What are the objective needs of human life? In this lecture, given at Harvard University, Professor Ridpath contrasts the view of Karl Marx and Ayn Rand. Karl Marx held that man's needs are met by violent revolution, dictatorship and the sacrifice of the individual to the collective. Ayn Rand held a view of man's nature that is the complete antithesis of this.

This lecture focuses on the moral and social views of each thinker, but also on their underlying philosophical premises.