Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology
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| Author | Ayn Rand |
|---|---|
| Subject(s) | Philosophy |
| Genre(s) | Non-Fiction |
| Publisher | Meridian |
| Released | 1979 (1990 second edition) |
| Media type | Book |
| Pages | 314 (second edition) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-452-01030-6 (second edition) |
An Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, published in 1979, was Ayn Rand's attempt to summarize the Objectivist theory of concepts, and to submit her solution to the problem of universals. The book deals with the mental processes of abstraction, the nature of valid definitions, distinguishing concepts from "anticoncepts," the hierarchical nature of knowledge, and what constitutes valid axiomatic knowledge. In addition to the title essay, the work also includes an essay by Leonard Peikoff in which he argues against Immanuel Kant's theory of analytic propositions and synthetic propositions. These works were originally serialized in The Objectivist from 1966-67, then published in a paperback by The Objectivist in 1967.
The second edition of Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology adds an appendix consisting of Ayn Rand's discussions with various professors in philosophy, mathematics, and physics about her epistemology that followed a lecture series she gave on epistemology between 1969 and 1971. It is in "Question-and-Answer" format."
Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology is the most technical of Ayn Rand's books, and for many is the most difficult.
Contents |
[edit] Quotations
The issue of concepts (known as "the problem of universals") is philosophy's central issue. Since man's knowledge is gained and held in conceptual form, the validity of man's knowledge depends upon the validity of concepts. But concepts are abstractions or universals, and everything that man perceives is particular, concrete. What is the relationship between abstractions and concretes? To what precisely do concepts refer in reality? Do they refer to something real, something that exist - or are they merely inventions of man's mind, arbitrary constructs or loose approximations that cannoto claim to represent knowledge?[1]
[edit] Table of contents
- Forward to the First Edition
- 1. Cognition and Measurement
- 2. Concept-Formation
- 3. Abstraction from Abstractions
- 4. Concepts of Consciousness
- 5. Definitions
- 6. Axiomatic Concepts
- 7. The Cognitive Role of Concepts
- 8. Consciousness and Identity
- Summary
- The Analytic-Synthetic Dichotomy by Leonard Peikoff
Appendix
- Foreword to the Second Edition by Leonard Peikoff
- Preface by Harry Binswanger
- Appendix Table of Contents
- Opening Remarks by Ayn Rand (opening remarks for the Epistemological Workshops)
- Abstraction as Measurement-Omission
- Concepts as Mental Existents
- Implicit Concepts
- The Role of Words
- Measurement, Unit and Mathematics
- Abstraction from Abstractions
- Concepts of Consciousness
- Definitions
- Axiomatic Concepts
- Entities and Their Makeup
- Philosophy of Science
- Concluding Historical Postscript
- Index
[edit] See also
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| Fiction | Night of January 16th • We the Living • Anthem • The Fountainhead • Atlas Shrugged |
| Non-fiction | For the New Intellectual • The Virtue of Selfishness • Capitalism: the Unknown Ideal • Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology • The Romantic Manifesto • Return of the Primitive: The Anti-Industrial Revolution • Philosophy: Who Needs It |
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ 1967 - Rand, Ayn; Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, Edited by Harry Binswanger and Leonard Peikoff Expanded 2nd Edition, 1990, ISBN 0-452-01030-6, page 1.
