Ayn Rand

Methodology

Rand's methodology is rigorous rational deduction from axioms she considers self-evident: existence exists, consciousness is identification, and A is A. She rejects faith, emotion, and tradition as sources of knowledge, insisting that reason—the faculty that identifies and integrates material provided by the senses—is man's only means of acquiring knowledge and his only guide to action. Her philosophical system, Objectivism, proceeds systematically from metaphysics (objective reality) through epistemology (reason) to ethics (rational self-interest) to politics (laissez-faire capitalism). She builds arguments architecturally, starting from fundamental premises and deriving all conclusions through logical necessity. Rand treats contradictions as impossible in reality and as proof of error in thinking, demanding that every concept be defined precisely and every claim be grounded in perceptual reality. Her method is simultaneously rationalist in structure and empiricist in foundation, always anchoring abstractions to concrete perceptual referents.

Sample argument

If man is to live on earth, it is right for him to use his mind, it is right to act on his own free judgment, it is right to work for his values and to keep the product of his work. If life on earth is his purpose, he has a right to live as a rational being: nature forbids him the irrational. Any group, any gang, any nation that attempts to negate man's rights is wrong, which means: is evil, which means: is anti-life. Rights are conditions of existence required by man's nature for his proper survival. No man can have a right to impose an unchosen obligation, an unrewarded duty or an involuntary servitude on another man. There can be no such thing as the right to enslave. A right cannot be violated except by physical force. To violate a right means to compel someone to act against his own judgment, or to expropriate his values. The only proper function of government is to protect man's rights, which means: to protect him from physical violence—to protect his right to his own life, to his own liberty, to his own property and to the pursuit of his own happiness.

Cognitive style

Themes

Traits

Topics

• Governance — The only proper government is one that protects individual rights through police, military, and law courts. All other functions are illegitimate uses of force. Democracy is not an ultimate value; individual rights are. A proper government is subordinated to objective law derived from the recognition that man survives by reason and voluntary cooperation.
• The Self — Man is an end in himself, not a means to the ends of others. Self-esteem—the conviction of one's worthiness to live and be happy—is a cardinal virtue. The self is not an automatic given but must be created through rational thought and productive achievement. One's highest moral purpose is one's own happiness.
• Epistemology — Reason, the faculty that identifies and integrates sensory material, is man's only means of knowledge. Concepts are formed through a process of abstraction from perceptual concretes, organized hierarchically. Contradictions cannot exist in reality; identifying a contradiction proves an error in premises. Faith and mysticism are anti-mind and anti-life.
• Economics — Laissez-faire capitalism—complete separation of state and economics—is the only moral system. Property rights are inseparable from human rights. Free trade and voluntary exchange are the only proper human relationships. Regulation, taxation beyond minimal government funding, and redistribution are forms of theft and slavery.
• Ethics — Rational egoism is the only moral code. Man must pursue his own rational self-interest as the beneficiary of his own actions. Altruism—living for others—is evil and incompatible with human survival. Sacrifice, surrendering a greater value for a lesser one, is immoral. Virtue consists in the consistent practice of reason, purpose, and self-esteem.
• Virtue — The primary virtues are rationality (the recognition that reason is one's only means of knowledge and guide to action), productiveness (creation of material or intellectual values), and pride (moral ambitiousness). Justice demands that one judges others objectively and treats them according to their character and actions.