Objectivism - Philosophy For Life On Earth

An Armchair Philosophers Perspective

Outline• What is Philosophy and why is it important?• Introducing Objectivism– A Process of Logic– Metaphysics– Epistemology– Ethics– Politics

• Simple Choices

• “Philosophy studies the fundamental nature of existence, of man, and of man’s relationship to existence.”

Ayn Rand “Philosophy: Who Needs It”

What is Philosophy and why is it important?

“The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from and intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist”

John Maynard Keynes

Fundamentals

"Who sets the tone of a culture? A small handful of men....the philosophers. Others follow their lead either by conviction, or by default."

Ayn Rand

Introducing Objectivism• A Process of Logic– Metaphysics – Objective Reality

– Epistemology – Reason

– Ethics – Self-Interest

– Politics – Capitalism

• Conflicts?

• “Existence exists – and the act of grasping that statement implies two corollary axioms: that something exists which one perceives and that one exists possessing consciousness, consciousness being the faculty of perceiving that which exists”

‘Atlas Shrugged’

Metaphysics

• Fundamental nature of Reality– Axiomatic concepts• ‘Existence’ and ‘Identity’• Consciousness

• Logic – Non-Contradictory Identification– A is A– Or, Existence exists

• Objective Reality– “Nature, to be commanded must be obeyed”

• Existence vs. Non- Existence

Epistemology

• Literally the study of Knowledge– What is Knowledge?– How is Knowledge acquired?– How do we know what we know?

• Knowledge is conceptual– It’s validity depends on the validity of concepts

• What do we base our knowledge on?– Reality– Percept's

• How do we perceive reality?– Cognition & Measurement

• Existent

• Identity

• Unit

• Concept formation

• “Reason integrates man’s perceptions by means of forming abstractions or conceptions, thus raising mans knowledge from the perceptual level, which he shares with (other) animals, to the conceptual level, which he alone can reach. The method which reason employs in this process is called logic – and logic is the art of non-contradictory identification”

“Philosophy: Who Needs It”

• Reason vs. Faith

Ethics

• What is Morality?– “A code of values to guide man's choices and

actions.”

• What is Ethics?– “…as a science , deals with discovering and

defining such a code.”

Why?• Meta-ethics– God?– Society?

• What are values?

• Why does man need them?

• “’Value’ is that which one acts to gain and/or keep. The concept value is not a primary; it presupposes an answer to the question: of value to whom and for what? It presupposes and entity capable of acting to achieve a goal in the face of an alternative. Where no alternative exists, no goals, and no values are possible”

“The Virtue of Selfishness”

• “There is only one fundamental alternative in the universe: existence or non existence – and it pertains to a single class of entities: to living organisms. The existence of inanimate matter is unconditional, the existence of life is not: it depends upon a specific course of action. Matter is indestructible, it changes it’s forms but it cannot cease to exist. It is only a living organism that faces a constant alternative: the issue of life or death. Life is a process of self sustaining and self generate action. If an organism fails in that action, it dies; it’s chemical elements remain, but it’s life goes out of existence. It is only the concept of ‘Life’ that makes the concept of ‘value’ possible. It is only to a living entity that things can be good or evil.”

“Atlas Shrugged”

• Mans life is the standard of all value

• “Man is an end in himself”

• Ethics, epistemologically speaking– Pleasure or pain– Reason or faith

• Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day• Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a

lifetime• Give a man religion and he will die praying for

a fish.

• Moochers

• Looters

• Values – Virtues – Reason– Rationality

– Purpose – Productiveness

– Self-esteem – Pride

• Happiness or suffering

• “Achieving life is not the equivalent of avoiding death”

• Long-term rational self interest.

• What of love?

• “To love is to value”

• What are Rights?

• Mans life is an end in itself

• Rights are the means of recognising that unavoidable fact in mans dealings with each other.

• Rational self-interest vs. Altruism

Politics• “If physical force is to be barred from social

relationships, men need an institution charged with the task of protecting their rights under an objective code of rules. This is the task of a government—of a proper government—its basic task, its only moral justification and the reason why men do need a government. A government is the means of placing the retaliatory use of physical force under objective control—i.e., under objectively defined laws.

“The Virtue of Selfishness”

• Capitalism vs. Collectivism

Simple Choices

• Existence vs. Non Existence• Reason vs. Faith• Rational Self-Interest vs. Altruism• Capitalism vs. Collectivism

Thank you for listening

Are there any questions?