In order to live, man must act; in order to act, he must make choices; in order to make choices, he must define a code of values; in order to define a code of values, he must know what he is and where he is—i.e., he must know his own nature (including his means of knowledge) and the nature of the universe in which he acts—i.e., he needs metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, which means: philosophy. He cannot escape from this need; his only alternative is whether the philosophy guiding him is to be chosen by his mind or by chance.– Ayn Rand, “Philosophy and Sense of Life,” The Romantic Manfesto, 30
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
On the Value of Philosophy
A quote from Ayn Rand:
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Rand says "...whether the philosophy guiding him is to be chosen by his mind OR by chance." I submit that it is never "OR", but rather, always an "AND". It's really more of a question of how much of one versus how much of the other, not so much "which" one.
ReplyDeleteSurvivor, I agree that it is always BOTH some CHOICE and some CHANCE. BTW, your other comment was moved to “The Platinum Rule”.
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