Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology

By Ayn Rand

2nd edition, edited by Harry Binswanger and Leonard Peikoff

Ayn Rand states her revolutionary theory of concepts; transcripts of invaluable epistemology workshops she conducted are also included.

Topics covered include: What qualifies as an entity? How the act of abstracting is volitionally initiated. Do definitions narrow or expand as knowledge increases? How to validate induction. The meaning of "implicit concept."

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword to the First Edition by Ayn Rand

1. Cognition and Measurement

2. Concept-Formation

3. Abstraction from Abstractions

4. Concepts of Consciousness

5. Definitions

6. Axiomatic Concepts

7. The Cognitive Role of Concepts

8. Consciousness and Identity

Summary

The Analytic-Synthetic Dichotomy by Leonard Peikoff

Appendix: Excerpts from the Epistemological Workshops

Foreward to the Second Edition by Leonard Peikoff

Preface by Harry Binswanger

Appendix Contents

Appendix

Index