Objectivism Ayn Rand’s Philosophy

1. Metaphysics: Objective Reality Metaphysics: the study of being What is there? What is it like? “Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed.”– Francis Bacon There is no mental process that can change the laws of nature or erase facts, and there is nothing more to those facts than what man can perceive.– Aristotle IF “Facts are facts” (no universal truths above us or greater than us– anti Plato and religion) AND Man does not “create or invent” facts but uncovers them THEN No supernatural beliefs exist/ there is no God/ there is no religion

2. Epistemology: Reason Epistemology: the study of the nature of knowledge and the grounds of knowledge How do we know what we know? “You can’t eat your cake and have it too.” You cannot both possess your cake and eat it/ meaning, one can’t or shouldn’t have or want more than one deserves or can handle/ similar to “you can’t have it both ways” “Reason is man’s only means of acquiring knowledge” therefore, the unreasonable/illogical such as faith, feeling, mysticism, etc. cannot exist. You cannot have both reason and beliefs in the unreason. Religions claim that God or the supernatural is so different from everything we know that it is beyond our reason’s ability to understand; however, since everything we “know” has identity, “God” cannot be proven to exist. “I am against God for the reason that I don’t want to destroy reason.” --Ayn Rand The very existence of God means that we cannot trust or abilities to know anything

3. Human Nature “Objectivism rejects any form of determinism, the belief that man is a victim of forces beyond his control [such as God, fate, upbringing, genes, or economic conditions).” You have the freedom to think for yourself; therefore, you have the power to create your own future and make your own decisions. No one and nothing is controlling. Your circumstances are the result of you– yourself!

4. Ethics: Self-interest “Man is an end in himself.”– Ayn Rand Man must “live for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself; he must work for his rational self-interest, with the achievement of his own happiness as the highest moral purpose of his life.” Man’s ethics (code of right and wrong) is based upon what is required for man to do for his survival that is rational. Violence or “mindless brute” behavior is not in man’s rational self-interest because this behavior could land him in jail, dead, injured, etc. and only prevent him from achieving what he wants. So, pursuing what makes you happy is not a rationalization for violence.

5. Politics: Capitalism “Give me liberty or give me death.”– Patrick Henry calling for American independence from Great Britain “The only social system that bars physical force from human relationships is laissez-faire capitalism.” Capitalism provides freedom to pursue one’s desires in an environment that protects individual rights. So, laws and punishment are still needed if you are trying to infringe upon other’s freedom and rights by stealing, killing, harassing, etc. Against the redistribution of wealth because Rand believes that every person has the power to shape his/her future. If you want it, go and get it. It’s not someone else’s fault you don’t have it; it’s your own fault. Rand would have been against any attempt to raise taxes on the “top 1%” because it is an infringement of individual rights.

6. Esthetics “Art is a selective re-creation of reality according to an artist’s metaphysical value-judgments.” Art is a representation of an artist’s beliefs thrust upon the reality of the world Think of this in terms of theme– every artist has his/her own beliefs or themes about reality and shows them through his/her art