Understanding Objectivism Quotes

“Induction means really the process of coming to conclusions on the basis of observation. Deduction is the process of coming to conclusions on the basis of earlier abstractions.”
― Leonard Peikoff, Understanding Objectivism: A Guide to Learning Ayn Rand's Philosophy

“Our consciousness as a complex, detailed identity is conceptual, volitional, contextual, purposeful, emotional, and all of this will be reflected in our knowledge; all of this will have effects. First of all, on how to acquire knowledge, on the right procedures; and second of all, on the form in which knowledge is held in our minds,”
― Leonard Peikoff, Understanding Objectivism: A Guide to Learning Ayn Rand's Philosophy

“What is the methodological point? You must grasp clearly—before you launch into a whole complexity of understanding and proving something—the meaning of the idea you’re trying to understand. And you do this by restating it in several ways, making sure that the full content of that idea is set out before you. You’re trying to grasp its relation to reality, so you need to know clearly what it says; that is your agenda, that’s your goal. It’s not enough to get a smattering and then rush into some kind of argument. You set it out leisurely, thoroughly, stress how much there is to this idea that you want to understand, and then you’ll know, when you’ve achieved this, that you’ve reached the target.”
― Leonard Peikoff, Understanding Objectivism: A Guide to Learning Ayn Rand's Philosophy

“Fundamental philosophic ideas are almost always profoundly controversial. They are not bromides; they are not self-evident, unless it’s like “A is A.” They involve tremendous abstraction and tremendous complexity. And therefore, if you find that you can zip them off in one or two sentences that absolutely no one could ever question, the chances are very strong that you did something wrong, that you missed out on what this idea actually says.”
― Leonard Peikoff, Understanding Objectivism: A Guide to Learning Ayn Rand's Philosophy

“So the first issue of a proper method is always set the proper context. What are you counting on? What do you already know by the time you get to this point? What are you taking for granted that enables you to study this particular topic?”
― Leonard Peikoff, Understanding Objectivism: A Guide to Learning Ayn Rand's Philosophy