Ayn Rand Institute

Introduction to the History of Western Philosophy by Leonard Peikoff, part 1 of 50

And I want to begin by asking you to imagine that you've just taken a trip to Mars. And you encounter on Mars a race of men who are just lik…

Thales of Miletus and the Birth of Greek Philosophy by Leonard Peikoff, part 2 of 50

and now let us plunge in at the very beginning now why do we say that philosophy and science started with the greeks in the 6th century bc b…

Heraclitus of Ephesus: A World of Change and Contradiction by Leonard Peikoff, part 3 of 50

and now we reach the next philosopher in the progression heraclitus h-e-r-a-c-l-i-t-u-s he is not a my lesion he is a pre-socratic who start…

Parmenides of Elea: Logic Demands a Changeless Universe by Leonard Peikoff, part 4 of 50

now let us turn to a philosopher who flourished about 20 years after uh heraclitus about 480 bc and who represents the diametric opposite vi…

Pythagoras: Mathematics and Mysticism by Leonard Peikoff, part 5 of 50

I let us turn to the last pre-socratic school that we are going to look at this evening which is the school of Pythagoras the Pythagorean sc…

The Pluralists, the Atomists and the Birth of Determinism by Leonard Peikoff, part 6 of 50

good evening ladies and gentlemen the philosophers that we looked at last week although they were extremely influential on all later philoso…

The Skepticism of the Greek Sophists by Leonard Peikoff, 7 of 50

alright now let's leave the atomists and go on to the second school for this evening the Sophists now this office strictly speaking were not…

The Life and Teachings of Socrates by Leonard Peikoff, part 8 of 50

now let us just say a few words before the break on just so we can say we got started on our main subject for tonight in next week Socrates …

Plato’s Metaphysics: The Perceptible World and the World of Ideal Forms by Leonard Peikoff, pt. 9/50

now let's pick up Plato 427 to 347 BC one of socrates disciples as I said he wrote a great deal a lot of it is lost to us what we have is pr…

Plato’s Epistemology: From Innate Ideas to a Grasp of the Forms by Leonard Peikoff, part 10 of 50

now I said that one main purpose of Plato's whole philosophy was to answer the Sophists of knowledge as possible but here we immediately hav…

Plato’s Ethics: Virtue and the Health of the Soul by Leonard Peikoff, part 11 of 50

now we want to look more systematically at Plato's ethics having laid the overall foundations but first I want to backtrack in time for a mo…

Plato’s Political Philosophy: Collectivism & the Philosopher-King by Leonard Peikoff, part 12 of 50

well I've said quite enough I think to give you an idea of Plato's ethics now let us turn in conclusion to the famous politics that he bases…

Aristotle: A Philosopher for Living on Earth by Leonard Peikoff, part 13 of 50

good evening ladies and gentlemen up to now you have been offered in the history of philosophy the spectacle of two basic alternatives the H…

Aristotle’s Epistemology: Concepts, Explanation & the Nature of Science by Leonard Peikoff, pt 14/50

all right now let's turn to Aristotle's epistemology systematically and the first question that we ask is what do we begin with as far as kn…

Aristotle: The Father of Logic by Leonard Peikoff, part 15 of 50

now if Aristotle had little to say about induction he had a great deal to say about deduction and I want to look very briefly at his views o…

Aristotle’s Metaphysics: Matter, Form and Causality by Leonard Peikoff, part 16 of 50

now let's take a more detailed look at some of his metaphysical ideas let's go back to the subject of universals and particulars you recall …

Aristotle’s Teleology: Motion, Goal-Directed Action and the Unmoved Mover by Leonard Peikoff,pt17/50

good evening ladies and gentlemen last week we surveyed Aristotle's epistemology and some of the essentials of his metaphysics in regard to …

Aristotle’s Psychology: The Nature of the Soul, Sense Perception and Thought by Leonard Peikoff18/50

but now I want to see how Aristotle uses the same basic concept form and matter actuality and potentiality in his discussion of psychology a…

Aristotle: Universals, Individuation and an Overview of His Metaphysics by Leonard Peikoff, pt 19/50

now before completing our summary of his basic philosophy I want briefly to go back for a moment to the matter of forum distinction as Arist…

Aristotle’s Ethics and Politics: Happiness, Reason and the Ideal Society by Leonard Peikoff, pt20/50

now in a general way Aristotle's ethics as you would expect is neither of the mystic nor the skeptic variety Aristotle does not believe that…