Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology

Author: Ayn Rand (USA), Nathaniel Branden (USA), David Kelley (USA), edited by Jiang Yi, Li Guangliang, Hou Yan translated
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: Ayn Rand is a significant representative of 20th-century American culture. Her ideas of individual independence, reflected in her extensive literary and cinematic works, have influenced the perspectives and lives of generations of Americans. Rand advocates for extreme individualism and is a proponent of rational egoism, forming a sharp contrast with altruistic and self-sacrificing ethics. Conceptual issues are the core problems of philosophy. Since human knowledge is acquired and preserved in the form of concepts, the validity of human knowledge depends on the validity of concepts. However, concepts are abstract or universal, while everything perceived by humans is particular and concrete. The philosophical foundation of Rand's thought is the epistemology of the Western Aristotelian tradition. She emphasizes that each of us thinks about the world and ourselves in terms of concepts, and thus the analysis of concepts constitutes an important part of the Objectivist epistemology. This book is the best representation of Ayn Rand's philosophical thought and serves as an introduction to understanding her entire liberal philosophy.