This post will present a narrative about how man
survives when left to his own devices. My goal here is to identify the principles
that a person must accept in order to survive. Later, we will use this knowledge
to understand how to build a proper society.
I had originally written this chapter in the third person
and past tense. However, after reviewing it, I decided that it would read better
written in the first person present tense. I want the reader to speak for
himself in a direct way rather than read about an abstract theoretical other man.
I suggest that, as you read this, you put yourself in the place
of the person telling the story.
I start with a massive storm in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. My ship has broken to pieces and gone down. After a few hours of clinging to the rope of a capsized life boat, I find myself on the beach of a small island. The storm is over and I can finally rest. Tired of struggling against the
sea, I collapse on the beach before eventually recovering my senses. When I
look around, I notice the pieces of my broken ship that have washed up with me.
I survey my situation and wonder if I will ever return home. After a few
minutes, I realize that I must learn how to survive in my new circumstances.
Before I can begin working on my survival, I must hold
some fundamental ideas that are related to every thought and decision I make.
First, I must hold that absolutes exist, that reality is predictable; secondly,
I must hold that my mind is capable of identifying reality; and thirdly, I must
hold that only I can choose the values that will preserve my life. I am, after all,
alone in the world. Only I live in this body and only I think with this mind.
No one can do this for me, especially on this lonely island.
These fundamental ideas are of major importance for me.
If I hold that reality is not bound by absolute laws, I cannot count on a predictable
environment. If I think my mind is inefficacious, I will have no confidence in my
conclusions. And if I don’t use my mind, I will not know what to do.
How do I get from the need to survive to a knowledge of how
to survive? This is the question at the heart of morality. The answer is that I
need to identify the values I will pursue while on the island. And these values
must secure my survival in an absolute sense; they must actually achieve my
survival.
Ayn Rand identifies values as the foundation of the moral
life:
“Value is that which one acts to gain and/or keep—virtue
is the act by which one gains and/or keeps it. The three cardinal values of the
Objectivist ethics—the three values which, together, are the means to and the
realization of one’s ultimate value, one’s own life—are: Reason, Purpose,
Self-Esteem, with their three corresponding virtues: Rationality,
Productiveness, Pride”
Reason
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Purpose
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Self-esteem
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Rationality
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Productiveness
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Pride
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Reason is a wide abstraction that includes all the
principles necessary for correct thinking. The process of reasoning is a formal
process that makes up what is called rational thinking. The virtue that helps me
achieve my purpose is called productiveness which is the practice of “making”
or creating the things needed for survival. Self-esteem is both the cause of
and the consequence of successful thinking while pride is the result of
achieving my purpose through production.
"A process of reason is a process of constant choice
in answer to the question: True or False?—Right or Wrong?"
“Productive work is the central purpose of a rational
man’s life, the central value that integrates and determines the hierarchy of
all his other values. Reason is the source, the precondition of his productive
work—pride is the result.”
Of prime importance for me on the island is my
development and use of concepts. “A ‘concept’ is a mental integration of two or
more perceptual concretes, which are isolated by a process of abstraction and
united by means of a specific definition. Every word in man’s language, with
the exception of proper names, denotes a concept,
an abstraction that stands for an unlimited number of concretes of a specific
kind. It is by organizing his perceptual material into concepts, and his
concepts into wider and still wider concepts that man is able to grasp and
retain, to identify and integrate an unlimited amount of knowledge, a knowledge
extending beyond the immediate perceptions of any given, immediate moment.”
Rand elaborates on an important type of concept which she
identifies as value:
“Is the concept of value, of “good or evil” an arbitrary
human invention, unrelated to, underived from and unsupported by any facts of
reality—or is it based on a metaphysical fact, on an unalterable condition of
man’s existence? (I use the word “metaphysical” to mean: that which pertains to
reality, to the nature of things, to existence.) Does an arbitrary human
convention, a mere custom, decree that man must guide his actions by a set of
principles—or is there a fact of reality that demands it? Is ethics the
province of whims; of personal emotions, social edicts and mystic
revelations—or is it the province of reason? Is ethics a subjective luxury—or
an objective necessity?”
My values are derived from and supported by the facts on
the island. I experience this need for values most urgently in my hunger pangs
and in the discomfort I feel in the heat (weather) on the island. I realize
that I must act now before these discomforts become insurmountable.
My discovery of this need to act is a rational judgment.
I conclude that “I must act in order to survive” and “I need values in order to
act” and “I must create my values as soon as possible.” I ask, “What are those
values?” This leads to my discovery that I must satisfy my body’s basic needs
first. I consider this and determine that my immediate values are food,
clothing and shelter.
My next step is to identify as many facts as possible on
the island. A fact is an aspect of reality expressed by a statement or
proposition. “This is the sand” and “This is a coconut” are examples of some of
the facts I discover. I look around the island and identify every fact on the
island; the trees, jungle, land, shore, water, food sources, climate and
shelter possibilities. I consider the nature of each item and identify which
ones will most directly influence my survival. I accomplish this by isolating
each item mentally and breaking it down into specific characteristics. Those
items with similar characteristics, I give a specific name which helps me hold
them in memory as a single mental "unit". Then I relate those named concepts’ characteristics to their
usefulness as food, clothing and/or shelter.
How do I accomplish this? How do I determine whether a
particular item is useful? How will I connect fact and value? How will I grasp,
retain, identify and integrate each item into my purpose? For this I define
principles about how each item can be used and compare it to the standard of
“what will help me survive?” For instance, “a coconut contains liquid that can
quench my thirst” or “fish in the ocean are edible” are examples of some
principles I identify.
Notice that these principles are cognitive in nature. A
principle helps me “see” facts of reality mentally. It helps me identify the
characteristics of different entities and relate those characteristics to the
accomplishment of a goal or value. It is a fact that I can eat fish and nourish
my body. It is a fact that there is food in this environment. It is a fact that
I can use a rock to kill a bird or other animal. These facts can only be “seen”
conceptually but they are critical to the process of understanding reality;
they exist and they help me “see” the way to success in life. The only thing
left is to act in a fashion that will secure those entities for me.
Some principles can be framed as “if/then” propositions.
“If I catch fish, then I can eat” and “If I build a house, then I can protect
myself” are examples of some “if/then” principles I identify.
Additionally, the “code of values” I have defined (food,
clothing, shelter) is based upon real facts in reality that directly relate to my
real needs. They exist on the island but only I must convert them into values. There
is nothing arbitrary or subjective about it. I know that I want to live; I know
that I value my life and I know that in order to live I must pursue values. These
are truthful statements. “’Value’ is that which one acts to gain and or keep.”
And:
“There is only one fundamental alternative in the
universe: existence or nonexistence—and it pertains to a single class of
entities; to living organisms.”
As I look around, I discover that some canned goods from the ship have landed on the beach. These will
tide me over until I am able to process my own food supplies from the island. I
need to think about what I will do once those supplies run out; but in the
meantime, these items provide me with the luxury of not having to worry about
food for a few days.
With my food needs temporarily met, I decide to address
the values of shelter and clothing. I notice that some luggage items from the
ship have reached the shore. I also find my own luggage that contained clothes
and toiletries I can use. Among the other pieces of luggage I find boots, heavy
coats and other items. By evaluating these items against the standard of what
it takes for protection from the elements, I narrow them down to those most
effective against current weather conditions. Clothing items that don’t fit my
body are set aside for possible other uses later.
For shelter, I could select a large tree to sleep under but
I see that a tree won’t repel high winds, rain or hail. In fact, my clothes are insufficient against
harsher weather so I need to think long-range about how to get more protection
against the elements. Again, I need to use my mind. I notice that the process
of thinking, learning, inventing and planning for my own survival is highly
pleasurable and I’m beginning to feel the pride that comes from production. In
fact, the pleasure I find is so enjoyable that I want to engage in reasoning as much as
possible. I realize that my learning has made it possible for me to successfully
survive; I am experiencing the tangible success that reason makes possible and
it is exhilarating.
The same types of observations I made during my
fact-finding mission will help me gain additional important knowledge. But now,
I must go beyond perception and sensation to create a new concept that I must
make with my own hands. This means I must find materials that are useful in the
creation of a home. Using a process of induction or trial and error, I can gain
knowledge about other items on the island. I examine the more solid,
more durable materials and evaluate their specific qualities. This requires
observation, testing and planning.
During my analysis, I notice that the trees have large
flat leaves. By dipping them into the ocean, I learn they can repel water and they
might be useful on the roof of my soon to be home. I look at the sand on the
beach and decide it is not suitable for anything because it is made up of tiny
particles that do not adhere to each other. I may decide later, by combining
sand with other substances such as water and mud, that I can work the sand into
a more durable composition, but this will take time and research that I decide
to reserve for later.
I look at the trees and test one with my hands. I pound on it with my fist, then with a rock,
I strike it to see if it breaks. I try to estimate its weight. I learn that it
has some of the qualities I seek but I will have to find a way to transform it for
my own use. I need something that will help me cut the tree and mold it into a
frame. I look around for a tool that would do the job. I settle on a flat sharp
rock. In handling the tree, I discover I can use branches of larger
circumference to support my structure and smaller branches to make the walls. I
realize I will need fewer stronger branches for the structural points and more
of the smaller branches for the walls. I get to work making my vision into a
reality.
Throughout this process, I have invented several new
concepts that I had merely taken for granted back in England; a self-made home,
a wooden structure, tree branch walls and a rock-tool. Each of these concepts
is identified according to its “defining” characteristics and found suitable
for a specific purpose. Other concepts I discovered were judged to be useless
for my purposes while others had promise for other purposes. I hold each of
these concepts in memory by means of a specific name that I apply to each of
them.
I have discovered the importance of defining my concepts accurately.
In philosophy, this is called the correspondence theory of truth. I know that
my concepts must correspond to their actual natures in reality. Additionally, I
not only discover them, but in the case of new concepts, I invent them – all by
means of a thought process that connects my values to their actual
accomplishment. The correspondence theory is reason’s way of making sure I understand
reality and that my concepts function as effective cognitive tools. Only by ensuring that
my concepts are “realistic” am I able to achieve my purpose.
Using this thought process, I can project how my home
will look, how strong it will be and how well it will stand up to the elements.
Since I have no paper or writing implements, I use a thin stick (another tool) to
draw an image of my home in the sand. This is my architectural drawing and
building plan. I incorporate into this drawing all the principles that will
help me build the home, all the “if/thens”. It is a matter of “seeing” with my
mind’s eye.
Since I had no experience in house-building back in the
world, I am inventing a new field for myself (home building). And my invention
of this new concept is totally liberating for me. It will make so much possible
for me and even give me rest and peace of mind once it is built. I stop when I
realize that I am being totally selfish about my needs and survival. My actions
are, indeed, all about me and I realize there is nothing wrong about this; it
is good that I survive. Indeed, my self-sufficiency, my resilience and ability to think are necessary. I understand now that there is no other moral standard
to apply except my selfish need for survival. My selfishness is based upon my
rational choices and only my rational choices. It is true that knowledge,
principles and facts are necessary for me to live and enjoy my life. I smile
when I realize this important principle. If I love my life, I must build this
structure and only rational thinking will make it possible. Rational
selfishness is good and the more of it I have, the better. I am energized by
this and hurry to improve my circumstances.
The principle of selfishness (holding my own rational
values as top priority) is an important one for me. Alone on this island, there
is no question that I am living morally and that only I am the beneficiary of
my actions. Properly, morality can only focus on what I, the individual, must
think and do “for myself”. This will be an important discussion when it comes
to identifying the principles of a proper society and it will help me answer
the question of what is moral for me to do in society.
As Ayn Rand writes: “Consciousness—for those living
organisms which possess it—is the basic means of survival.”
For me, the decision to think, the decision to
use my conscious mind, is the key to my survival.
As I am deep into the process of building my new home, I
stop and ask myself what would have happened if I had decided not to use my
mind once I woke up on the island? This question gets to the core of the
connection between facts and values and between reality and morality. What
would that choice not to think have meant for my self-esteem and especially for
my values? What would it have meant for my ability to produce the values
necessary for my survival? Who would have provided those values for me without
my singular participation? Certainly, a choice not to think would have meant that
I had no desire to live or to return home. It truly is an either/or
proposition; either I use my mind or I die.
The lessons in the above example point out some important
facts. In order to live, it is a fact that I must use my mind. It is a fact
that I must observe reality. It is a fact, that I must use concepts. I (and you) cannot
survive without first thinking, working, doing, inventing and improving. The
better use you make of your mind, the better survivor you will be.
