Question 1

Now let us apply the principles we have been discussing to 2 outstanding falsehoods in the history of metaphysics:

Accepted Answer

Idealism and Materialism.

Question 2

The idealists-figures such as Plate, Plotinus, Augustine, Hegel-regard reality as ...?

Accepted Answer

A SPIRITUAL dimension transcending and controlling the world of nature, which latter is regarded as deficient, ephemeral, imperfect-in any event, as only PARTLY REAL.

Question 3

Since "spiritual", in fact, ...?

Accepted Answer

Has no meaning other than "pertaining to consciousness", the content of true reality in this view is invariably some FUNCTION or FORM OF CONSCIOUSNESS. ==> Plato's abstractions, Augustine's God, Hegel's Ideas. ==> This approach amounts to the primacy of consciousness and thus, as Ayn Rand puts it, to the advocacy of consciousness WITHOUT existence.

Question 4

In regard to epistemology, AR describes the idealists as ...?

Accepted Answer

Mystic of spirit. ==> Mystics because they hold that knowledge (of true reality) derives NOT from sense perception or from reasoning based on it, but from an otherworldly source, such as revelations or the equivalent.

Question 5

The more sophisticated versions of idealism rest on technical analyses of the nature of percepts or concepts; they will be considered in later chapters. The unsophisticated but popular version of idealism, which typically upholds a personalized other dimension, is ...?

Accepted Answer

RELIGION. ==> Essential to all versions of the creed ==> THE BELIEF IN THE SUPERNATURAL.

Question 6

"Supernatural", etymologically, means ...?

Accepted Answer

That which is above or beyond nature.

Question 7

"Nature", in turn, denotes ...?

Accepted Answer

Existence viewed from a certain perspective. ==> Nature is existence regarded as a system of interconnected entities governed by law. ==> It is the universe of entities acting and interacting in accordance with their identities.

Question 8

What then is a "supernatural nature"?

Accepted Answer

It would have to be a form of existence BEYOND EXISTENCE. ==> A thing BEYOND ENTITIES. ==> A SOMETHING BEYOND IDENTITY.

Question 9

The idea of the "supernatural" is an assault on everything man knows about reality.

Accepted Answer

It is a contradiction of every essential of a rational metaphysics. It represents a rejection of the basic axioms of philosophy. This can be illustrated by reference to any version of idealism. But let us confine the discussion here to the popular notion of God.

Question 10

Is God the creator of the universe?

Accepted Answer

Not if existence has primacy over consciousness.

Question 11

Is God the designer of the universe?

Accepted Answer

Not if A is A. The alternative "design" is not "chance", it is causality.

Question 12

Is God omnipotent?

Accepted Answer

Nothing and no one can alter the metaphysically given.

Question 13

Is God infinite?

Accepted Answer

"Infinite" does not mean large; it means larger than ANY specific quantity ==> OF NO SPECIFIC QUANTITY. ==> An infinite quantity would be a quantity without identity. But A is A. Every entity, accordingly, is finite. It is limited in the number of its qualities and in their extent. This applies to the universe as well. ==> As Aristotle was the first to observe, the concept of "infinity" denotes merely A POTENTIALITY of indefinite addition or subdivision. Eg one can continually subdivide a line; but however many segments one has reached at a given point, there are only that many and no more. ==> The ACTUAL IS ALWAYS FINITE.

Question 14

Can God perform miracles?

Accepted Answer

A "miracle" does not mean merely the unusual. ==> If a woman gives birth to twins, that is unusual; if she were to give birth to elephants, that would be miracle. ==> A miracle is an action not possible to the entities involved by their nature; it would be a VIOLATION OF IDENTITY.

Question 15

Is God purely spiritual?

Accepted Answer

"Spiritual" means pertaining to consciousness, and consciousness is a faculty of certain living organisms of perceiving that which exists. ==> A consciousness transcending nature would be a faculty transcending organism and object. ==> So far from being all-knowing, such a thing would have NEITHER MEANS nor CONTENT OF PERCEPTION. IT WOULD BE NON CONSCIOUS.

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Peikoff - Reality - Idealism And Materialism As The Rejection Of Basic Axioms Flashcards

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