Rapid Fire

Queue

At the end of every radio show, we have fun with a set of totally impromptu and unscripted set of "Rapid Fire Questions." Here, you can review the still-pending Rapid Fire Questions, as well as submit your own.

Submit Your Question

Please submit one question per text box – no more, no less. You're limited to 200 characters. Don't incude any links or HTML. If you have a more complex question, please submit it to the regular question queue. We might edit your question for clarity before posting it.

Questions in the Queue

• Why do modern Objectivists persist in using 'man' to refer to people in the abstract when the convention has shifted since Ayn Rand's time to using gender neutral terms, like human or people?
• Do you use AD and BC, or CE and BCE? Does it matter which one a person uses?
• Do we have 'radical freedom' in the sense argued by Sartre?
• Do you think it is important for children to go outside and play?
• Would military courts exist in a free society?
• I think Greg and Diana are both right on abortion because when the fetus is essentially formed that the woman could have (induce or cesarean) the fetus whenever she wishes to stop supporting it with her body. I also say that the mother can tell the doctor to not do any "heroic" procedures on the newborn to find out if it could sustain its own life. In an instance where the mother has cancer or some disease which the treatment could harm the fetus it is the woman's choice to leave it in or not, even leaving it in and taking the chemo if that is what she feels is best for her. Essentially, I think the woman could rid herself of the fetus at any point, but before it is "essentially formed" there are more options for the woman because we know it couldn't survive outside the womb without heroic measures. Do you see any reason these two positions could not be combined in the way I suggest?
• Regardless of anyone's feelings or opinions about the start of rights, what are the consequences of enabling the state to confer defensible rights on the unborn?
• How do your and Greg's views on abortion rights compare to those of Ayn Rand?
• Is there a distinction between the merely moral and the heroically moral?
• Does a fetus pursue values by volition? Is there a difference in volition between a fetus and a baby? If so does this bear on the demarcation point of personhood?
• On the self defense principle, why would a woman's right to her life trump the essentially formed fetus's right to its life if the life of the woman is at stake?
• Regardless of anyone's feelings or opinions about the start of rights, what are the consequences of enabling the state to confer defensible rights on the unborn?
• How do your and Greg's views on abortion rights compare to those of Ayn Rand?
• Do you agree that dubstep is the most meaningless, inartistic form of music in human history?
• How much interaction with your (and Paul's) personal Facebook page is appropriate? I sometimes feel like I'm over doing it with the likes and I stop myself from commenting.
• When people complain about the high price of concert tickets, are they right to justify their complaints by saying: 'it's thanks to us fans that they're successful in the first place!'?
• Is it a performative contradiction to pursue something other than life as an end in itself?
• The road I live on in England is communally owned by its residents. Is this a good method of road privatisation, or would companies owning roads and charging fees for their use be better?
• What key qualities should a job seeker search for in prospective employers?
• What can be done to prevent the two major parties colluding to bully and exclude third party candidates?
• Could you clarify what the defining moment is when abortion would become infanticide? My interpretation of your work indicates that it is when the umbilical cord is cut.
• Is individualism in the social sciences reductionist? Does it conflict with opposition to reductionism in the natural sciences?
• Why is it that "a consciousness conscious of nothing but itself is a contradiction in terms"?
• Are there any analytic philosophers you would recommend reading?
• Modern scholars often describe Ayn Rand's ethics as eudaimonistic. What should be made of the fact that she herself did not make this connection, and even explicitly rejected Aristotle's ethics?
• If you move to a place where they can't pronounce your original name, what's a good principle to use for picking a new one?
• Can a person screw up their life enough to remove any chance of pursuing a central purpose? Would it then be best to simply live a moral life and attempt to rectify the situation as much as possible?
• Would the Coast Guard (or other government operated rescue services) exist in a free society?
• Isn't politics just a subset of ethics, and not really a separate branch of philosophy?
• What are the referents of the concept 'nothing'?
• Given your explanation of when suicide is rational, was Andrei Taganov's suicide rational or not? Did he have any reason to hope for the future?
• Does the use or purpose of an entity count as an attribute of it? Could you form separate concepts based merely on different uses of the same entity? Or does an attribute have to inhere in something?
• Is selflessness the same thing as altruism?
• 'Time flies when you're having fun'--do you think this phenomenological observation casts any doubt on our ability to accurately perceive duration?
• Do you think it's possible for a person to become 'trapped OUTSIDE their own mind' (NOT inside) i.e. so immersed in external reality, that they lose all notions of their own self and subjectivity?
• In light of her sketchy remarks on philosophy of mind, would it be just to classify Ayn Rand as a property dualist?
• Is the validity of memory axiomatic like that of the senses?
• What is the difference between happiness and joy?
• What are some alcoholism or addiction recovery programs that are rational as opposed to faith based? Has there been any thorough research on these methods?
• In The Fountainhead, Gail Wynand claims that one cannot love greatness without also despising the majority of the human race for not being great. What are your thoughts on this?
• Is a person morally responsible for the actions that he performs under duress?
• You've said before that you don't think sexual orientation is innate, as this would require innate concepts of male and female. If so, how does sexual orientation work in non-human species?
• What's the value of sociology, if any?
• Do you approve of the idea that we should gladly embrace (or at least try to see the good in) everything that happens to us?
• If the choice to live is antecedent to accepting morality, how does one make the choice to live? Is it an emotional choice? Is it arbitrary? Why do people choose life as a default?
• Are some evaluations innate? Take pain for example. I never used inductive reasoning to determine that pain signifies something bad, I have just always known that pain is bad, instinctively.
• Can finding a central purpose be my central purpose if I don't know what mine is?
• Is Girl Scouts an acceptable organization to join if you have positive memories of it, and a child who wishes to join, though they embrace aspects of patriotism and duty which you could deemphasize?
• How can environmentalists proclaim that they're long term when the sun will die in couple of billion years and if any green stuff is going to survive industry is its best bet?
• Critics of the Objectivist epistemology say that it is incomplete because Ayn Rand did not have a theory of propositions. What exactly is a theory of propositions?
• Could Heraclitus have been a baby who never grasped the idea of object permanence?
• What kind of anti-drug information might be given to young adults that would be honest and effective?
• Why do the same atheists who've proven themselves capable of pointing out contradictions in religious texts become concrete bound emotionalists when they switch to secular philosophy?
• Why was Sir Francis Bacon so critical of Aristotle? How did their views on epistemology differ?
• Would you classify the Objectivist ethics as a form of rule consequentialism?
• Do you believe that good reading comprehension is possible for the speed reader?
• Which US cities are most ideal for an Objectivist to call home, and why?
• Do you think that philosophy degrees are useful for people who don't aim to be professional philosophers?
• Is it proper to admire a work of art for its skill but not its content – such as the work of Salvador Dali?
• What could make an artificial country feasible? (A big part of the Netherlands is under sea level and a whole province has been claimed from the water.)
• I often see the word "providence" in readings on history. What does it mean? Is it a good thing? Why isn't it common today?
• Does the experience of learning a foreign language help better understand Ayn Rand's theory of concepts?
• The modern left advocates welfarism, but Leninists used to cry 'He who does not work shall not eat'. Is this a contradiction in socialist theory?
• What is the morality of playing pirated games which are no longer commercially available on emulators?
• What do you think of the neoconfederates in the von Mises institute, who think that the South should have been allowed to succeed during the Civil War?
• How can Objectivists call themselves in regards to politics in a way that sufficiently differentiates them from libertarians? If you define individual rights is just saying "capitalist" your best bet?
• Because sociopaths lack empathy, they are often characterised as selfish. But given that altruism destroys empathy, shouldn't most sociopaths be altruists?
• I've heard Aristotle had a specific number of citizens for his ideal polis, do you think there's a similar principle to follow in citizens per US state in determining their size?
• How many Objectivists do you think there are in the world?
• Why are zombie apocalypse movies and television shows so popular? Does the trend have any philosophical significance?
• Do altruists create incentives for destructive actions by labeling them selfish? For example, might some people might think that lying, cheating, and stealing are actually in their interest, and then do such, because of altruism?
• If someone who was cryogenically frozen gets revived what happens to their intellectual property if some of it has fallen into the public domain?
• I'd never ask anyone to sacrifice themselves but can you keep more consistent altruists (or those in cultures which expect something back) from doing so for you without asking?
• I've heard that the pre-World-War-I sense of life is indescribable and much better. From what you've read, how would you describe it? Any striking details?
• Should spam be outlawed in a free market?
• Why is Rawls' thought experiment called "the veil of ignorance" when the one standing behind knows everything aside from their own identity?
• Who is your more favorite Doctor: David Tennant or Matt Smith? Why?
• Should gun manufacturers refuse to sell guns or accessories to law enforcement if banned to civilians in that area?
• Why should one live by clear principles?
• How strong is support for abortion rights in America? What are the implications of that?
• Should the government develop a program to deflect asteroids from Earth?
• How can we philosophically be more zen about the things we can't control? Feeling out of control contributes greatly to my anxiety and is a trigger for irrational behaviors.
• What modern fiction writer would you recommend? Having a lot of trouble finding fantasy or sci/fi that doesn't suck philosophically...
• What would you do in the event of the Zombie Apocalypse?
• Copyrights last longer then patents but should that be the case?
• Is it proper to be irritated about immigrants' speaking English with an accent, particularly if heavy?
• Does common law inevitably become obtuse?
• What is your opinion of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator as a useful tool for talking about aspects of personality?
• How does the left redefine the meaning of what "poor" means given that we're living better than the kings of old?
• Why don't people take ideas seriously?
• Should people boycott German companies that actively participated in the Holocaust?
• Is it possible to consistently roleplay as an Objectivist character in a fantasy setting where magic exists without destroying the facade?
• Is the term "middle class" a valid concept?
• If a company ignores private warnings about a security or other flaw, is it okay to release information about the flaw publicly, even if criminals might make use of it?
• By what methods should government execute criminals condemned to death?
• Should the government be permitted to invest funds in markets?
• What would be required for a valid contract in a free society?
• Is it okay to stream content (e.g., on YouTube) that has been put up illegally?
• If someone who did something unforgivable incurred brain damage that both made them forget what they did and changed their character, would they be liable for their past actions?
• Given that I want to immigrate to the US in the future, how much more should I care about immigration policy than other individual rights issues?
• In choosing between similar jobs, how should one trade off competing factors such as better salary vs. worse location, etc?
• What sports do you enjoy watching and why?
• When did you first read Ayn Rand?
• Don't we need some external authority to determine what's right and what's wrong?
• Should a person considering strategic default consider the government's role in creating the crisis?