Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
It is common to think of values as things we “discover” about ourselves — pre-packaged preferences waiting somewhere deep inside. We speak, for example, of “discovering our passion” or of finally realizing “what we were meant to do,” as if these priorities had been there all along. On this view, valuing is automatic: we simply respond to our needs, desires, or emotions.
In his 2025 Objectivist Summer Conference talk, titled “Conceiving Values,” Gregory Salmieri offers a different account. Drawing on Ayn Rand’s distinctive view, he argues that valuing is not passive or instinctive. It is an active, cognitive achievement — something we must choose, learn, and practice.
Values, Salmieri explains, are goals within an ongoing process of self-sustaining action. Other organisms act to preserve themselves, but only human beings can conceptually identify and plan out their values.
To concretize this process, Salmieri turns to the work of creators. An architect does not discover their buildings ready-made in the world; a novelist does not stumble upon finished stories; each must actively conceive a guiding idea and gradually give it concrete form. Likewise, valuing involves choosing long-range commitments that give direction to one’s actions and define the course of one’s life.
Topics covered in Salmieri’s talk include:
• 0:00 Conventional view of values vs. Objectivism’s;
• 11:28 Values and life;
• 33:10 Conceptual values in human beings;
• 48:25 Knowledge and goals in valuing;
• 1:20:48 Q&A.
This talk was recorded live on July 5th in Boston, MA, as part of the 2025 Objectivist Summer Conference, and is available on The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast stream. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Subscribe to ARI’s YouTube channel to make sure you never miss a video:
youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=AynRandInstitute
Download or stream free courses on Ayn Rand’s works and ideas with the Ayn Rand Institute app:
– App Store itunes.apple.com/us/app/ayn-rand-university/id1452535178?mt=8
– Google Play play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aynrandu
ARI is funded by donor contributions. You can support our work by becoming an ARI Member or making a one-time contribution: ari.aynrand.org/donate
Explore these ideas further! ARI's online publication, New Ideal, explores pressing cultural issues from the perspective of Ayn Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism: newideal.aynrand.org
******
Keep in Touch! Sign up to receive email updates from ARI: aynrand.org/signup
Follow ARI on Twitter: twitter.com/AynRandInst
Follow ARI on Facebook: facebook.com/AynRandInstitute
Follow ARI on Instagram: instagram.com/aynrandorg
Subscribe to the ARI Live! podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ayn-rand-institute-live/id1440399458
******
Join an upcoming virtual or in-person event: ari.aynrand.org/events
Visit ARI’s website for more about our content and programs: ari.aynrand.org
It is common to think of values as things we “discover” about ourselves — pre-packaged preferences waiting somewhere deep inside. We speak, for example, of “discovering our passion” or of finally realizing “what we were meant to do,” as if these priorities had been there all along. On this view, valuing is automatic: we simply respond to our needs, desires, or emotions.
In his 2025 Objectivist Summer Conference talk, titled “Conceiving Values,” Gregory Salmieri offers a different account. Drawing on Ayn Rand’s distinctive view, he argues that valuing is not passive or instinctive. It is an active, cognitive achievement — something we must choose, learn, and practice.
Values, Salmieri explains, are goals within an ongoing process of self-sustaining action. Other organisms act to preserve themselves, but only human beings can conceptually identify and plan out their values.
To concretize this process, Salmieri turns to the work of creators. An architect does not discover their buildings ready-made in the world; a novelist does not stumble upon finished stories; each must actively conceive a guiding idea and gradually give it concrete form. Likewise, valuing involves choosing long-range commitments that give direction to one’s actions and define the course of one’s life.
Topics covered in Salmieri’s talk include:
• 0:00 Conventional view of values vs. Objectivism’s;
• 11:28 Values and life;
• 33:10 Conceptual values in human beings;
• 48:25 Knowledge and goals in valuing;
• 1:20:48 Q&A.
This talk was recorded live on July 5th in Boston, MA, as part of the 2025 Objectivist Summer Conference, and is available on The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast stream. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Subscribe to ARI’s YouTube channel to make sure you never miss a video:
youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=AynRandInstitute
Download or stream free courses on Ayn Rand’s works and ideas with the Ayn Rand Institute app:
– App Store itunes.apple.com/us/app/ayn-rand-university/id1452535178?mt=8
– Google Play play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aynrandu
ARI is funded by donor contributions. You can support our work by becoming an ARI Member or making a one-time contribution: ari.aynrand.org/donate
Explore these ideas further! ARI's online publication, New Ideal, explores pressing cultural issues from the perspective of Ayn Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism: newideal.aynrand.org
******
Keep in Touch! Sign up to receive email updates from ARI: aynrand.org/signup
Follow ARI on Twitter: twitter.com/AynRandInst
Follow ARI on Facebook: facebook.com/AynRandInstitute
Follow ARI on Instagram: instagram.com/aynrandorg
Subscribe to the ARI Live! podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ayn-rand-institute-live/id1440399458
******
Join an upcoming virtual or in-person event: ari.aynrand.org/events
Visit ARI’s website for more about our content and programs: ari.aynrand.org
