's life is the standard of moral value, the principles of selfishness (including the "math" of egoism), and the art (or applied science) of selfishness. Egoists of all levels of knowledge will expand their understanding of the science of selfishness and thus of how to achieve a life of happiness.
Purchase this course from the Ayn Rand Bookstore.
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