| Reasonism |
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Reasonism is first and foremost a philosophy for man's life on earth. While Reasonism was inspired, in part, by Objectivism—the philosophy of Ayn Rand—the Reasonist philosophy varies significantly on several topics. Like any philosophy, Reasonism is broken down into these five core parts: metaphysics, epistemology, morality, politico-economics, and arts and aesthetics. Origin The Reasonist philosophy was one born out of the necessity. It is seen by its founders—Patrick White and Isaiah Switcher—to differentiate between their world view and that of Objectivist Philosopher Ayn Rand, who held that in order to be an Objectivist one had to believe exactly as she did. Inspired more by the philosophy of fiction author Terry Goodkind than by Rand's Objectivism, Reasonism is an attempt by White and Switcher to improve upon Rand's original concept. A philosophy is, or should be, an integrated view of existence by which man lives his life. While Ayn Rand made numerous great advancements in this field, she did not address all of the problems that remain in modern philosophy (not by some personal fault of her own; it is unrealistic to expect such from an individual with only a single lifetime). Thus, while many, if not all, of her core ideas can and should be maintained (and, for the most part, are, in Reasonism), Reasonism also seeks to expand and improve upon these basics, while eliminating problems within Miss Rand's own worldview (which resulted either from a failure to apply her own principles to her worldview or by a simple lack of information that was not available during her lifetime, but which is today). Thus, Reasonism is an open system, constantly integrating new knowledge and continuing to answer questions which may arise from living life, while maintaining closed irrefutable basic principles. Switcher agreed with White's suggestion that, given their disagreements with important portions of Miss Rand's philosophy, it would be best to make a clear distinction between the two, and thus Reasonism was born. The foundation of the philosophy, epistemologically, is man's faculty of reason, and as such it was agreed that "Reasonism" was a fitting name. Metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that deals with questions of existence and reality that transcend the principles dealt with by any particular branch of science. The metaphysics of Reasonism are identical to those of Objectivism. Existence exists, and only existence exists. To put it negatively, non-existence does not and cannot exist. Existence is primary, that is, existence is the pre-requisite for everything else, including identity, consciousness, concepts, etc. This principle is contrary to all consciousness-is-primary systems of metaphysics. According to consciousness-is-primary metaphysics, some form of consciousness pre-dated existence and actually willed existence into existence. When worded this way, consciousness-is-primary metaphysics is shown to fall in on itself due to its contradictory nature. Consciousness is a means of awareness of existence, and a consciousness with no existence to be aware of is a contradiction in terms. A consciousness aware only of itself is a contradiction in terms for the same reason. Again, consciousness is a means of awareness of existence, not an existent itself. It follows then that a consciousness that pre-dates existence is a metaphysical contradiction. Further, existence is absolute. It is governed by set laws that determine how existing things work and are able to interact. Discovery and study of those laws is given to the field of science, but the existence of those laws has a necessary impact on our understanding of metaphysical reality, namely in their relationship to the Law of Identity, or the Law of Non-Contradiction. The Law of Identity states that A is A and cannot be non-A. No amount of wishing, praying, chanting, or demanding will change reality. Only by following the non-contradictory laws of existence can reality be affected. For this reason Reasonism denies the validity of the "mind over matter" mentality. Reasonists hold that reality, in order to be controlled, must be obeyed. Due to the contradictory and unreasonable nature of religion, Reasonists are atheists and Reasonism denies the validity of any and all forms of mysticism, Creationism, and the existence of a creator. Epistemology Epistemology is the study of knowledge and the means by which man gains it. Here again the Objectivist and Reasonist philosophies are largely in agreement. Reasonist philosophy holds that the only means of cognition, that is thought and knowledge building, available to man is his faculty of reason. Reason is the process, from perception to identification, by which man gains knowledge. The name Reasonism is derived from the primacy of reason in epistemology; in man's quest for knowledge about existence. The process begins with the senses and perception. Man gains the first building block of his knowledge though his senses and the way they interact with existing things. This first step in the process is vitally important, because it starts us out on a non-contradictory and objective path. Every existent impinges on every man's senses in the exact same way. While different men may feel differently about an object, the way that the object is perceived is the same for every man, because the existent is the same for every man. While certain aspects of the object may not be available to certain people (such as color to the color blind) the object is still perceived in the exact same way no matter who is seeing it. This is because our senses only relay to us the facts about whatever object has impinged upon them, and the facts are objective (see Metaphysics: Existence) . When our senses are impinged upon, they relay the data to our brains, and the second step begins. This second step, integration, is where our brain, through non-contradictory logic, takes this data and integrates it into the entirety of our knowledge through logical comparisons. For instance, the abstraction "round" is a word used to describe the concrete (as opposed to abstract) shape of a given object. All such objects are classified as round. When our brain receives the perceptory data of a "round" object we integrate it as round. All other perceptory data about the object is classified and categorized in the same way, by comparing that knowledge to the knowledge we have already gained. Once the data is integrated, our rational process moves to the third and final step. The third step is identification. At this juncture we have received the raw data, integrated it into the hierarchy of our knowledge, and can now, through logical contrast, differentiate between this object and others. This process, wherein we add up the abstractions--such as round, solid, rough, brown, supported by a certain number of equally solid ,long, rough and brown objects- results in a more specific abstraction for a concrete object. In this case, a table. These are the three basic steps. Once this has been done initially for a given type of object the process becomes stream-lined, and, sticking with our example, "table" can be more easily and readily inferred. Reason is the only method of cognition that follows these steps. Faith, the antithesis of reason, relies on feelings and preferences, rather than objective facts, to draw its conclusions. It is possible to get an occasional right answer by means of faith but not with any consistency. Reason is the only tool of cognition whereby man can gain consistently correct knowledge about reality. Reasonism rejects all forms of faith as tools of cognition. Faith is the tool of distortion, because no concrete facts are needed to know something by means of faith. In fact faith has led billions and billions of people to know that a super-natural ghost is watching them—from a mountain top, another world, or some spiritual reality not accessible to reason, and not subject to objective scrutiny—despite the concrete facts of reality. Reasonism promotes rational thought as man's cognitive tool. Morality Ethics is the branch of philosophy that deals with right and wrong, good and evil, in terms of man and man's interactions with other men. Morality is the area in which Objectivism and Reasonism differ most. Objectivist morality concerns itself with intra-personal issues (value issues) only, relegating inter-personal issues into the realm of politics and holds that certain value judgments are immoral, as per the statements of Ayn Rand. One example is sexual preference. Rand held that homosexuality was immoral. The Reasonist philosophy recognizes that all men have the right to engage in any activity, by mutual consent, and to mutual benefit, that they so choose, so long as they do not violate the rights of others. How man chooses and acts upon his values is also a concern of morality—specifically, intra-personal morality. Reasonism refers to these two areas of morality as social-ethics and self-ethics. The Reasonist stance on social-ethics is summed up in the concept of non-infringement. The moral man is the man who does not infringe on the rights of another. Reasonism holds that each man is truly an end in himself and not the means to the ends of others. Morally speaking, any man may do whatsoever he pleases, so long as his actions do not infringe on the rights of any other man. The Reasonist philosophy also draws the social aspect of its morality from metaphysics. The Reasonist concept of right and wrong in morality is a metaphysical, not just an ethical, concept. All immoral actions reduce to an attempt to violate the law of non-contradiction. An immoral action is an attempt to affect reality without following the rules of reality. For example, by taking something that does not belong to you by using force, you have made an attempt to will it by means of force to change its identity. You have not succeeded. The stolen item is still the property of whomever it was stolen from. To claim it as yours is both metaphysically and morally wrong. All immoral acts can be traced back this way to the law of non-contradiction. As far as intra-personal issues are concerned, Reasonist Self-Ethics can be summed up by the phrase "rational self-interest". A man's values must, by necessity, have a basis in objective reality. Similarly, as all values are meaningless outside of volitional life, life is the standard of objective values (and, similarly, as reason is man's tool for survival, it is his core value). What you value, however, cannot be considered right or wrong, good or evil, in and of itself. Rather it is recognizing your values and holding to them that is right and betraying your values that is wrong, by the very definition of values. This can again be related to the law of non-contradiction: to attempt to contradict your own values is wrong; to hold a value contradictory to life, or reason, (which, by necessity, leads to a betrayal of value) is wrong. There are several things to keep in mind, here. First, it is not a betrayal, in this context, to give up a lesser value in pursuit of a greater value. All values are held in a hierarchy, and to give up a lesser value for a greater one is not a sacrifice - it is a gain; betrayal involves actual sacrifice. Second, self-ethics, being separated from social-ethics, thus implies a different kind of evil than social-ethics. A Social-Ethical wrong is the kind of wrong that involves the initiation of force and thus warrants retaliatory force. The self-ethical stance of Reasonism depends upon the "pre-moral choice" (in the words of Objectivist Allan Gotthelf) of life. A man cannot be forced to accept life as his standard of values, just as man cannot be forced to eat, but the betrayals, sacrifices, and, most importantly, the contradictions are his own. The individual so choosing is the only one who will suffer the consequences, so while it is the domain of another to look at it and say "That is wrong", it is not within their domain to stop the person (unless a threat is actually being posed to others besides the betraying individual). Reasonist Self-Ethics is, essentially, Objectivist Ethics. Overall, Reasonist morality can be compared to the famous line from the United States Declaration of Independence: "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Men have metaphysically intrinsic rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Attempted violation of these rights, be they by another unto a man (social), or by a man unto himself (self), is evil. Holding to these rights and taking the initiative to pursue your own happiness, via your values, in a non-contradictory and objective way, is good. Politico-Economics The Reasonist politico-economic system is Laissez-faire Capitalism, and it is directly derived from the social-ethical principle of non-infringement. Laissez-faire is short for "laissez faire, laissez aller, laissez passer", which is French for "Let do, let go, let pass." Laissez-faire is an economic system with a strictly free market, with no government interference or regulation. Its political corollary is true right-libertarianism. Right-libertarianism holds that each and every person's life is their own, and that so long as they do not infringe on the liberties of others, they should be allowed to do as they please with no government interference. Right-libertarianism is in perfect agreement with the Reasonist morality. Both the Laissez-faire and Right Theorist systems advocate personal freedom and protection of individual rights. Reasonists hold that, as a part of the limited government Right Theorist system, there should be two branches of government: one for defense, with a police force for domestic defense, and a military for international defense; and one for arbitration in the case of disagreements between rational individuals. Both of these branches must and can be supported without forced taxation, and both must be separate from the economy of the nation in order to ensure impartiality. Reasonism promotes individualism and freedom. Aesthetics Reasonists, again like Objectivists, hold art to be "a selective recreation of reality according to the artist's metaphysical value judgments." Reasonists thus appreciate works of art which portray values they appreciate - from basic, sense of life judgments of man as volitional and competent in a non-malevolent universe, to works that portray more advanced value-concepts such as freedom, individualism, justice, pride, heroism, truth and, above all else, reason - art which portrays man as he ought to be. Reasonism is a philosophy that promotes the best in man and encourages him to be the best that he can be. Reasonism is the philosophy for the hero in man. |