Through its Study Initiative, Prometheus Foundation is granting the equivalent of $10/hour (USD) to those who study selected works by Ayn Rand and Leonard Peikoff. For more information on the Study Initiative, including how to participate, click here.

Understanding Objectivism

by Dr. Leonard Peikoff

11 lectures, 26 hours
Delivered and recorded in 1983
These lectures are offered here with permission from Dr. Leonard Peikoff, granted to Carl Barney and Prometheus Foundation on April 20, 2020.

In this course, Dr. Peikoff explores the proper methodology for understanding Objectivism, and philosophy more generally. The end goal in grasping any complex set of ideas, he notes, is to keep them tied to reality. This course features lecture material by Dr. Peikoff as well as exercises and demonstrations from the live audience. The main methodological topics covered are the need for concretization, the role of definitions in concept formation, the understanding of hierarchy, reduction of concepts to the perceptual level, and the role of context in epistemology. Peikoff also presents essential material on the main cognitive and methodological mistakes that can be made in attempting to understand Objectivism, namely empiricism and rationalism. The course concludes with a discussion of the importance of moral judgment.

Note: The course audio may contain tape hiss, room noise, volume level inconsistencies, and other artifacts present in the original recordings.

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