From Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology (2nd ed.), by Ayn Rand
--

The first and primary axiomatic concepts are "existence,"
"identity" (which is a corollary of "existence") and
"consciousness." (p.55)

If "identity" is one of the three primary axiomatic concepts, then how
can it also
be a corollary of one of the other axiomatic concepts? If "identity"
is a corollary
of "existence," then why did she write later that "existence equals
identity"?

On Dec 28, 7:51 pm, malen...@hotmail.com wrote:

Rewritten:

On Dec 29, 11:52 am, malen...@hotmail.com wrote:

To help YOU clear up YOUR very confused state of mind.

http://www.aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/identity.html

Identity
To exist is to be something, as distinguished from the nothing of non-
existence, it is to be an entity of a specific nature made of specific
attributes. Centuries ago, the man who was--no matter what his errors--
the greatest of your philosophers, has stated the formula defining the
concept of existence and the rule of all knowledge: A is A. A thing is
itself. You have never grasped the meaning of his statement. I am here
to complete it: Existence is Identity, Consciousness is
Identification.

Whatever you choose to consider, be it an object, an attribute or an
action, the law of identity remains the same. A leaf cannot be a stone
at the same time, it cannot be all red and all green at the same time,
it cannot freeze and burn at the same time. A is A. Or, if you wish it
stated in simpler language: You cannot have your cake and eat it, too.

Hi,

hotmail.com> skrev i melding
news:a7c96ea3-2c99-48e8-aded-346736845a7e@s19g2000prg.googlegroups.com...

.....

On Sat, 29 Dec 2007 00:31:50 -0800, Michael Gordge wrote:

You are making a mistake here.

Identity necessitates an observer. An observation is innately subjective.

A leaf can be a identified as a stone. While this does not make
the leaf a stone it puts the burden of identity on the observer and not
the object observed.

One who has a self-identity must first observe themselves in one
of several ways. The most common way is via social interaction which
starts to develop at birth. This is why parental influence, in all ways
'parental' can be defined, has deep and everlasting consequences in one
way or another on each human life. It is a subjective result.

'A' is 'A' and only 'A'. This is, or should be, an anchor to all
observation however through observation 'A' can not be fully realized as
such. if we open the capacity to 'realize' up include all existence,
this makes the world go 'round because in this skew of difference lays
as finite or infinite a potential as is existence.

On Dec 29, 1:31 am, Michael Gordge xtra.co.nz> wrote:

On Dec 29, 1:31 am, Michael Gordge xtra.co.nz> wrote:

On Dec 29, 5:09 am, "Tron" wrote:

Hi,

hotmail.com> skrev i melding
news:24d62f65-d891-44e9-9367-c73f4ccb43d5@d21g2000prf.googlegroups.com...

....>>

On Dec 29, 10:33 am, "Tron" wrote: