This course will consist of a fuller discussion of some central themes from Dr. Peikoff's book The Ominous Parallels. Special attention will be paid to the influence of philosophy on practical life, with emphasis on the role of the mind-body dichotomy in ripening nations for dictatorship. Discussion will include the topics of reason vs. emotion, the moral vs. the practical, rationalism vs. empiricism, and how to think non-rationalistically about philosophy.

This course may be seen as a precursor to The role of Philosophy and Psychology in History.