Hosted by The Atlas Society’s Senior Scholar, Dr. Richard Salsman, Ph.D., assistant professor of political economy at Duke University, Morals and Markets is a 90-minute webinar held on the fourth Thursday of each month.
The purpose of Morals and Markets is to explore the intersections between ethics, politics, economics, and markets. A few readings are included in advance of each session; the sessions begin with opening comments by Dr. Salsman, followed by participants’ questions, comments, and debate. Dr. Salsman emphasizes the ideas and interpretations of novelist-philosopher Ayn Rand and her philosophy of Objectivism, including open-ended interpretations by her successors, but webinar participants need not be familiar with (nor endorse) those ideas; moreover, the webinar incorporates relevant ideas from all types of important and influential philosophers, legal theorists, political economists, business executives, and politicians.
Since 2015 Dr. Salsman has taught in Duke’s Program in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE); he also conducts a popular seminar for first-year students, titled “Capitalism, For and Against.” Many of the topics, controversies, and debates that arise in these settings are relevant to topics covered in Morals and Markets.