humanities.philosophy.objectivism

On Mar 6, 6:01 pm, acar wrote:

> One case in point is my failure to understand what Objectivists mean
> by the rejection of "intrincisism". As I understand it the value of
> objectivity in an absolutist system (a system that rejects pragmatism)
> is related inextricably to the intrinsic truth of the "existent" that
> is being regarded objectively.
>
> It seems to me that Objectivism assumes the intrinsic truth of
> reality.

Incorrect. The problem you present is the reason that "truth"
must be distinguished from "fact" in an objectivist approach.

The assumption is not about truth, but about factuality.
Specifically,
it is the assumption (axiom) that reality is as it is, or that A is A.


> If one is to reach truth through objectivity, the thing about
> which one is being objective must itself be true.

No...it must be factual. This is "assumed" by way of an axiom.

If one is to reach truth, then one must integrate the facts
consistently with how they are. As Rand put it,
correspondingly.


> If there is intrinsic truth to reality,

Antecedent denied; consequent irrelevant.


> If Objectivism believes in the intrinsic truth of

Antecedent denied; consequent irrelevant.


>The sundering of objectivity from "intrincisism"
> strikes me as a "false dichotomy".

It would be, if truth were somehow intrinsically
carried in the referents of our identifications.

But since it's not, it's not. I'm surprised Kolker got this
closer than Schwartz, since Rand talks about it quite
a bit, as I recall. There are no intrinsic truths, unless
you want to count the axiom "A is A" as that.

For me, the interesting point is that Peikoff, presumably
in an attempt to resolve this particular confusion, somehow
went off the other deep end of rationalism, and outright
switched Objectivism from a correspondence philosophy
to a coherence philosophy.

That's why the most orthodox of today's "Objectivists" are
the most flaming of Subjectivists. Ask Betsy Speicher, and
she can explain how "relationships don't exist." Or you
can google it, I'm pretty sure.


jk