Objectivism 101

Lesson 1: What is Objectivism, Reason Defined

Reason

The central concept of Objectivism is reason.
Reason is the name we give to the group of methods which, together, help us find knowledge.

These methods are :

1. Concept-formation - Forming valid concepts which we can then use in our reasoning. In a way, all babies do that : it's how we form our understanding of words.

2. Sense perception - Interpreting the data from our senses. This is also pretty natural, although we make mistakes more easily in unusual situations (such as so-called "optical illusions").

3. Logic - The method of "non-contradictory identification" - eliminating contradictions which may arise in our thinking. This is less obvious, although most of you are probably aware of at least some fallacies.

I said reason was a group of methods. But that doesn't mean that we can use one or the other independently. We classify them like this for convenience : but in practice there is no way to use one without using the others. All three methods participate to our thinking at the same time.

For example, take sense perception. Look at the wall in front of you. You might be outside, on a portable computer ! Then look at the sky, that will do.

This may seem like a very simple operation. You see the wall and that's it. You see its colour, shape, texture, and so on. But to even know what the colour of the wall is, you need to know what a wall is, what a colour is, and how to express different colours. You do this by using concepts ("wall", "white", "beige", "black").

Also, you recognize the wall as being a wall, and nothing else, since that is what you perceive. You are not looking at your computer screen, a cow, God, or the number 7. The wall also has a given identity - it is a certain way, and no other way. Therefore we see that knowing the colour of the wall implies numerous logical facts. We do not normally think about these facts in daily life, but they are always there.

For a more rigorous explanation of these methods, I invite you to consult O:PAR (concepts on pages 73-74, logic on pages 118-119, and sense perception on pages 39-40).

Reason is a central concept because it can be applied to any area of knowledge. While obviously you will not get far without expertise on any subject - be it physics, real estate, or knitting - following reason keeps us on a good footing by reassuring us that we are not deviating too far from reality.

Any reasoning which is not logical, contradicts an accurate interpretation of sense data, or is based on unproven or incoherent concepts, is highly suspect. Reasoning which does not break those methods is likely to be valid.

A higher discipline only works if it is based on reason. Science is successful at understanding natural phenomena because it is based on reason (observation, testing, confirmation).

There are other factors which can help us determine whenever something is true or not, i.e. whenever we know something or not. We will now examine these factors.

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