This was a 35-week book study discussing:
Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand.
(Or click here for the polished versions as they become available.)
We met online, 9am Eastern, Saturdays,
Jan. 8th through Sept. 3rd 2022.
List of Dates and Readings:
Week 01 – 1.8.22
Preface and Chapter 1
Reality (Introduction) 1-3
Existence, consciousness, and identity as the basic axioms 4-12
Week 02 – 1.15.22
Chapter 1
Causality as a corollary of identity 12-16
Existence as possessing primacy over consciousness 17-23
Week 03 – 1.22.22
Chapter 1
The metaphysically given as absolute 23-29
Idealism and materialism as the rejection of basic axioms 30-36
Week 04 – 1.29.22
Chapter 2
Sense perception and volition (Introduction) 37-38
The senses as necessarily valid 39-44
Week 05 – 2.5.22
Chapter 2
Sensory qualities as real 44-47
Consciousness as possessing identity 48-52
Week 06 – 2.12.22
Chapter 2
The perceptual level as the given 52-54
The primary choice as the choice to focus or not 55-62
Week 07 – 2.19.22
Chapter 2
Human actions, mental and physical, as both caused and free 62-68
Volition as axiomatic 69-72
Week 08 – 2.26.22
Chapter 3
Concept-formation (Introduction) 73
Differentiation and integration as the means to a unit-perspective 74-81
Week 09 – 3.5.22
Chapter 3
Concept-formation as a mathematical process 81-90
Concepts of consciousness as involving measurement-omission 91-95
Week 10 – 3.12.22
Chapter 3
Definition as the final step in concept-formation 96-104
Concepts as devices to achieve unit-economy 105-109
Week 11 – 3.19.22
Chapter 4
Objectivity (Introduction) 110
Concepts as objective 111-116
Week 12 – 3.26.22
Chapter 4
Objectivity as volitional adherence to reality by the method of logic 116-120
Knowledge as contextual 121-128
Week 13 – 4.2.22
Chapter 4
Knowledge as hierarchical 129-141
Week 14 – 4.9.22
Chapter 4
Intrinsicism and subjectivism as the two forms of rejecting objectivity 142-151
Week 15 – 4.16.22
Chapter 5
Reason (Introduction) 152-152
Emotions as a product of ideas 153-158
Week 16 – 4.23.22
Chapter 5
Reason as man’s only means of knowledge 159-162
The arbitrary as neither true nor false 163-171
Week 17 – 4.30.22
Chapter 5
Certainty as contextual 171-181
Mysticism and skepticism as denials of reason 182-186
Week 18 – 5.7.22
Chapter 6
Man (Introduction) 187-188
Living organisms as goal-directed and conditional 189-193
Reason as man’s basic means of survival 193-197
Week 19 – 5.14.22
Chapter 6
Reason as an attribute of the individual 198-205
Week 20 – 5.21.22
Chapter 7
The Good (Introduction) 206
Life as the essential root of value 207-213
Week 21 – 5.28.22
Chapter 7
Man’s life as the standard of moral value 213-219
Rationality as the primary virtue 220-229
Week 22 – 6.4.22
Chapter 7
The individual as the proper beneficiary of his own moral action 229-240
Values as objective 241-244
Week 23 – 6.11.22
Chapter 7
Values as objective 244-249
(cont.)
Chapter 8
Virtue (Introduction) 250
Independence as a primary orientation to reality, not to other men 251-259
Week 24 – 6.18.22
Chapter 8
Integrity as loyalty to rational principles 259-266
Honesty as rejection of unreality 267-276
Week 25 – 6.25.22
Chapter 8
Justice as rationality in the evaluation of men 276-291
Productiveness as the adjustment of nature to man 292-303
Week 26 – 7.2.22
Chapter 8
Pride as moral ambitiousness 303-309
The initiation of physical force as evil 310-312
Week 27 – 7.9.22
Chapter 8
The initiation of physical force as evil 312-324
(cont.)
Chapter 9
Happiness (Introduction) 325
Virtue as practical 326-329
Week 28 – 7.16.22
Chapter 9
Virtue as practical 329-335
(cont.)
Happiness as the normal condition of man 335-342
Sex as metaphysical 343-349
Week 29 – 7.23.22
Chapter 10
Government (Introduction) 350
Individual rights as absolutes 351-363
Week 30 – 7.30.22
Chapter 10
Government as an agency to protect rights 363-368
Statism as the politics of unreason 369-377
Week 31 – 8.6.22
Chapter 11
Capitalism (Introduction) 378-379
Capitalism as the only moral social system 380-395
Week 32 – 8.13.22
Chapter 11
Capitalism as the system of objectivity 395-405
Opposition to capitalism as dependent on bad epistemology 406-412
Week 33 – 8.20.22
Chapter 12
Art (Introduction) 413
Art as a concretization of metaphysics 414-428
Week 34 – 8.27.22
Chapter 12
Romantic literature as illustrating the role of philosophy in art 428-437
Esthetic value as objective 438-450
Week 35 – 9.3.22
Epilogue:
The duel between Plato and Aristotle 451-460