Ayn Rand on Free Speech and Church-State Separation

What is the principle of freedom of speech? How does it relate to the separation of church and state? What is the justification for such a separation? What was Ayn Rand’s view on these issues and on the connections between them? To answer these and related questions, Elan Journo sat down to talk with philosopher Onkar Ghate, senior fellow and chief philosophy officer at Ayn Rand Institute. More on the interview is available here. A few of the topics explored in the conversation:

• Why freedom of speech is an aspect of the principle of intellectual freedom.
• How the philosopher John Locke argued for disentangling religion from political power.
• Why Thomas Jefferson, influenced by Locke, called for a “wall of separation” between church and state.
• What Ayn Rand’s view of intellectual freedom has in common with Locke and Jefferson — and how she differs from both.
• Why Rand thought that intellectual freedom and economic freedom share the same root, or as she sometimes put it, “a free mind and a free market are corollaries.”