Reason Not The Only Source of Knowledge

Showing only those parts of the discussion which lead to #1835.

See full discussion instead
  Log in or sign up to participate in this discussion.
With an account, you can revise, criticize, and comment on ideas.

Discussions can branch out indefinitely. Zoom out for the bird’s-eye view.
Zelalem Mekonnen’s avatar
Zelalem MekonnenOP revised 2 days ago·#1834· Collapse
5th of 5 versions leading to #1835

Ayn Rand claims that "[t]he virtue of Rationality means the recognition and acceptance of reason as one's only source of knowledge [...]." This is wrong, mainly because reason can only be used as a method of choosing between knowledge/ideas, not as the only source of knowledge.

Dennis Hackethal’s avatar
Dennis Hackethal, about 2 months ago·#1618· Collapse

What do you think is the source of knowledge if not reason?

Zelalem Mekonnen’s avatar
Zelalem MekonnenOP, about 2 months ago·#1633· Collapse

The source of knowledge is myths. Reason criticizes them and we get myths that are testable (if knowledge about the physical world), hard to vary and make some assertion about reality. Popper highlighted the myth and testable nature of scientific knowledge, and Deutsch highlights hard to vary and explanation/assertion nature of knowledge.

Criticized1 criticim(s)
Dennis Hackethal’s avatar
Dennis Hackethal, about 2 months ago·#1646· Collapse

Criticism is a form of knowledge. How does reason have access to criticism if reason is not the source of knowledge?

Criticism of #1633
Zelalem Mekonnen’s avatar

Could you expand more on what you mean by the above question?