Robin Field

The Rational Inquirer

This is a collection of my own letters and emails answering mostly philosophical questions asked by various young friends (whose names I have deleted) over the last several years. It may be considered a follow-up to the Philosophical Workshop lectures I wrote and first delivered in 1981, in which I introduced the purpose, history, branches, and vocabulary of philosophy to a live audience, welcomed questions, and explicitly advocated Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism. At that time I cautioned my audiences that I was not an accredited or authorized teacher of anything, just a lifelong student of philosophy. That is still the case. But I have studied and lived by Objectivism for over fifty years—and still regard it as the only true philosophy.

Disc 1

  1. Introduction 1:42

    or download

  2. Analyzing a Letter from a Theologist 9:41

    or download

  3. Does the Bible Say That Selfishness Is Wrong? 10:22

    or download

  4. What Does It Mean to Be Logical? 8:11

    or download

  5. Infinity and Eternity 2:23

    or download

  6. Does the Bible Make Predictions? 6:19

    or download

  7. Is Capital Punishment Right? 5:01

    or download

  8. What Are the Main Religions? 10:07

    or download

  9. More Anti-Self in the Bible 1:31

    or download

  10. What If God Existed, What Difference Would It Make? 8:25

    or download

  11. What Are Logical Fallacies? 13:21

    or download

Disc 2

  1. Infinity, Thales, and Hylozoism 3:41

    or download

  2. Does Philosophy Begin with “I Exist”? 2:12

    or download

  3. More on Infinity 5:49

    or download

  4. What Are Abstractions and Concretes? 4:20

    or download

  5. Doesn’t “Change” Invalidate the Law of Identity? 1:50

    or download

  6. Is Pornography Art? 1:20

    or download

  7. What Is “Plato’s Cave”? 5:38

    or download

  8. How Should I Argue for Selfishness? 5:58

    or download

  9. How Should I Argue against School Prayer? 6:09

    or download

  10. The Meaning of Meaning 9:50

    or download

  11. How Did Selfishness Become a Bad Word? 4:04

    or download

  12. What Is Solipsism? 2:07

    or download

  13. What’s Going on in Higher Education? 5:20

    or download

  14. What Is the Meaning of Life? 5:01

    or download

  15. An Important Element of Love 0:38

    or download

  16. Can Music Be Judged Objectively? 2:53

    or download

  17. Did You Think You Were Like an Ayn Rand Hero? 8:10

    or download

Disc 3

  1. Do Animals Have Rights? 5:30

    or download

  2. Corrections on Concepts 6:57

    or download

  3. Is It True That No Two Things Can Be Exactly the Same? 2:32

    or download

  4. My Girlfriend’s Parents Think I’m a Bad Influence on Her 5:35

    or download

  5. Can’t One Compromise Morally and Still Be Happy? 4:22

    or download

  6. How Should I Deal with Romantic Rejection? 3:39

    or download

  7. Is a Brilliant Mind the Basis of Self-Esteem? 1:08

    or download

  8. Is a Brilliant Mind the Basis of Self-Esteem? (continued) 1:12

    or download

  9. Doesn’t Romance Depend on Luck? 1:08

    or download

  10. Is Self-Esteem Based on Productiveness? 1:28

    or download

  11. A Few Questions on Capitalism 4:45

    or download

  12. Why Should We Return to the Gold Standard? 0:46

    or download

  13. A Few Questions on Politics 4:44

    or download

  14. What Does It Mean to Be Assertive? 1:31

    or download

  15. Modern Fallacies about Sex 6:03

    or download

  16. Don’t the Star Wars Films Depict Nazism? 2:22

    or download

  17. How Can We Be Equals, Since You Know So Much More? 2:12

    or download

  18. Fallacies of Some Homosexuals 5:34

    or download

  19. Self-Esteem Trouble 7:10

    or download

Disc 4

  1. Modern Politics 9:51

    or download

  2. Detecting Fallacies 1:10

    or download

  3. How Do You Explain Why You Don’t Believe in God? 2:43

    or download

  4. What Is Love? 2:47

    or download

  5. Love as Sacrifice – Love as Emotion 2:29

    or download

  6. My Introduction to a New Objectivist Book 1:44

    or download

  7. What’s the Case for Capitalism? 8:06

    or download

  8. Infinity and Dimensions 5:02

    or download

  9. What Are Natural Rights? 1:14

    or download

  10. Does Reason Disprove God? 4:25

    or download

  11. So Objectivism Says We Don’t Know If God Exists? 5:21

    or download

  12. How Did Obamacare Become Law? 3:23

    or download

  13. Another Corrupt Biography of Ayn Rand 10:00

    or download

  14. A Tiny Fallacy 1:37

    or download

  15. More Infinity 3:34

    or download

  16. Axioms and Proof 6:06

    or download

  17. Can You Prove Logic? 1:41

    or download

Disc 5

  1. Love and Sex 5:28

    or download

  2. Love: Complex and Simple 6:12

    or download

  3. The End of Existence? 2:20

    or download

  4. Luke Warm 3:26

    or download

  5. Neutrino Knowledge 5:16

    or download

  6. Capitalism Q&A 7:19

    or download

  7. More on Capitalism 4:29

    or download

  8. What Should I Do with Emotional Pain? 5:45

    or download

  9. Emotions and Thought 4:58

    or download

  10. The Watch 2:31

    or download

  11. Isn’t This Rather the Fallacy of Imperfect Analogy? 1:12

    or download

  12. Posit or Postulate? 2:33

    or download

  13. Strategic Voting 2:22

    or download

  14. Einstein 4:36

    or download

  15. Logic Taught Illogically 4:53

    or download

  16. Gay Marriage 5:03

    or download

  17. Gay Marriage and Illegal Immigration 2:31

    or download

  18. Marriage and Independence 2:20

    or download

Disc 6

  1. May I Borrow Your Copies of Reason Magazine? 1:27

    or download

  2. Emotions Are Children 2:10

    or download

  3. Love and Values 4:10

    or download

  4. Is “Over the Rainbow” a Jewish Song? 4:07

    or download

  5. Political Correctness 2:40

    or download

  6. What Happens to People in Debt During a Dollar Crisis? 7:16

    or download

  7. Big Bang Theory and Reasonable Doubt 2:02

    or download

  8. Why Does Galt Fault Those Who Choose Not to Think? 4:17

    or download

Full text (PDF)

Download all

Copyright © 1981 Robin Field