Ayn Rand Hero: Objectivism Through an ‘Integral’ Lens with Michael Grady

Mark Michael Lewis • August 20, 2016 • 0 Comments

This interview is part of the Integral Ayn Rand Series, where we discuss Objectivism through the lens of the Integral framework.

In this episode, I had a conversation with Michael Grady – a fellow Integral enthusiast and someone who was curious about how I think Ayn Rand’s work fits into the Integral model that Ken Wilber has developed. He had some hard hitting questions about Ayn Rand’s philosophy, especially her take on selfishness – with grace and style.

Some interesting talking points that we touched on:

Where on the ‘spiral‘ Ayn Rand fits in [7:15]
What the ‘Pre/Trans’ fallacy is and the radical impact it has on how we understand Objectivism, rationality and spirituality [10:02]
How some aspects of our thinking become ‘contaminated’ without a clear understanding of the Pre/Trans fallacy (and what to do about it) [21:50]
Understanding ‘peak experiences’ from different levels of development [30:05]
The Postmodern Contradiction & ‘Boomeritis’ [35:45]
The critical importance of a healthy Orange level of development in our lives [45:30]
Integrity – Agency & Communion: The dance between personal responsibility and sacrificing for the group [50:20]
The process we all use to get ‘real’ knowledge: The Three Strands of Valid Knowledge (for the geeks: Injunction, apprehension, and confirmation/falsification) [1:10:55]
The 5 Categories of Philosophy – Metaphysics, Epistemology, Ethics, Politics and Aesthetics [1:27:12]
How the ‘Ayn Rand Hero’ embodies the 5 aspects of philosophy [1:30:45]

If you want to know more about the colors (Blue, Orange, Green etc) and Integral, check out this quick intro to Spiral Dynamics, or a more intense intro to Integral Theory.

To connect with Michael about his work with leaders through Evolutionary Impact, you can connect with him on LinkedIn.