Andrew Bernstein
Born
The United States
Website
Genre
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Rand's Atlas Shrugged
by
17 editions
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published
2000
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The Capitalist Manifesto: The Historic, Economic and Philosophic Case for Laissez-Faire
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published
2005
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Objectivism in One Lesson: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Ayn Rand
4 editions
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published
2008
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Capitalism Unbound: The Incontestable Moral Case for Individual Rights
7 editions
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published
2009
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The Fountainhead (Cliffs Notes)
10 editions
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published
2000
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Heart of a Pagan
2 editions
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published
2002
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Heroes, Legends, Champions: Why Heroism Matters
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Capitalist Solutions: A Philosophy of American Moral Dilemmas
8 editions
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published
2011
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Breaking the Stress Cycle: 7 Steps to Greater Resilience, Happiness, and Peace of Mind
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Rand's Anthem (Cliffs Notes)
by
4 editions
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published
2000
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“Each one of us has the power — and must develop the will — to be the hero of his own life. We believe in goals, in purposes, in achievement and in the joy of living.”
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“Theologians, and religionists in general, start with a fantasy premise and then proceed to apply rigorous formal logic to tease out its implications. Stark himself points out that “theology consists of formal reasoning about God.” This is admirably exact. Theologians, beginning with a wished-for creation of their own minds, analyze that creation’s characteristics by rigorous application of the principles of formal—that is, deductive—logic.”
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“In the history of philosophy, the term “rationalism” has two distinct meanings. In one sense, it signifies an unbreached commitment to reasoned thought in contrast to any irrationalist rejection of the mind. In this sense, Aristotle and Ayn Rand are preeminent rationalists, opposed to any form of unreason, including faith. In a narrower sense, however, rationalism contrasts with empiricism as regards the false dichotomy between commitment to so-called “pure” reason (i.e., reason detached from perceptual reality) and an exclusive reliance on sense experience (i.e., observation without inference therefrom). Rationalism, in this sense, is a commitment to reason construed as logical deduction from non-observational starting points, and a distrust of sense experience (e.g., the method of Descartes). Empiricism, according to this mistaken dichotomy, is a belief that sense experience provides factual knowledge, but any inference beyond observation is a mere manipulation of words or verbal symbols (e.g., the approach of Hume). Both Aristotle and Ayn Rand reject such a false dichotomy between reason and sense experience; neither are rationalists in this narrow sense.
Theology is the purest expression of rationalism in the sense of proceeding by logical deduction from premises ungrounded in observable fact—deduction without reference to reality. The so-called “thinking” involved here is purely formal, observationally baseless, devoid of facts, cut off from reality. Thomas Aquinas, for example, was history’s foremost expert regarding the field of “angelology.” No one could match his “knowledge” of angels, and he devoted far more of his massive Summa Theologica to them than to physics.”
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Theology is the purest expression of rationalism in the sense of proceeding by logical deduction from premises ungrounded in observable fact—deduction without reference to reality. The so-called “thinking” involved here is purely formal, observationally baseless, devoid of facts, cut off from reality. Thomas Aquinas, for example, was history’s foremost expert regarding the field of “angelology.” No one could match his “knowledge” of angels, and he devoted far more of his massive Summa Theologica to them than to physics.”
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