Saturday, August 18, 2007

Interviews with Ayn Rand

Here are Youtube links to two interviews with Ayn Rand, one with Mike Wallace and the other with Phil Donahue.

Mike Wallace interview part 1:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-pHxlwFgOc
Part 2:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wsr768hdk4
Part 3:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5poUSQ4L8pY
Phil Donahue interview part 1:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRDgIXn2IWs
Part 2:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ7ZSzvVBGo
Part 3:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAExHnF1BoY
Part 4:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLQTPEKiPzI
Part 5:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80SgFKWO0KM

4 comments:

Shawn Klein said...

Thanks Bach for posting these links. The Mike Wallace interview is great. I have watched the VHS a few times, it's a great conversation they have. I like the the Donahue ones less, but they are still interesting. Is the Tom Snyder on Youtube? That one is pretty good too.

Bach said...

I couldn't find it, but I agree. I think the Snyder interview is my favorite one of all her interviews.

Unknown said...

Yes, thank you for posting the links. I think it provides great insight into Objectivism. I found her philosophy somewhat Nietzschian or even Sartian, and it is intersting that she attributes credit only to Aristotle...in all honsety, I agree with Objectivism in may ways, however, I must deny, at least partially, the major premise that there is an objective reality. Meaning, I disagree that there is such an objective reality (accessed only via our faculty of Reason) when it comes to morality, but Bach, you probably already guessed that I would. :)

Shawn Klein said...

There are Nietzschean and existentialist elements in Objectivist thought, though I think the contrasts far outweigh the more superficial similarities.

Nietzsche's perspectivism in epistemology is far different from Rand's approach. And the justification for their ethical views are quite different. Rand and the existentialists, particularly Sartre, appear to share similar views in regard to human freedom. In substance, however, the views of what human freedom consists in are different. Also, while for Sartre this freedom is a burden, for Objectivism it is, well, liberating.