Lesson 1: What is Objectivism, Reason Defined
This is your introduction to Objectivism and its central concept, reason. We will explore the general structure of Objectivism, and reason and its corollaries.
Introduction
This is your introduction to Objectivism and its central concept, reason. While this will be a shorter lesson, it is important to understand the concepts I will present here, since they are fundamental in understanding the concepts we will be exploring.
Our reference material here, as for much of the course, is Objectivism : The Philosophy of Ayn Rand (which I abbreviate to O:PAR), by Leonard Peikoff.
While I do not recommend Mr. Peikoff's materials as a general rule because he is rather doctrinary, his book is the only complete overview of Objectivism available at the moment (that is, as far as such a thing is possible), and therefore O:PAR is what I use here. I would simply advise you not to take his words as "gospel".
Throughout this course, I will indicate pages to read (usually 2 or 3 pages, which is quickly read) in O:PAR for those of you interested in the subject being discussed, or in search of more detailed explanations.
I will also link to a number of web pages. This must not be seen as a blanket endorsement of the site in question. I only endorse the sites I have listed on the links page. As always, think for yourself and do not believe everything you read without thinking (including this course !).
