Objectivism Q&A with Aaron Smith and Mike Mazza

New Ideal, from the Ayn Rand Institute

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Aaron Smith, Mike Mazza and Agustina Vergara Cid answer questions about Objectivism submitted by the podcast’s audience. Among the topics covered: 1: Does Objectivism discourage engaging in fantasy art? 1a: Are works of “art” that don’t objectify values actually “art”? 2: How important is free will to the Objectivist philosophy? 2a: Is it impossible to scientifically prove the nonexistence of free will? 2b: If we can’t control certain aspects of our personalities, does this mean there is no free will? 3: How are libertarianism and Objectivism different? 3a: How did Rand evaluate the charge of “extremism”? 4: How does one keep from giving up the fight for Objectivist ideas when faced with the trends in society? Mentioned in the discussion are the books The Art of Fiction, edited by Tore Boeckmann, and Ayn Rand Answers, edited by Robert Mayhew. This podcast was recorded on July 21, 2021. Listen to the discussion below. Listen and subscribe from your mobile device on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or Stitcher. Watch archived podcasts here. If you’d like to ask a question to be answered on a future episode, please send an email with “Podcast question” in the subject header to [e-mail]. Podcast audio: