rwsh@hound.UUCP (R.STUBBLEFIELD) (01/14/86)
I noticed only one response to two articles I posted just before Christmas; so I am reposting them (after some slight edits). --- Thanks to those of you who raised questions on my previous articles arguing that reason and force are opposites. I've taken a week to compose an essay responding to questions ranging from, "Can you say let them eat cake?" to "Doesn't your concept of reason necessitate infallibility?" The essay is 216 lines long so I've posted it separately from this thank you note. A few points about the essay: 1. Although the essay is long, I have edited it. (I entered 30992 Multimate keystrokes and a round of vi corrections, but the result is 13990 characters.) 2. I've tried to delimit the topic to an issue of fact: When we remove all the ambiguities that stem from equivocations, what we name by the concept of force is the opposite of what we name by reason. I would appreciate it if responses are addressed to this single issue. Although I can prove reason is a value, I have not attempted that derivation here. If we (or at least some subset of us) cannot reach some common level of understanding on issues as basic as reason and force, there is no reason to discuss more complex topics. 3. Here are some contra-indicators for your reading the essay (or, at least, for your providing any useful feedback). a. You don't think reality is independent of your consciousness. (I.e., you are a subjectivist.) b. You don't believe you have to make an effort to make sure your beliefs are knowledge. (I.e., you are an intrinsicist.) c. You don't believe your senses give you information of reality. (I.e., you are a skeptic.) d. You don't believe concepts of consciousness have any explanatory value. (I.e., you are a determinist.) 4. Jan Wasilewski asked if I am an Objectivist. Yes--if you mean one who grasps and advocates the essentials of the philosophy of Ayn Rand. No--if that label is taken as someone who parrots Ayn Rand's statements without understanding them. Such a person is properly labeled an intrinsicist. No--if you take that label as one who is authorized by Ayn Rand's estate to represent Objectivist views. Thanks again. I appreciate reasoned feedback. -- Bob Stubblefield ihnp4!hound!rwsh 201-949-2846