It takes work to identify our own frameworks. Good philosophers shake us out of our parochialisms. This is one point on which Rand and one of the founders of analytic philosophy, Bertrand Russell, agree: philosophy done well helps us to become self-conscious of our deepest premises and to call them into question.

It takes additional work to identify the premises and methods of a figure who does not share ours. When we aren’t fully self-conscious of our own basic frameworks, and we encounter someone who rejects ours, they appear amateurish, stupid, or both. That might be a problem with their framework, but it could be a problem with ours. It takes work to sort out where the problem lies.

When we encounter a philosopher who doesn’t share our framework and defends views that we find morally repugnant, we have still a further obstacle to overcome. We must step outside of our initial repugnance to fully grasp where the philosopher is coming from and to fully evaluate the merits of their perspective.

- Mike Mazza. Why Can’t Professional Philosophers Get Rand Right?.


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3/25/2024, 5:00:17 PM  -  8 months ago.

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