Program
General Sessions
Concurrent Sessions
Courses
Social Events
Lunches
Sky Lawn
Meet and mingle with fellow attendees at the official opening of OCON 2023! This event is smart casual. Your fee includes two drinks, and a cash bar is available. The opening reception and dinner are included in all in-person week passes.
Day pass holders: Cost to attend: $150. Registration deadline is June 17.
Attendee Services Hours: 8:00AM – 4:30PM
“Mainspring” Lounge
Celebrate the 80th anniversary of Ayn Rand’s seminal novel, The Fountainhead, with the staff of the Ayn Rand Archives. This exhibit enables viewers to see how Ayn Rand drafted, published, and adapted this classic work of fiction, as told through original archival objects and reproductions.
Biscayne Ballroom
If this is your first OCON, come meet other first-timers, OCON speakers, and ARI staff at this casual breakfast event.
Grand Ballroom
By integrating poetry and music with philosophical ideas, Richard Wagner was able to create dramatic works of unprecedented intellectual and emotional intensity that enrich the lives of those who experience them. Using examples from Wagner’s poetic texts and music, this talk will trace his journey from dissatisfaction with the fragmentary, trivial nature of contemporary opera to his gradual formulation of the “total work of art” that combines words, singing, orchestral music and dramatic action into an organic whole that expresses profound—albeit philosophically false—ideas about human nature and society.
Chopin Ballroom
After decades of debate, and despite the overwhelming strength of the evidence in favor of phonics, reading education is still a controversial topic in the United States. Many educators continue to resist phonics in favor of anti-conceptual methods that amount to not teaching reading at all. This talk will present the recent history and current state of the reading wars and examine the ideas behind the ongoing opposition to phonics.
Grand Ballroom
Objectivity isn’t simply a tool for concept-formation or analyzing arguments. Objectivity affects how you treat your friends, how you do your work, how you set your goals. This lecture probes objectivity’s role in everyday living. It considers ways that objectivity (or its lack) manifests itself in a range of domains and ways in which well-intended people can easily fall into non-objective practices. The stakes? Being objective is vital for fully flourishing.
Biscayne Ballroom
The presentation is an introduction to ARI’s planned giving and Atlantis Legacy programs. Topics include minimizing taxes through charitable giving and providing future support for Ayn Rand’s world-changing ideas while achieving your estate-planning objectives. A casual lunch will be served, compliments of ARI. No RSVP is necessary.
Grand Ballroom
The war in Ukraine continues nearly a year and a half since Russia’s initial invasion. In this talk, Dr. Brook will illuminate the causes and consequences of this war. What were the factors that led to it, and what is its current status? What lessons can we learn about the state of our culture by looking at the response in the West to the war in Ukraine—especially the response of the American Right?
Grand Ballroom
An important component of happiness is confidence in your future success. How is such confidence possible, especially with ambitious goals that involve significant risks? In this talk, Ms. Moroney will discuss how the Objectivist ethics and epistemology help you establish objective confidence that you will be successful. A companion to her previous talk, Happiness, this will be a self-contained discussion of topics including: How to conceptualize ambitious goals to foster creativity; the need for objective self-awareness of your knowledge, values, and skills; and how rationally to deal with mistakes, setbacks, and failures.
Chopin Ballroom
Ayn Rand admired Mickey Spillane as a writer and a crusader: “a brilliant literary talent” and a “moral absolutist.” Several of his novels, including the two-book series about Morgan the Raider (a pirate with an enigmatic past and mysterious motivations) were set partially or completely in Miami. One character, amazed at his first glimpse of the homes and hotels of the Miami skyline, asks: “How could men with their bare hands build such a place?” This talk, in addition to describing the stories and settings of Spillane’s Miami novels, will include new information about his life and parallels between his writing and the work of writers he admired, including Alexandre Dumas and Ayn Rand, whom he considered a personal friend.
Biscayne Ballroom
Come dance to the music of Miami! You’ll learn salsa with Latin motion. We’ll even learn the conga line. Take your new dance knowledge to the closing reception, grab a partner and dance the night away. Cuban rhythm will rule the room!
Grand Ballroom
Attendee Services Hours: 8:00AM – 3:30PM
“Mainspring” Lounge
Celebrate the 80th anniversary of Ayn Rand’s seminal novel, The Fountainhead, with the staff of the Ayn Rand Archives. This exhibit enables viewers to see how Ayn Rand drafted, published, and adapted this classic work of fiction, as told through original archival objects and reproductions.
Grand Ballroom
Many are attracted to Objectivism for its idealism. But they often struggle to successfully use Objectivism as a guide for living on earth, and experience its ideals as a source of frustration, confusion, and guilt. In this talk, Don Watkins draws on his experience as Ayn Rand University’s Director of Coaching and Mentoring to discuss what gives rise to this problem—and practical strategies for overcoming it.
Grand Ballroom
Ayn Rand’s novels and nonfiction essays contain a wealth of material on the psychological dimensions of philosophical ideas and principles. But in one of those essays she also cautions about the danger of “psychologizing.” We’ll explore aspects of how to extract the action-guiding value of the psychological dimensions of philosophical ideas that she highlights while avoiding the pitfall of psychologizing.
“Mainspring” Lounge
Grab your lunch and bring it back or have it delivered, and then come and enjoy the company of old and new friends in the lounge. We’ll have a selection of board games available for playing.
Grand Ballroom
Freedom of speech used to be an unquestioned value. Even as society endorsed the use of force in other realms, the individual’s right to express ideas freely was widely acknowledged. Today, that right is coming under increasing attack. Why? And what can we do to counter this ominous threat? Mr. Schwartz discusses the fundamental relation between force and the mind—and examines the modern philosophic premise that, by blurring the distinction between thought and action, leads to the suppression of free speech.
Chopin Ballroom
St. Augustine’s philosophy marked a decisive turning point in the history of the West, the first systematic repudiation of the ancient Greek philosophical outlook in favor of Christian religion. Augustine’s ethics was especially crucial. He fundamentally repudiated the content of pagan views of virtue even as he retained certain trappings of their framework. The most telling example was Augustine’s celebration of the virtue of humility, in defiance of the Greek virtue of pride. This talk will highlight the roots of Augustine’s elevation of humility and outline how it helped usher in the dominance of the morality of altruism in both religious and secular Western philosophy.
Grand Ballroom
Tal Tsfany, ARI’s president and CEO, will review ARI’s mission to spread Objectivism and the progress made during 2022–23.
Biscayne Ballroom
Join us for one of our most celebrated and festive events of the year. Funds raised at our Gala support our mission of fostering a culture whose guiding principles are reason, rational self-interest, individualism, and laissez-faire capitalism. Formal attire encouraged.
Attendee Services Hours: 8:00AM – 4:30PM
“Mainspring” Lounge
Celebrate the 80th anniversary of Ayn Rand’s seminal novel, The Fountainhead, with the staff of the Ayn Rand Archives. This exhibit enables viewers to see how Ayn Rand drafted, published, and adapted this classic work of fiction, as told through original archival objects and reproductions.
Grand Ballroom
When it comes to Israel’s mortal enemies, the usual suspects are Arab authoritarian regimes, Iran, and the antisemitic far right. And yet, some of the most dangerous wannabe-destroyers of Israel have come from the left. Whether it has been communist states, or terrorist groups, or “peaceful” organizations, the left’s war on Israel has been long and determined.
Chopin Ballroom
The Galileo Affair is widely viewed as the classic example of a scientific genius being persecuted by religious dogmatists. Yet, in recent decades, some philosophers and historians of science have put forward a new interpretation that defends the Church’s position philosophically and puts (at least some of) the blame for the conflict on Galileo. Is there any merit to this view? What actually led to Galileo’s persecution, censorship, trial, and house arrest? To address these questions, this talk examines the Galileo Affair in detail.
Grand Ballroom
What is the relationship between abstract moral principles (such as those that make up the Objectivist ethics) and the ability of people who do not (yet) grasp these principles to tell right from wrong? To what extent (and in what ways) can someone who doesn’t understand why something is good (or bad) know that it is good (or bad)? In this talk, Dr. Salmieri will address these questions and some of their implications for moral education, intellectual activism, and assessing ideological movements.
“Mainspring” Lounge
Grab your lunch and bring it back or have it delivered, and then come and enjoy the company of old and new friends in the lounge. We’ll have a selection of board games available for playing.
Grand Ballroom
Mathematics is the headquarters of Platonism—the reification of abstractions and the primacy of concepts over percepts. Even Euclid defined “line” as “breadthless length,” something not of this world, and the moderns define “one” in terms of nonbeing (the null set). In this lecture, drawing on a few incisive statements by Ayn Rand, Dr. Binswanger gives perceptually based definitions of key mathematical concepts, such as quantity, measurement, one, number, point, line, infinite, and mathematics itself.
Chopin Ballroom
In this lecture, Dr. Adalja will provide a history of public health as a field from the Black Death to COVID to the present. The aim of the lecture will be to illustrate how the field evolved and grew from its legitimate core functions of communicable disease control to an all-encompassing focus on population health and collective outcomes.
Grand Ballroom
Anselm of Canterbury (11th century) was the first to present the ontological argument, purporting to demonstrate God’s existence through a mere analysis of the definition of God. Aquinas rejected the argument, but Descartes revived it. Kant was thought by many to deliver it a death blow, but it continues to be resuscitated. This lecture is an exercise in philosophical detection: Dr. Mayhew will present the argument and then explain Objectivism’s unique reasons for rejecting it as not merely false, but as an absurd rationalization.
Chopin Ballroom
Current Ayn Rand University students and auditors as well as alumni (1+ years) of the Objectivist Academic Center or the Objectivist Graduate Center are invited to meet and mingle. We’ll celebrate with a graduation ceremony for students who have recently completed the program. A light fare will be served.
Biscayne Ballroom
Announcing the return of the fan-favorite talent show! Enjoy pre-selected and rehearsed submissions from the cream of the crop of Objectivist talent present in Miami this week. With a live band, jamming and dancing, and a cash bar.
Chopin Ballroom
Face off against board members, speakers, and fellow attendees in a Texas hold ’em poker tournament. Bragging rights and non-cash prizes to winners and an evening of fun memories for everyone, with funds going to support the mission of the Ayn Rand Institute. There will be a cash bar. Register by June 17 to receive a chip bonus.
Attendee Services Hours: 8:00AM – 12:00PM
“Mainspring” Lounge
Celebrate the 80th anniversary of Ayn Rand’s seminal novel, The Fountainhead, with the staff of the Ayn Rand Archives. This exhibit enables viewers to see how Ayn Rand drafted, published, and adapted this classic work of fiction, as told through original archival objects and reproductions.
Grand Ballroom
The ancient Stoics held that we suffer in life because we value the wrong things and/or have the wrong attitude toward our values. If we want to live the good life, they held, we need to radically change the way we value. Given the growing popularity of Stoicism in the culture today, it’s worth examining what this reorientation to values amounts to, and what it would mean to adopt it. This talk will explore both ancient and modern Stoic approaches to values from the perspective of Objectivism’s radically different view.
Chopin Ballroom
Opponents of immigration often say those who want to come to America should “get in line” and follow the law. But the U.S. immigration system sets legal immigrants up for failure, and penalizes the best people who want to make America their home. The system is profoundly unjust both for immigrants and for Americans as well. Agustina Vergara Cid, an ARI Junior Fellow, will relate a number of immigration stories (including her own) in the context of the legal landscape that generates these injustices.
Grand Ballroom
Join us for a brief Independence Day celebration followed by an interactive Happiness Team workshop preview led by ARI CEO Tal Tsfany. Happiness Team is a life-changing workshop and accountability team, aimed to systematize the pursuit of happiness using Ayn Rand’s deep, life-serving discoveries. In this session, you’ll get started on the road to understanding who you are, what you want and how to get it. You’ll come away with a workbook of exercises and actionable practices for leveraging Objectivism toward achieving your own, independent happiness. Every journey begins with a single step. Take yours.
“Mainspring” Lounge
Grab your lunch and bring it back or have it delivered, and then come and enjoy the company of old and new friends in the lounge. We’ll have a selection of board games available for playing.
Celebrate Independence Day with America’s National Pastime! On July 4th, join your fellow OCON attendees at LoanDepot Park and watch the Miami Marlins go head-to-head against the St. Louis Cardinals. OCON group pricing for this event is only available when buying through the OCON website. Purchase by Sunday, June 11, to secure your seat.
Biscayne Ballroom
Celebrate Independence Day with a Miami-style party.
Attendee Services Hours: 8:00AM – 2:00PM
“Mainspring” Lounge
Celebrate the 80th anniversary of Ayn Rand’s seminal novel, The Fountainhead, with the staff of the Ayn Rand Archives. This exhibit enables viewers to see how Ayn Rand drafted, published, and adapted this classic work of fiction, as told through original archival objects and reproductions.
Chopin Ballroom
Ayn Rand’s major novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, are self-consciously philosophical novels, containing abstract themes, characters driven by opposing moral principles, and conflicts rooted in clashing worldviews. And more than that, Rand’s fictional heroes discover and embody new philosophical ideas, original to Rand. To begin to understand Rand’s distinctive worldview and to learn her new philosophy, Objectivism, there is no better place to start than with careful consideration of the content and meaning of her novels. Participants should have read all four of Ayn Rand’s major fiction works before attending.
This mini-course is based on the full-length Ayn Rand University course of the same name.
Biscayne Ballroom
This mini-course is based on the full-length Ayn Rand University course called “Foundations of Physical Science: Motion and Gravitation.” The full course traces the development of man’s understanding of motion and gravitation, starting with the earliest astronomical observations of pre-Greek civilizations, and culminating in the achievements of Isaac Newton.
This mini-course will focus on the observational starting points: the observed facts about the movements of the stars, planets, sun, and moon that gave rise to the first attempts to identify their natures and explain their motions.
Grand Ballroom
Ayn Rand (1905–1982) wrote bestselling novels that have never been out of print, and seven collections of essays that explain and explore the principles and applications of her philosophy. The essence of Objectivism, she said, “is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.” These ideas are evident throughout her life and her body of work.
This biographical mini-course, which includes information that has never before been made public, examines the development of her philosophy through the course of her colorful life, including a Russian childhood blighted by the Bolshevik Revolution; her experiences as a Broadway playwright, Hollywood screenwriter, and political campaigner; the composition of her bestselling books; her world renown as a lecturer and writer on her system of thought; and a wide range of friends and admirers.
Biscayne Ballroom
For the first time ever, the Ayn Rand Archives will showcase substantive audio excerpts from Ayn Rand’s in-depth biographical recollections. Taped in 1960–61, these recordings provide an extraordinary window into Rand’s life, work, and achievements—in her own words. Featuring curated selections from nearly 40 hours of original audio, this is an invitation-only event for ARI’s Benefactors and participants in Atlantis Legacy, the Institute’s planned giving program.
Chopin Ballroom
Part 2 of the mini-course Objectivism Through Ayn Rand’s Fiction (described above).
Biscayne Ballroom
Part 2 of the mini-course Foundations of Physical Science: Astronomical Observations (described above).
Grand Ballroom
Part 2 of the mini-course Ayn Rand, a Philosopher Who Lived on Earth (described above).
Chopin Ballroom
Part 3 of the mini-course Objectivism Through Ayn Rand’s Fiction (described above).
Biscayne Ballroom
Part 3 of the mini-course Foundations of Physical Science: Astronomical Observations (described above).
Grand Ballroom
Part 3 of the mini-course Ayn Rand, a Philosopher Who Lived on Earth (described above).
Grand Ballroom
We’ll close OCON with a reception, seated dinner, and dance. We’re pleased to host special guest Yeonmi Park as a featured speaker at the closing banquet, where Elan Journo will interview her about her inspiring story. We expect this interview to be an energizing finish to this year’s spiritual rejuvenation at OCON.
Your fee includes two drinks, and a cash bar will be available. Come and enjoy the company of old and new friends and dance the night away!
This event is dressy; coats and ties for gentlemen, evening wear for ladies, please. The closing event is included in all in-person week passes.
Day pass holders: Cost to attend: $175. Registration deadline is June 17.
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. For OCON updates, sign up here.