The Importance of Philosophy
“The human characteristic required by statism is docility, which is the product of hopelessness and intellectual stagnation. Thinking men cannot be ruled, ambitions men do not stagnate.” - Ayn Rand
Philosophy is the system of ideas that defines the relevant context of conceptual abstractions necessary for human thought. Human beings integrate observations with existing knowledge into abstract ideas called principles. Philosophy is an integrated set of principles that form a system of ideas. In short, philosophy defines a person’s view of the world. Any thought or question is impossible to consider without a relevant context. Philosophy, whether implicitly or explicitly recognized by the individual, is a human need as basic and necessary as any other. In fact, without a philosophy, the act of satisfying any other human need (food, shelter, safety, love, etc.) is impossible.
“Man chooses values and actions by a process of thought based ultimately on a philosophical view of existence.” - Ayn Rand
By the time a human being has sufficiently developed mentally to a point capable of evaluating his or her own philosophy, he or she has already integrated a complex set of conceptual abstractions into a rigidly established world view. The initial step of an evaluative thought exercise is to separate out the primary foundational elements of knowledge in order to assess the validity of the concepts that, when accepted together, form a system of beliefs. The question everyone must ask – ‘Is my system of beliefs self-consistent, valid, and non-contradictory?’
Unfortunately, for most people, the answer is ‘No’. The majority of people do not expend the effort required to assess the validity of concepts before accepting them into their system of beliefs. As a result, contradicting concepts are introduced and accepted into their belief system without even consciously knowing it. Contradictions are built on top of contradictions, and the logical hierarchy upon which the definitions of abstract terms such as “morality” and “rights” rest become exceedingly difficult to unravel. As the system of ideas becomes increasingly inconsistent and self-contradicting, people tend to arbitrarily accept ideas to fit their view of how reality should be, not how things are. Following this road, people create new ideas and concepts detached from reality. A few examples may include; memorized customary sayings, random habits, hunches / feelings, and concretes detached from any logical hierarchy such as talking points you may hear on the local news about the new bill pending vote in Congress.
This is precisely why an examination of one's integrated world view is essential. The process requires effort - perhaps a more demanding and more honest mental effort than one has had to exert before. Most Americans' understanding of ethics and politics is fundamentally flawed with logical fallacies because they blindly accept random concepts pushed by the media, politicians, and state-run schools as unquestionable fact.
If you value life, the foundation of your life must be a consistent philosophy of reason. A = A is the only formula to save America. Each individual person must identify things as they are and eliminate contradictions. A rational philosophy of life is incompatible with one of blind acceptance.
A $ A
“Man chooses values and actions by a process of thought based ultimately on a philosophical view of existence.” - Ayn Rand
By the time a human being has sufficiently developed mentally to a point capable of evaluating his or her own philosophy, he or she has already integrated a complex set of conceptual abstractions into a rigidly established world view. The initial step of an evaluative thought exercise is to separate out the primary foundational elements of knowledge in order to assess the validity of the concepts that, when accepted together, form a system of beliefs. The question everyone must ask – ‘Is my system of beliefs self-consistent, valid, and non-contradictory?’
Unfortunately, for most people, the answer is ‘No’. The majority of people do not expend the effort required to assess the validity of concepts before accepting them into their system of beliefs. As a result, contradicting concepts are introduced and accepted into their belief system without even consciously knowing it. Contradictions are built on top of contradictions, and the logical hierarchy upon which the definitions of abstract terms such as “morality” and “rights” rest become exceedingly difficult to unravel. As the system of ideas becomes increasingly inconsistent and self-contradicting, people tend to arbitrarily accept ideas to fit their view of how reality should be, not how things are. Following this road, people create new ideas and concepts detached from reality. A few examples may include; memorized customary sayings, random habits, hunches / feelings, and concretes detached from any logical hierarchy such as talking points you may hear on the local news about the new bill pending vote in Congress.
This is precisely why an examination of one's integrated world view is essential. The process requires effort - perhaps a more demanding and more honest mental effort than one has had to exert before. Most Americans' understanding of ethics and politics is fundamentally flawed with logical fallacies because they blindly accept random concepts pushed by the media, politicians, and state-run schools as unquestionable fact.
If you value life, the foundation of your life must be a consistent philosophy of reason. A = A is the only formula to save America. Each individual person must identify things as they are and eliminate contradictions. A rational philosophy of life is incompatible with one of blind acceptance.
A $ A
On to Metaphysics →
Questions? Comments? Feedback? Submit your thoughts here.
