Liberty Lounge #7: Don Watkins on Capitalism, Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead, and the Meaning of America3/28/2021 
Author and philosopher Don Watkins joins the Western Canon Podcast to discuss the morality of capitalism, the founding philosophy, the liberty movement in America, and why Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead is a great book.
---------------------------------------------------------- Don Watkins is an Objectivist and was a fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute from 2006 to 2017. He later worked for the Center for Industrial Progress and the Heartland Institute. His many books include Free Market Revolution: How Ayn Rand's Ideas Can End Big Government (Macmillan, 2012); Equal Is Unfair: America's Misguided Fight Against Income Inequality (St. Martins Press, 2016); and In Pursuit of Wealth: The Moral Case for Finance (Ayn Rand Institute, 2017). Watkins has contributed to Forbes, The Guardian, USA Today, Fox News, CNBC, The Christian Science Monitor, NPR, The Washington Times, and other media outlets. In early 2014, Watkins launched the 'End the Debt Draft' campaign, promoting his goal of ending government welfare in order to end government debt, which he sees as imposing on young Americans an unearned and immoral obligation in a similar way to the military draft. His book, RooseveltCare: How Social Security is Sabotaging the Land of Self-Reliance, was published in June 2014.
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Was Aristotle an objectivist? Was Ayn Rand Aristotelian? Professor Gregory Salmieri joins the Western Canon Podcast to discuss Aristotle's philosophy, with a special focus on how it relates to objectivist thought. My guest discusses teleology, virtue ethics, whether it is possible to be both an Aristotelian and a romantic, and how different political camps have misunderstood Aristotle's thought. Dr. Salmieri also responds to my last guest, the renowned classicist Edith Hall, who claimed that there is a direct line from Aristotle to Marx. Where does objectivism depart from Aristotle's philosophy? Are the two philosophies compatible?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Salmieri is a senior philosophy scholar and director of the Objectivity Program at the Salem Center at the University of Texas, Austin. After completing his PhD in philosophy at The University of Pittsburgh—that’s a good philosophy program, or so I hear—after completing his PhD, he taught philosophy at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Boston University, and Rutgers University before joining the center. He is co-editor of Foundation of a Free Society and A Companion to Ayn Rand, and he’s published on issues related to epistemology, ethics, and political philosophy, especially as they arise in connection to the work of Aristotle and of Ayn Rand. He’s been on the Rubin Report numerous times and is a regular contributor and speaker for the Ayn Rand Institute. Visit www.westerncanonpodcast.com for more episodes, interview, and resources! |
About the Show:The Western Canon is a monthly podcast dedicated to examining the timeless stories, ideas, and thinkers of the Western literary tradition. Working chronologically through "the great conversation of history," each episode focuses on a distinct canonical work, set of works, or intellectual period. Featuring lively summary, literary analysis, philosophical discussion, and guest commentary, the show also tackles social and political issues related to Western civilization, the modern university, free speech, well-being, and much more. Educate your mind and feed your soul by tuning in with Jordan Alexander Hill, Gina Santiago, and special guests on the 1st of every month! Archives
April 2021
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