Objectivism 101

Lesson 1: What is Objectivism, Reason Defined

What is Objectivism

Objectivism was assembled by the philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand, who wrote Atlas Shrugged in 1957, the book that was to become the second most influential after the Bible (according to a survey by the Library of Congress).

Rand was born in communist Russia (as Alissa Rosenbaum), and emigrated to America, working as a scriptwriter and novelist. Her philosophy coagulated from her early experiences, and her exposure to philosophy and politics in the West. Now that she is dead, the main proponent of Objectivism is arguably David Kelley, the leader of the Objectivist Center.

Objectivism is a philosophical system.
"Philosophical" because it gives its own answers to the questions of philosophy, and "system" because every concept in Objectivism is derived from more basic concepts.

All Objectivist propositions are related to other, prior propositions, all the way down to the fundamentals of reality (which are called metaphysics - not to be confused with the paranormal section in your bookstore !).

This is true of any philosophical system. As you know, a house must have a foundation - without it, it could not stand. Likewise, any system of knowledge must stand on axioms. Mathematics is based on numbers and operations. Chemistry is based on the elements and their combinations.

Objectivism's structure has the following outline :

1. Metaphysics - The study of reality.
(what is the fundamental nature of reality as seen by us ? Is reality objective or subjective ?)
Objectivism upholds that reality is objective - independent of our minds.

2. Epistemology - The study of the relationship of man to the rest of reality - knowledge.
(What is the nature of knowledge ? How can we acquire it ?)
Objectivism upholds that the best means to find knowledge is by reason.

3. Ethics - The study of how to act.
(How should we act ? What should be our values ?)
Objectivism upholds that the optimal moral system is rational self-interest.

4. Politics - The study of the optimal political system.
(What rights do we have ? How should the government be ?)
Objectivism upholds that the optimal political system is libertarianism (minimal government) - civil liberties and capitalism.

5. Esthetics - The study of art and beauty.
(What is art ? What is the optimal form of art ?)
Objectivism upholds that the optimal form of art is romantic realism.

(for a more detailed analysis of this structure by Ayn Rand herself, see the ARI page "Essentials of Objectivism").

When we say that someone is an Objectivist, we mean that they agree with the answers that Objectivism gives to these five basic areas. Understanding these is not vital for now, as we will examine point 2 in this lesson and the next two, and points 3 and 4 in the other lessons (metaphysics and esthetics are beyond the scope of this course).

What is important to note about this structure is that Objectivism is a deductive system.
A deductive system is a system where the further you go, the more specific you get. Earlier concepts are general cases and later concepts are more and more specific.

This is easy to see when we look at the structure again : Metaphysics is the study of reality : there is nothing more general than that !
Epistemology is more specific, since it is the study of a part of reality - knowledge.
Ethics is a specific case of epistemology, since it studies knowledge of a specific type - knowledge of how to act.
Likewise, politics is not the study of action, but a specific class of actions - actions related to the social system.

While each concept on each of these branches can be isolated and studied, this is done with the full awareness that it comes from prior concepts and that this has real-life consequences. As Peikoff says in the introduction of O:PAR (p3), without this awareness, we can only turn in circles :

"For a philosophic idea to function properly as a guide, one must know the full system to which it belongs. An idea plucked from the middle is of no value, cannot be validated, and will not work. One must know the idea's relationship to all the other ideas that give it context, definition, application, proof. One must know all this not as a theoretical end in itself, but for pratical purposes : one must know it to be able to rely on an idea, to make rational use of it, and, ultimately, to live"

(If you have the book, also read the paragraph before this one, which details an example of such a "plucking")

This is also something which makes the study of Objectivism more difficult than other ideologies. Ideas are connected : no single idea can be studied as a whole. But if you understand the structure I have described, your study of Objectivism will be much easier.

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