On Thursday’s episode of Philosophy in Action Radio, Greg Perkins and I answered questions on all sorts of topics from the Rapid Fire Queue. The podcast of that episode is now available for streaming or downloading.

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Whole Podcast: 10 October 2013

Listen or Download:

• Duration: 58:12
• Download: Enhanced M4A File (20.9 MB)
• Download: Standard MP3 File (20.0 MB)

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Podcast Segments: 10 October 2013

You can download or listen to my answers to individual questions from this episode below.

Introduction

My News of the Week: It’s my 250th podcast! Wow! I’ll be competing this weekend in another three-phase event on my horse Lila. The print version of Responsibility & Luck: A Defense of Praise and Blame is delayed due to a problem with the cover, but the Kindle version is available on Amazon.

Rapid Fire Questions

Questions:

• In last Sunday’s show, you stated that psychological egoism has a relationship to determinism. The relationship isn’t obvious to me. As I interpreted the explanation of psychological egoism it seems that you are faced with options about how to behave and you deliberate, choose one, and whichever one you chose was the one you wanted. It’s not clear to me how that is determinism.
• What do you think of the current mess in Washington?
• Was Ted Cruz’s filibuster counterproductive?
• Is it moral for an extreme introvert to derive pleasure from having internet friends, providing that they aren’t otherwise hermits? How do you morally have internet only friends?
• Who is your favorite character from an Ayn Rand novel and why?
• Was Dominique crazy?
• When do you think its egoistic to stand up for oneself in response to a snide, sarcastic boss versus just ignoring him?
• You are incredibly optimistic about our society as a whole. Philosophically, does that mean you disapprove of Preppers?
• Is comparing our own times to “Atlas Shrugged” misleading, in that “Atlas Shrugged” eventually descends into civilization’s self-destruction and descent into civil war?
• What should happen for you to consider emigrating?
• Are parents overprotective of their kids these days? Or given how much worse the culture is compared to 20 years ago, are things actually more dangerous for kids?
• Do you think children should be forced to socialize with other children if they don’t want to?
• Would you watch a survival show that pitted socialists and libertarians against each other? How big a group would be necessarily to show a difference in their ideas?
• Is the force involved in fraud partly the withholding someone else’s property?
• Of Ayn Rand’s nonfiction, I find The Romantic Manifesto the most difficult. How can I read it without the temptation to throw it at the wall? What am I not getting?
• Aren’t you part of “the Objectivist movement” just by advocating what you think is compatible with it? What about Objectivist Answers and Free Objectivist Books?
• Do you think the negative reactions to Miley Cyrus twerking is a function of a puritanical suppression of female sexuality or an appropriate condemnation of self-degradation or something else?
• You said that Obama is not a nihilist, but is an egalitarian. However, Dr. Peikoff argues in his book (as far as I understand) that egalitarianism is a form of nihilism in politics. Do you disagree?

Listen or Download:

• Start Time: 4:09
• Duration: 52:03
• Download: MP3 Segment

To comment on these questions or my answers, visit its comment thread.

Conclusion

Be sure to check out the topics scheduled for upcoming episodes! Don’t forget to submit and vote on questions for future episodes too!

• Start Time: 56:12

About Philosophy in Action Radio

Philosophy in Action Radio focuses on the application of rational principles to the challenges of real life. It broadcasts live on most Sunday mornings and many Thursday evenings over the internet. For information on upcoming shows, visit the Episodes on Tap. For podcasts of past shows, visit the Show Archives.