Objectivism The Philosophy of Ayn Rand torrent

Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand [by Leonard Peikoff] is the only comprehensive treatment of Ayn Rand's philosophy.



Whether you are a scientist seeking to ground the principles of physics in reality, or an artist who wishes to understand the nature of art, or a philosopher puzzled over the problem of universals, or a teenager wondering about the meaning of life, or a historian wishing to grasp the link between the events in Nazi Germany and Ancient Greece, or a journalist seeking to grasp the cause of the slaughters in Bosnia and the cause of the slaughters in the schools of America, or a mother who wants to teach her child when one should and should not lie, or a businessman engaged in the virtue of making money, or a psychologist wishing to understand the relationship between the emotions and thought, or a college student in search of earth shattering ideas for a graduate thesis, or a teacher wishing to understand the way the mind works, or a priest searching for a rational basis for morality — Leonard Peikoff's Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand will have something of immense value to offer you — intellectually, morally, practically, and personally.




Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Preface

Chapter 1: Reality

Existence, Consciousness, and Identity as the Basic Axioms
Causality as a Corollary of Identity
Existence as Possessing Primacy Over Consciousness
The Metaphysically Given as Absolute
Idealism and Materialism as the Rejection of Basic Axioms

Chapter 2: Sense Perception and Volition

The Senses as Necessarily Valid
Sensory Qualities as Real
Consciousness as Possessing Identity
The Perceptual Level as the Given
The Primary Choice as the Choice to Focus Or Not
Human Actions, Mental and Physical, as Both Caused and Free
Volition as Axiomatic

Chapter 3: Concept-Formation

Differentiation and Integration as the Means to a Unit-Perspective
Concept-Formation as a Mathematical Process
Concepts of Consciousness as Involving Measurement-Omission
Definition as the Final Step in Concept-Formation
Concepts as Devices to Achieve Unit-Economy

Chapter 4: Objectivity

Concepts as Objective
Objectivity as Volitional Adherence to Reality by the Method of Logic
Knowledge as Contextual
Knowledge as Hierarchical
Intrinsicism and Subjectivism as the Two Forms of Rejecting Objectivity

Chapter 5: Reason

Emotions as a Product of Ideas
Reason as Man's Only Means of Knowledge
The Arbitrary as Neither True Nor False
Certainty as Contextual
Mysticism and Skepticism as Denials of Reason

Chapter 6: Man

Living Organisms as Goal-Directed and Conditional
Reason as Man's Basic Means of Survival
Reason as an Attribute of the Individual

Chapter 7: the Good

"Life" as the Essential Root of "Value"
Man's Life as the Standard of Moral Value
Rationality as the Primary Virtue
The individual as the Proper Beneficiary of His Own Moral Action
Values as Objective

Chapter 8: Virtue

Independence as a Primary Orientation to Reality, Not to Other Men
Integrity as Loyalty to Rational Principles
Honesty as the Rejection of Unreality
Justice as Rationality in the Evaluation of Men
Productiveness as the Adjustment of Nature to Man
Pride as Moral Ambitiousness
The Initiation of Physical Force as Evil

Chapter 9: Happiness

Virtue as Practical
Happiness as the Normal Condition of Man
Sex as Metaphysical

Chapter 10: Government

Individual Rights as Absolutes
Government as an Agency to Protect Rights
Statism as the Politics of Unreason

Chapter 11: Capitalism

Capitalism as the Only Moral Social System
Capitalism as the System of Objectivity
Opposition to Capitalism as Dependent on Bad Epistemology

Chapter 12: Art

Art as a Concretization of Metaphysics
Romantic Literature as Illustrating the Role of Philosophy in Art
Esthetic Value as Objective

Epilogue: The Duel Between Plato and Aristotle

References
Index