About the Course
Learn to teach Ayn Rand’s philosophy by reference to the life-serving purpose of its elements—or, in Francisco d’Anconia’s words, the question “What for?”*
The key to understanding Objectivism in a fully first-handed, practical way is grasping the observation-based, life-serving purpose of its methods, concepts, and principles. In this course, Craig Biddle discusses how he uses the principle of purpose to great effect in teaching these ideas, how this approach fosters genuine understanding, and how it helps to eliminate rationalism and dogmatism.
You will learn:
- How to leverage the principle of purpose as a powerful tool for inducing and clarifying the principles of Objectivism
- How to concretize its principles in plain language with illuminating examples
- The crucial role of the law of excluded middle in understanding and teaching the philosophy
- How to use an iterative, spiraling approach to show the reality-based nature and practical value of each principle—and how each unifies with the others to form a fully integrated worldview.
If you teach Objectivism, or aim to teach it, this course will enhance your ability to do so effectively.
Missed the course? We’ll notify you the next time it's offered!
How This Course Works
This course is interactive and discussion-driven, so enrollment is limited. Register early to secure your spot.
The course is held live on a video conferencing app called Zoom, which you can download for free here. Sessions are video recorded, so if you miss a session (or want to review), you can watch the recording.
The course is 6 hours long, consisting of 4 sessions of 1.5 hours each. Homework assignments are optional. Doing them may require an additional hour or more per week but will greatly enhance what you learn in this course.
Course handouts and supplementary materials are delivered via email. Course participants are invited to an exclusive OSI Courses group on Facebook, where they can post questions and engage in discussions with the instructor and other participants.
Have a question that wasn’t answered here? Read our FAQ or email us at [email protected].
Frequently Asked Questions
OSI courses are live, interactive, and discussion-driven, so enrollment is limited. Register early to secure your spot.
Courses are held on Zoom, and sessions are recorded, so if you miss a session (or want to review), you can watch the recording. You can download Zoom for free here.
Courses vary in length. And some involve homework. Please see the specific course pages for details.
Course handouts and supplementary materials are delivered via email (please register with an active email address). Participants have access to an exclusive OSI Courses group on Facebook.
Zoom is a free video-conferencing app that we use to conduct our courses. You can download it here.
Sessions are video recorded, so if you miss a session (or want to review), you can watch the recording. That said, we highly recommend attending each live session so that you can ask questions and engage with your instructor(s) and other participants.
If you do miss a session, we recommend that you watch the recording before attending the next session.
Anyone aged 29 or younger may apply for an OSI scholarship to cover the full cost of a course. For information on how the scholarships work, please visit our Scholarships page.
You can see all current and past courses here.
If you have a question that isn’t answered in the FAQ or course description, please email us at [email protected].
