Concepts and Propositions

Ayn Rand’s theory of concepts is revolutionary in the field of philosophy, and it forms the backbone of the Objectivist theory of knowledge. In this course, given at Objectivist Summer Conference 2017 (OCON), Harry Binswanger lays out the intricacies of Rand’s theory and offers his own elaborations. He also examines the important bond between concepts in thought and propositions in language. The course draws on material from his recent book, How We Know: Epistemology on an Objectivist Foundation, and it builds on Binswanger’s OCON 2016 course, The Foundations of Knowledge.

The course addresses such questions as:

  • How are increasingly abstract concepts formed?
  • What is a hierarchy and why is it important?
  • What is the relation between cognition and grammar?
  • What does the way humans think imply about how we should act?
Not Enrolled

Course Includes

  • 6 Lessons
  • Course Faculty

    Dr. Binswanger, Ph.D. in philosophy, was an associate of Ayn Rand’s and is editor of The Ayn Rand Lexicon and co-editor of the revised edition of Ayn Rand’s Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology. He is the author of How We Know and The Biological Basis of Teleological Concepts and was the founding editor/publisher of The Objectivist Forum. In addition to owning and moderating the Harry Binswanger Letter.