Program
Program subject to change.
Friday, September 11
3:00 PM
Registration Opens
5:00 PM
Welcome Remarks
Tal Tsfany
5:15 PM
September 11 and the Radicalness of Objectivism
Onkar Ghate
6:00 PM
Why America Failed After 9/11 – and the Radical Philosophy of Success It Needs
Elan Journo
6:45 PM
Q&A
Onkar Ghate
Elan Journo
7:30 PM
Reception
Saturday, September 12
9:00 AM
The Morality of Capitalism
Ben Bayer
Details
We are losing our freedom—our autonomy to act on bold new ideas, take risks, and innovate—because the political-economic system that protects liberty is under assault. Capitalism, the only social system based on the principle of individual rights, is attacked for the failures of a mixed economy. And driving these attacks is a bug in society’s operating system: a false moral code.
If we want to take back our freedom and reclaim our moral right to the pursuit of happiness, then as Ayn Rand identified, we must understand and champion capitalism and the fact-based morality of rational self-interest at its foundation. In this talk, Yaron Brook will provide a primer on how to do just that.
10:00 AM
Break
10:30 AM
Reason vs Faith
Onkar Ghate
Details
You’ve probably heard the biblical phrase “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” Many think something similar holds true of reason and faith, believing that we should go by reason sometimes and by faith at other times.
Does that make sense? Is it a good way to live one’s life? What exactly are reason and faith? Does each really have its own area of applicability? Or is it true, as Ayn Rand wrote, that “The alleged short-cut to knowledge, which is faith, is only a short-circuit destroying the mind”?
In this talk, Onkar Ghate will reveal the essence of each, addressing whether reason and faith are compatible faculties with independent domains—or antithetical and mutually destructive.
12:00 PM
Lunch
1:30 PM
Are You the Next Objectivist Intellectual?
Ben Bayer
Onkar Ghate
Elan Journo
Tal Tsfany
Details
Most ambitious students know about the exciting career opportunities open to them in tech, finance, science, engineering—but few are told about the people who shape the ideas that drive a culture. In this panel, Tal Tsfany, Onkar Ghate, Ben Bayer, and Elan Journo will discuss the career path of the intellectual: they will cover what intellectuals actually do, why their work matters, and how thinkers can build influential, rewarding careers as writers, scholars, journalists, educators, and public advocates for ideas. They will also discuss how the Ayn Rand Institute helps aspiring intellectuals develop the knowledge and skills needed to succeed.
2:15 PM
Break
3:00 PM
Q&A Panel
Ben Bayer
Onkar Ghate
6:00 PM
Evening Social Event
Sunday, September 13
9:00 AM
The Virtue of Selfishness
Greg Salmieri
Details
You’ve heard it your whole life: “Put others first.” “Don’t be selfish.” “Serve a cause greater than yourself.” The most uncontroversial idea in our culture is that you can either be immoral by selfishly pursuing your own values—or you can renounce the pursuit of your own values and be a morally good person. Ayn Rand rejected that alternative. She held that morality and the selfish pursuit of happiness go hand-in-hand. “The purpose of morality,” she wrote, “is to teach you, not to suffer and die, but to enjoy yourself and live.” In place of religious and secular moralities that demand sacrifice for others, Rand offers a morality of rational selfishness—a morality based on the conviction that you have the right to the pursuit of your own happiness, neither sacrificing yourself to others nor others to yourself. In this talk, you’ll see how Rand’s life-affirming ideas can equip you to carve your own path toward a life of greater purpose, fulfillment, and happiness.
10:00 AM
Break
10:30 AM
How to Change the World (And Your World While You’re at It)
Tal Tsfany
Details
Who changes the world? Is it innovators, the producers of wealth, and giants of industry? And what does that have to do with you and your happiness? In this presentation Tal will review the forces that shape the world at large and our own individual lives.
12:00 PM
Lunch
1:30 PM
Current Events Topic TBD
Ben Bayer
2:15 PM
Break
3:00 PM
Q&A Panel
Greg Salmieri
Ben Bayer
4:30 PM
Closing Remarks
Objectivist Conferences / Ayn Rand® Institute reserves the right to make necessary adjustments to the schedule. Speakers, talks and events will be added periodically, as they are confirmed.
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