Objectivism: the philosophy of ayn rand

OBJECTIVISM: THE PHILOSOPHY OF AYN RAND

To Kira: With the hope that this philosophy will guide your life as it does your mother's and mine

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Contents
Acknowledgments ...............................................................................................................................5 Preface.................................................................................................................................................6 Chapter 1—Reality ..............................................................................................................................8 Existence, Consciousness, and Identity as the Basic Axioms .........................................................9 Causality as a Corollary of Identity.............................................................................................14 Existence as Possessing Primacy over Consciousness .................................................................18 The Metaphysically Given as Absolute ........................................................................................21 Idealism and Materialism as the Rejection of Basic Axioms.......................................................25 Chapter 2—Sense Perception And Volition .......................................................................................30 The Senses as Necessarily Valid ..................................................................................................31 Sensory Qualities as Real............................................................................................................34 Consciousness as Possessing Identity ..........................................................................................36 The Perceptual Level as the Given ..............................................................................................39 The Primary Choice as the Choice to Focus or Not....................................................................40 Human Actions, Mental and Physical, as Both Caused and Free ................................................45 Volition as Axiomatic ...................................................................................................................49 Chapter 3—Concept-Formation........................................................................................................52 Differentiation and Integration as the Means to a Unit-Perspective ............................................52 Concept-Formation as a Mathematical Process ...........................................................................56 Concepts of Consciousness as Involving Measurement-Omission .............................................62 Definitionas the Final Step in Concept-Formation .....................................................................65 Concepts as Devices to Achieve Unit-Economy .........................................................................71 Chapter 4—Objectivity .....................................................................................................................75 Concepts asObjective ..................................................................................................................75 Objectivity as Volitional Adherence to Reality by the Method of Logic .....................................78 Knowledge as Contextual ............................................................................................................81 Knowledge as Hierarchical..........................................................................................................86 Intrinsicism and Subjectivism as the Two Forms of Rejecting Objectivity .................................94 Chapter 5—Reason ..........................................................................................................................101 Emotions as a Product of Ideas...