Bush, Kerry, Binswanger And Peikoff

[Thoyd Loki]

Eddie, learn how to use the quotes, your posts are very tedious to read. Thank You.

[BurgessLau]

BurgesLau: “In reading back through your posts, I see that you use the term "absolute" many times. What idea does that term name for you? In other words, to what does absolute refer?”

Some philosophers use the term absolute to mean reality as a unity[...]

Rand doesn’t use the term in quite that ways far as I understand it, she says that reality or the external world exists as an objective absolute, independently of man’s consciousness.

She also seems to believe [...]

Eddie

Eddie: You did not answer my question. I will repeat it from my previous post, but with added emphasis in italics:

"In reading back through your posts, I see that you use the term 'absolute' many times. What idea does that term name for you? In other words, in your philosophy, to what does absolute refer?"

In summary, please define "absolute" as you have used it and as you mean it.

A formal definition, by genus and differentia, would be most helpful.

I realize that that is a difficult task. If you do not know what absolute means when you use the term, then perhaps (1) you can retract your previous uses of the term, and (2) the participants in this thread might offer suggestions.

[Eddie]

BurgessLau: “In summary, please define "absolute" as you have used it and as you mean it. A formal definition, by genus and differentia, would be most helpful.”

The short answer is that wherever possible I avoid using the term absolute in a philosophical context. I don’t find it particularly informative or helpful, unless discussing certain 19th century idealist philosophers.

As I mentioned, their use of the term denotes reality as a unified whole, so it’s not possible to apply genus and differentia to that meaning, since the absolute is regarded as a class of its own.

In my previous posts, I used the term three or four times out of necessity, because I was referring to Rand’s use of the term, not mine. So how does she use it? In an essay titled “Introducing Objectivism”, she says: “Reality exists as an objective absolute—facts are facts, independent of man's feelings, wishes, hopes or fears.”

Here she is saying that reality – by which I understand she means the world external to humans – exists in a certain way. However, I cannot say whether or not she means the term absolute to refer to a real-world object.

My understanding of absolute is that it is an expressive concept that means, among other things: self-existent, perfect, complete, independent, non-relative, unconditioned, unqualified, unlimited. It’s a term which is more connotative that denotative, in that few or any existing objects would wholly conform to these descriptions.

While definitions are valuable and useful, they are only one aspect of cognition. Just as important is the way that terms are used, and my previous posts have focused on that aspect.

Eddie