Logic course, Day 4:
The importance of learning the method of definition – The genus-differentia method is the pattern of all conceptual cognition. The genus integrates and differentia differentiates.
What is the distinction between the “genus” and the “CCD”?
The “CCD” means the “conceptual common denominator”, and is an idea put forth by Ayn Rand in her book “Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology”. (http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/conceptual_common_denominator.html)
This was not said during class, but by way of my own explanation of the CCD:
When forming units in one’s mind, you do so on the basis of “commensurable characteristics”. So, for instance, when forming the concept “rabbit”, you do so on the basis of something like the length of the animal’s ears and its method of locomotion (hopping). These characteristics of ear-length and method of locomotion are the “conceptual common denominator” that rabbits have in common with other animals that you are distinguishing them from. For instance, if you mentally isolate two rabbits into a mental group that is different from a dog that you see, then both the rabbits and the dog have a certain ear-length and a method of locomotion. This is the “conceptual common denominator”. (Ear-length and method of locomotion are *different measurements* for rabbits than they are for dogs, and this “measurement omission” is part of the process of concept formation for Ayn Rand. http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/measurement.html
)
Also, when you take two concepts and combine them into a wider concept, then you take one or more common characteristics that all of the units of that new, wider, concept have in common. For instance, when forming the concept “mammal”, you would see that dogs and rabbits have characteristics in common: lactation, fur, and giving birth to live young. From this, your mind has a “conceptual common denominator” of: “method of taking care of offspring”, “substance covering the body”, and “developmental status of offspring when mother gives birth”. Mammals share this conceptual common denominator with reptiles, birds, and fish. The distinction between mammals on the one hand and birds and reptiles on the other is that birds and reptiles both have different “methods of taking care of offspring”, “substances covering their bodies” and “developmental status of offspring when mother gives birth”. For instance, when it comes to “method of taking care of offspring”, in the case of reptiles, they abandon their young. In the case of birds, they take care of their young by catching food, eating it, then regurgitating it to their young in the nest. When it comes to “substance covering the body”, birds have feathers, and reptiles have scales. When it comes to “developmental status of offspring when mother gives birth”, reptiles and birds both lay eggs. (So, this would not be part of the CCD when distinguishing birds and reptiles.)
[Additional note made on 8/4/2018: I was thinking about the above example of forming the concept “mammal”, and realized I might be implicitly assuming one had already formed the concept of “animal”, since “animal” might be part of the “CCD” when forming the concept “mammal”. It didn’t seem likely to me that a child would form the concept “mammal” without first forming the concept “animal”. In that case the “CCD” would be the three characteristics I mentioned in the previous paragraph, and also the characteristic of “moves about in the environment of it’s own volition” or “animate things”, which mammals, birds, reptiles, and fish all share as “animals”. However, I think it is still possible for a child to form a concept of “mammal” without necessarily having the wider concept of “animal”. Rand also seems to indicate this in “Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, at page 24 of the Kindle Edition of ITOE:
“The chronological order in which man forms or learns these concepts is optional. A child, for instance, may first integrate the appropriate concretes into the concepts ‘animal’, ‘bird’, ‘fish’, then later integrate them into a wider concept by expanding his concept of ‘animal’. The principles involved and the ultimate choice of distinguishing characteristics will be the same, granting he reaches the same level of knowledge.”
Basically, a child could have a concept of “things with fur that move about in the world”. The child would likely use the word “animal” initially, then he would encounter birds and fish and say: “birds are things that have feathers and move about in the world” and: “fish are things that have fins and move about in the water”. From there, he’s essentially got the concepts of “bird”, “fish” and “mammal” (although he calls the later “animal”). Then he can form the wider concept of “animal”, as in: “a thing that moves about in the environment of its own volition” or “animate things”, which is closer to the adult-level definition of the concept “animal”.]
The speaker in the logic course then went on to make the distinction between the concept of “genus” and the concept of the “CCD”. His example was the definition of “boy”: “A boy is a young man.” In this definition of “boy”, “man” is the “genus”. “Age” is the CCD.
By way of my own explanation: “age” is the commensurable characteristic that boys share with adult men. The difference between a boy and a man is “age”. The concept of “boy” is formed in this case by mentally isolating two or more perceived boys from adult men by means of age, and then omitting the particular ages of the boys when forming the concept, on the premise that they must have *some* age within a certain range but, they can have any age within that range. (That is the “measurement-ommission” part.) For instance, when it comes to the two boys you perceive in forming the concept of “boy”, it may be that one boy is five and the other boy is ten years old.
We then went on to go over the unfinished homework from last time, which, was to define certain concepts. First up was the concept of “prize”. My notes get a little sketchy on this, but I think an audience member suggested that “prize” could be defined as: “A reward for an unusual achievement.” The lecturer didn’t like this definition because it wasn’t concrete and specific enough. We then went over examples of “prizes” to help “zero in” on a good definition. Examples of “prizes” included winning a gold medal and winning the lottery. We then went over things that are similar to a “prize” but slightly different. These included: (1) A college degree, (2) The Nobel Prize, (3) a reward for turning in a fugitive from justice. I think these three things were not considered “prizes” because they were all things you get that don’t involve a contest or competition, per se. Even though the “Nobel Prize” is called a “prize”, the speaker believed it is actually more accurate to call it the “Nobel Award”, because the scientists aren’t engaged in a contest to obtain it, like an Olympic medal.
I think you should also remember that the point of these exercises wasn’t whether you 100% agreed with the definition of “prize”, or how it was derived, but rather that you see the pattern of thinking that goes into getting a good, robust definition of a particular concept.
Based on these examples of “prizes”, as well as the examples of similar concepts, the speaker then said the definition of prize was something like: “A value offered in advance to the winner or winners of a competition to intensify the competition.”
The next concept to define in the lecture was “racism”.
My notes get sketchy on this, mainly because I personally don’t know what people mean when they say “racism” or “racist”, and I ignore it if someone describes me that way. I see the word “racist” as simply a word people on the political left use to try to silence anything you say that they disagree with, or that members of other races use as a way to manipulate white people into feeling guilty in order to get something from them. (A good comedic example of this is “Cabbage Head”, from an old Canadian comedy show “The Kids in the Hall”, where the main character tries to get women to sleep with him, and when they won’t, he says: “You won’t because I have a cabbage for a head.” Basically, he tries to make people feel guilty and then to manipulate them into doing what he wants. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKaP0Y_4COE&list=RDTKaP0Y_4COE&t=152 )
Stefan Molyneux makes the same point as me on the term “racism” and “racist” around 47 minutes into this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjYRH9FpiDA He notes that, at this point, one should have the attitude that an atheist has if someone accuses them of being demonically possessed. The atheist is just going to say: “I don’t really believe in demons, so I don’t care if you call me demonically possessed.” Similarly, you should just ignore being called a “racist” because the word has lost all meaning in modern society.
But, what I have down in my notes are the “similar but different” concepts for racism being “sexism”, “nationalism”, and “collectivism”. Of those three, I understand the concept of “collectivism” fairly well, and see it as a useful concept to hold -as distinguished from individualism. “Sexism” is like “racism” to me -a word that I ignore when people call me that because its an attempt to make me feel guilty in order to get something from me or to control me.
At any rate, the speaker gave a definition of “racism” as “a racial form of collectivism”. I believe this is the definition of “racism” that Ayn Rand had. (http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/racism.html)
If the term were used solely in the way that Rand used it, and not as a smear-tactic to silence members of the political right, then I suppose I wouldn’t have too much of a problem with it. Although, I think it is largely not a problem, and never has been, even when defined properly. The problem has been “over-blown” by the political left as “individualist window dressing” to cover up their vicious collectivist ideology and their desire to destroy the competent and the able.
The last concept to define in the logic class was “dignity”.
I had real problems coming up with a verbal definition of this concept. I simply had an image of an older man in a three-piece suit who stood resolute and, frankly, seemed a bit humorless. Sort of like Winston Churchill. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill)
Some of the words I used to describe “dignity” were: “the state of being without stain”, “without reproach”, “morally upright”, “upright posture”, “unconquered”, and “stiff upper lip”.
To my surprise, in the logic class, the lecturer also started out with picture images. He first gave two “negative examples”. In other words, the speaker gave two examples of “undignified” people.
The first example of undignified was Howard Wolowitz from the TV show “The Big Bang Theory”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Wolowitz I think this was based on the way that the character dresses or acts. I’ve seen enough of the show to know the character. I guess I wouldn’t describe him that way, and I also think the show is a comedy, so “dignity” isn’t something that comes to my mind in a comedy.
The other example the speaker gave of “undignified” were the “two wild and crazy guys”, that Dan Aykroyd and Steve Martin used to play on “Saturday Night Live”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recurring_Saturday_Night_Live_characters_and_sketches_introduced_1977%E2%80%931978#The_Festrunk_Brothers_(%22Two_Wild_and_Crazy_Guys!%22) I’m just old enough to remember them.
The speaker then showed a painting of a self-portrait by Rembrandt, I believe, as an example of “dignified”.
The speaker then gave a definition of “dignity” as: “The proud, calm, self-command that results from holding the full context in judging what is important and what is not.”
Our homework was then assigned which was: (1) Define “rationalization”, and (2) Identify the fallacy in the following statements: (a) “A fully free society is an impossible ideal”, and, (b) “We have an obligation to preserve the environment.”
Humor in the Fountainhead Lecture
The next lecture of the day was on humor in Ayn Rand’s novel “The Fountainhead”.
The lecturer noted that there was more humor in the Fountainhead than any of Rand’s other novels.
When I read this novel for the second time in law school, I had also noticed there was a lot of humor in it. There is more humor in the Fountainhead than in any of Rand’s other novels. Possibly this is because “We The Living” is set in 1920’s Soviet Russia, and its hard to find humor in living in a totalitarian dictatorship run by the likes of Joseph Stalin. Similarly, “Atlas Shrugged” is essentially a dystopian novel in which a near-future America has become such a heavily controlled-economy that the producers in it have no choice but to go on “strike”, destroy the established social and political order, and start over.
Unfortunately my note-taking for this lecture is almost non-existent. Going from memory, and from what I know about Rand’s attitude on humor in art, I think the central thesis was that humor in fiction is a “negative” element that should only be used against the “bad guys” in the novel. So, you shouldn’t use humor against the hero or against good ideas. Although, I also think Rand said it’s okay to “laugh with the hero”, as long as your not “laughing at him”. http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/humor.html
One interesting question from the audience I remember was “But, what about Monty Python? Would you regard that as “acceptable” humor?” The speaker said he had seen “Monty Python’s Search for the Holy Grail”, and remembered laughing a lot at the scene where the rabbit flies through the air and kills several knights, just because of the absurdity of it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnOdAT6H94s I think the speaker basically responded that he didn’t know how extremely absurd comedy like Monty Python would fit into the Objectivist aesthetics.
I tend to think you’d need to start by looking at “comedy” as its own distinct subgenera of literature or cinema, and then think about how it is different from “dramatic” literature. There’s usually an element of absurdity in comedy. I’d have to think about it some more, but I have always been a big fan of Mel Brooks movies, like “Young Frankenstein”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO3qJGKs9gw
It seems to me like there is almost a “cartoonish” element to Mel Brooks movies, in which no one can actually get hurt. For instance, in the scene with the candle stick from “Young Frankenstein”, Gene Wilder’s character gets caught between the rotating book case and the wall, which would seriously injure or kill you in real life, but it doesn’t cause the main character any long-term problems. So, its kind of like saying: “Nothing really bad happens in life, and you can just laugh at your problems.” This seems like a good attitude, rather than constantly worrying about the bad things that could happen to you. “Absurd” comedy like this sort of lets you live for a moment like you and your loved ones never have to worry about the bad things that can happen in life, and you can just “laugh at danger”. It makes the bad things that could happen in your life seem more distant.
Another interesting question from the audience was about the TV show “Parks and Recreation”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parks_and_Recreation The audience member asked if the lecturer had seen the show and what he thought of the character of “Ron Swanson”. The lecturer said he enjoyed the show, and that character.
I was familiar with the character of Ron Swanson only because a friend of mine had told me about the show. I’ve watched maybe one episode of it. My friend had told me that Ron Swanson is a “libertarian”, which is funny because he believes government is mostly bad and should get out of the way of the private sector. My friend told me that the character spends his day trying to “sabotage” whatever the Parks and Recreation people want to do in order to ensure that they don’t interfere with the free market. So, he tries to make his department as ineffective as possible, and only hires incompetent people.
I watch little TV, but at some point, I may try to go back and watch some of “Parks and Rec”, because the Ron Swanson character does sound pretty great, and I bet there is a lot of humor there.
Great Heroes of Literature Lecture
The last item I have in my notes from that day was a lecture describing the characteristics of a “hero” in fiction and then analyzing the heroes in five works of fiction: The Odyssey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odyssey
, Cyrano de Bergerac https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrano_de_Bergerac
, An Enemy of the People https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Enemy_of_the_People
, Shane https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shane_(novel)
, and Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead. The lecturer’s views on the themes and “plot-themes” of each of these was gone over.
“Plot-theme” is another term coined by Ayn Rand. http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/plot-theme.html
The lecturer’s characteristics of a hero included: (1) Holding values that benefit life on Earth, (2) the ability to overcome obstacles, (3) “dauntlessness”, (4) and the achievement of victory, although I think he said that could be a “moral victory”. I assume an example of the last would be Ernest Hemingway’s “Old Man in the Sea”, where the hero is “destroyed by not defeated”. Rand’s novel, “We The Living” has that sort of ending.
The next day, while waiting for a bus after I had gone to the beach, I started thinking about what it means to be a “hero”. I suspect this was inspired by this lecture and also by having seen a statue at the beach of a local lifeguard who was killed in the line of duty. According the plaque near the statue, the life guard had died trying to rescue a swimmer in distress. https://ktla.com/2014/07/07/he-is-definitely-a-hero-fire-chief-says-of-lifeguard-who-drowned-in-newport-beach/
This lifeguard would be regarded by most as “heroic”. I certainly think of him that way.
I’ve always struggled with the term “hero” and “heroic”, since it is used a lot in Objectivist circles. http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/man-worship.html I’m not clear in my own mind what a “hero” is, and what it means to be “heroic”, especially since a lot of people seem to use it in the sense of someone engaging in an act of self-sacrifice. Running into a building to save a bunch of random strangers from a fire doesn’t seem particularly “heroic” to me. It seems irrational to risk your life for strangers.
That said, I would describe a lifeguard who risks his life to save a swimmer in distress, or a fireman who saves people from a burning building, as “heroic”. The difference there to me is that the lifeguard and the fireman have both agreed to risk their lives to save strangers in exchange for money, so that’s their job. If a fireman collected his paycheck every week and then refused to run into a burning building, I’d view that as cowardice. But, I have trouble articulating all of this in terms of words. It’s just my “gut reaction”, which can be wrong.
Also, another aspect of “heroism” that is rarely covered anywhere but in Objectivist circles is the heroism of people who don’t actually risk their lives. For instance, I’d describe a doctor who came up with a cure for cancer as “heroic”, and probably so would most other Objectivists. The doctor was never in danger of dying, but his years of effort and thought all amount to heroism to me. Based on this, I’d say a “hero” is probably something like a label that the rest of us bestow on someone who has produced a great value for mankind. Calling someone a “hero” is a way to honor that person. However, this seems to leave out the fireman who rescues a child from a burning building, which I also think is “heroic”. Perhaps the great value can just be bestowed on a subset of mankind, and still be described as a heroic act. So, the parents of the child rescued from a burning building by the fireman are going to regard the fireman as “heroic” and the rest of us do sort of by “proxy”, since we can imagine how thankful we’d be if someone saved our own child. At any rate, I struggle with this concept.
