Proof of the Mind's Access to Objective Truth(steve-patterson.com)
steve-patterson.com
Proof of the Mind's Access to Objective Truth
http://steve-patterson.com/on-the-minds-access-to-objective-truth/
http://steve-patterson.com/on-the-minds-access-to-objective-truth/
I’ve heard this argument many times. Supposedly, we cannot know anything about the world because we cannot “get outside our own minds” to verify whether our claims are true. ==========================================
The author has heard this numerous times because it is the fundamental premise at the base of Kant's philosophy and the predominant philosophy today. Fortunately, Ayn Rand has identified this error and blown Kant's whole system of thought sky high. Unfortunately, modern intellectuals aren't wise enough to check their premises.
The essence of the error, that reintroduced mysticism back into Western thought, is a denial of the identity of consciousness (hat tip to Aristotle for identifying that existence is identity and Rand for identifying that that principle applies to consciousness as well). Kant's standard of knowledge is a denial of ALL knowledge, of consciousness as such. It is a demand for consciousness to be aware by no means whatsoever or transcend its means of awareness to validate its means of awareness. This is utter nonsense.
This will be an interesting litmus test for Steve Patterson because as everyone knows, Rand is a sociopath and a philosophic ignoramus. Time will tell.