If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my FREE newsletter or RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Ayn Rand outlined 2 key principles of intellectual integrity that must exist in order to participate in any open discussion of intellectual renaissance. They are as follows:
a. Emotions are not tools of cognition
b. No man has the right to initiate the use of physical force against others
Regarding these she simply states:
One principle is epistemological, the other is moral; they are not axioms, but until a man has proved them to himself and has accepted them, he is not fit for an intellectual discussion.
Being the founder of objectivism, the first is obviously with the purpose of allowing reason to guide the intellect and not emotion as has been the tendency with mysticism, ignorant tradition, and dictative religion. The second having the purpose of allowing reason to decide the discussion- not intimidation, threats, or “public policy” but freedom and free thought. Also, this carried the purpose of allowing one to choose for oneself, as an individual with individual wants and needs and not forced into the collective thought stream of society.
