Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology

A startlingly original solution to the problem that brought about the collapse of modern philosophy: the problem of universals

Ayn Rand's brilliantly argued, superbly written work, together with an essay by philosophy professor Leonard Peikoff, is vital reading for all those who seek to discover that human beings can and should live by the guidance of reason.

Today man's mind is under attack by all the leading schools of philosophy. We are told that we cannot trust our senses, that logic is arbitrary, that concepts have no basis in reality. Rand opposes that torrent of nihilism, and she provides the alternative in this eloquent presentation of the essential nature – and power – of man's conceptual faculty.Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology - Ayn Rand Edited by Harry Binswanger and Leonard Peikoff
Expanded Second Edition

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 Epistemology Workshops:
Foreword to the Second Edition by Leonard Peikoff
Preface by Harry Binswanger
Appendix Contents
Appendix
Index

Born February 2, 1905, Ayn Rand published her first novel, We the Living, in 1936. Anthem followed in 1938. It was with the publication of The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957) that she achieved her spectacular success. Rand’s unique philosophy, Objectivism, has gained a worldwide audience. The fundamentals of her philosophy are put forth in three nonfiction books, Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, The Virtues of Selfishness, and Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal. They are all available in Signet editions, as is the magnificent statement of her artistic credo, The Romantic Manifesto.