@@ -1,7 +1,66 @@-Describe [
Objectivism] here
.
+Objectivism is the name that Ayn Rand gave to the philosophical system
+that she discovered
. It is the answer to the questions posed in the five
+main branches of philosophy as Plato defined them. (See above.)
+
+Ayn Rand is an Aristotelian philosopher. Since Objectivism
+answers the fundamental questions that Plato posed on the nature of
+the universe, of the mind, of human life on this earth and man's life
+in society, it is also a Western philosophy. This means that Ayn Rand
+is in the same tradition as other great Western philosophers such
+as Aristotle, Plato, St. Thomas Aquinas, John Locke, Baruch Spinoza
+and Rene Descartes. This includes her declared enemies including
+the philosopher Immanuel Kant and the myraids of twentieth-century
+professional philosphers who do not merit that label.
+
+In contrast to the great majority of philosophers and philosophies of
+the last two millenia, Objectivism is a secular philosophy. But
+most importantly, Objectivism is true. As a result, it has practical
+consequences and beneficial consequences for life on this earth if
+properly applied to one's life.
+
+Since the beginning of the twentieth century, philosophy as a guide to
+life has become a dead subject. Ayn Rand through Objectivism has
+rescued philosophy and has once again given legitimacy to the
+Enlightenment ideal of living a life of reason.
+
+Ayn Rand summarized her philosophy in "The Objectivist Newsletter" in 1962:
+
+# Metaphysics: Objective Reality
+# Epistemology: Reason
+# Ethics: Self Interest
+# Politics: Laissez-faire capitalism
+
+1. Reality exists as an objective absolute--facts are facts, independent
+of man's feelings, wishes, hopes or fears.
+
+2. Reason (the faculty which identifies and integrates the material
+provided by man's senses) is man's only means of perceiving reality, his
+only source of knowledge, his only guide to action, and his basic means
+of survival.
+
+3. Man--every man--is an end in himself, not the means to the ends of
+others. He must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to
+others nor sacrificing others to himself. The pursuit of his own rational
+self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of
+his life.
+
+4. The ideal political-economic system is laissez-faire capitalism.
+It is a system where men deal with one another, not as victims and
+executioners, nor as masters and slaves, but as traders, by free,
+voluntary exchange to mutual benefit. It is a system where no man may
+obtain any values from others by resorting to physical force, and no
+man may initiate the use of physical force against others. The
+government acts only as a policeman that protects man's rights; it uses
+physical force only in retaliation and only against those who
+initiate its use, such as criminals and foreign invaders. In a system
+of full capitalism, there should be (but historically has not yet been)
+a complete separation of state and economics, in the same way and for
+the same reasons as the separation of state and church."
+
+[ref: The Objectivist FAQ|http://www.faqs.org/faqs/objectivism/faq/]
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