Does Objectivism: the Philosophy of Ayn Rand affirm mind independent existence of the physical world?

[Frank]

I have "Objectivism: the Philosophy of Ayn Rand" in my Amazon cart and am about to buy it. However, while reading the preview, I came across this statement, on page 5, after a discussion of foundational axioms: "The concept does not specify that the physical world exists."

I've had my fill to sickness with philosophies that question the existence of the physical world, and ones that set up a great doubt about it, while neither confirming nor denying its existence. I am interested in Objectivism as a solution to doubting the external world, which I see as a serious flaw in many philosophies, as this doubt means that there is no reason to read the book in the first place, as the author is telling me I shouldn't be confident that it exists at all (ditto for every philosophy that plays this game).

Forgive me for this being related to my other question! I just wanted to confirm before paying around 20 dollars for the book, and this very specific question about a specific book is not quite answered in that question.

Edited December 31, 2021 by Frank

[mike o]

You will find no issue in that regard. Proceed to check out.

[Frank]

9 hours ago, mike o said:

You will find no issue in that regard. Proceed to check out.

Thank you. Does the book circle back around at some point and affirm what was left deliberately open in that line though? Because at this point, it sounds like the philosophy carefully, openly, and deliberately avoids this issue: "The concept does not specify that the physical world exists." So, does the author later explain a concept that does specify that the physical world exists?

Edited December 31, 2021 by Frank

[mike o]

Yes

[Frank]

51 minutes ago, mike o said:

Yes

Thanks! I have been studying dead end, self defeating philosophy for 20 years, enough for a thousand lifetimes (as circular logic and meaningless ruminations get a lot of mileage), and am pleased to have found one that is productive and useful. I appreciate the clarification.