Transcript Reason - The Atlas Society

Atlas Shrugged as a
Philosophical Novel
David Kelley
and
William Thomas
Summer Seminar
2006
Atlas Shrugged As A Philosophical Novel
Lecture III
Reason versus anti-reason
William Thomas
Outline
I. The Principle: Reason is the source of productive achievement
Contradiction and non-contradiction
II. Plot implementation: the mystery story format of apparent
contradictions
III. Characterization: John Galt versus JamesTaggart, Hugh Akston
vs. the irrational intellectuals
IV. Clearest Statement of the theme: Galt’s speech
V. Buried riches: rational emotions
Reason
"Man cannot survive except by gaining knowledge, and reason is
his only means to gain it. Reason is the faculty that
perceives, identifies and integrates the material
provided by his senses. The task of his senses is to give
him the evidence of existence, but the task of identifying it
belongs to his reason, his senses tell him only that something is,
but what it is must be learned by his mind.”
— “This is John Galt Speaking,” Atlas Shrugged, p. 933
Production and Reason
Production is the means by which human beings maintain their
survival:
 By creating food, shelter, medicine, etc.
 By creating knowledge and technologies that raise the
standard of living
 By creating art works, counseling techniques,
philosophies, and other vital spiritual goods
Production is only possible through the use of reason:
 To identify valuable things in the world
 To connect cause and effect
 To envision an alternative to what is given in perception.
Anti-Reason
 “Mystics of spirit”
Hold that the highest truths cannot be known by reason. Logic
is mundane: we must rely on faith and intuition to guide us.
(In fact, they act on their emotions.)
 “Mystics of muscle”
Hold that logic and reason are incoherent: we must rely on
feeling and instinct to guide us
(In fact, they act on their emotions)
“For centuries, the mystics of spirit have proclaimed that faith is superior to
reason, but have not dared deny the existence of reason. Their heirs
and products, the mystics of muscle, have completed their job and
achieved their dream: they proclaim that everything is faith, and call it a
revolt against believing.”
— “This is John Galt Speaking,” Atlas Shrugged, p. 958
Contradiction and Non-Contradiction
“Logic is the art of non-contradictory identification. A contradiction cannot
exist... To arrive at a contradiction is to confess an error in one’s
thinking.”
— Atlas Shrugged, p. 933
Canons of Logic:
• Identity
A is A
• Non-Contradiction
A is not non-A
• Excluded Middle
Either A or non-A
A is A
"Are you seeking to know what is wrong with the world?
All the disasters that have wrecked your world, came
from your leaders' attempt to evade the fact that A is
A. All the secret evil you dread to face within you and
all the pain you have ever endured, came from your
own attempt to evade the fact that A is A. The
purpose of those who taught you to evade it, was to
make you forget that Man is Man.
— “This is John Galt Speaking,” Atlas Shrugged, p. 933
Some Contradictions in Atlas Shrugged

Part 1:
Dagny Taggart is thought passion-less and unfeminine
Great producers are disappearing
Francisco D’Anconia: Industrialist or fribble?
San Sebastian mines: Known to be rich, but worthless.
Hank Rearden: Loves his mills, not his wife.
The leading intellectuals produce dreck.
The John Galt Line achieves nothing.
A revolutionary motor lies in an abandoned factory.
 Part 2:
Dagny searches for an inventor and a destroyer.
A notorious pirate is courteous and principled.
Increased government controls yield economic chaos.
 Part 3:
Dagny agrees with the Strike intellectually, but cannot give up Taggart
Transcontinental emotionally.
An ivory-tower intellectual tries to seize power by force of arms.
The government wants to force Galt to rule.
Reason and Anti-Reason: Characterization
 John Galt
 Dagny Taggart vs. James Taggart
 Hugh Akston vs. Robert Stadler
 Simon Pritchett, etc.
 Cuffy Meigs, etc.
Reason in Galt’s Speech
 "'We know that we know nothing,' they chatter, blanking out the
fact that they are claiming knowledge—'There are not
absolutes,' they chatter, blanking out the fact that they are
uttering an absolute—'You cannot prove that you exist or that
you're conscious,' they chatter, blanking out the fact that proof
presupposes existence, consciousness and a complex chain of
knowledge: the existence of something to know, of a
consciousness able to know it, and of a knowledge that has
learned to distinguish between such concepts as the proved and
the unproved.”
Outline
I. The Principle: Reason is the source of productive achievement
Contradiction and non-contradiction
II. Plot implementation: the mystery story format of apparent
contradictions
III. Characterization: John Galt versus JamesTaggart, Hugh Akston
vs. the irrational intellectuals
IV. Clearest Statement of the theme: Galt’s speech
V. Buried riches: rational emotions