OBJECTIVIST FULL-SYSTEM SCHEMATIC (Peikoff-style)
Axioms → Metaphysics (Identity/Causality) → Epistemology (Method) → Volition (Focus/Evasion)
→ Ethics (Values/Virtues) → Action (Integrity Gate) → Consequences/Feedback → Character/Knowledge
LEGEND
A = automatic (non-volitional, given normal functioning and prior formed premises)
F = free/volitional (choice; not compelled)
C = causal consequence (conditional; follows from identity + context + prior choices)
NI = non-initiated drift/default (absence of chosen direction; often powered by habit)
AR = arbitrary assertion (neither true nor false; to be dismissed, not “balanced”)
[PD] = package-deal risk [SC] = stolen-concept risk
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AXIOMATIC BASE (the irreducible)
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- Existence exists.
- Consciousness is consciousness (awareness of that which exists).
- A is A (identity).
- Primacy of existence: existence is independent of consciousness; facts are what they are
regardless of wishes, fears, or votes.
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METAPHYSICS (Identity → Causality; given vs. alterable)
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- Entities are what they are (identity).
- Causality is a corollary of identity: every entity acts in accordance with its nature.
- Therefore: every action is the action of some entity and is determined by that entity’s identity
(its structure/capacities) in a given context.
- Metaphysically given vs. man-made:
*The metaphysically given is absolute* (to be recognized, not rewritten);
*the man-made is alterable* (by thought and action in accordance with facts).
- In man, volition is a causal capacity of a certain kind of entity: a rational being who can
initiate and sustain a state of focus and thereby direct cognition and action.
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EPISTEMOLOGY (method of knowledge; objectivity)
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- The senses are valid: perception is the given and the base of knowledge.
- Concepts are formed objectively: differentiation + integration; measurement-omission; unit-economy.
- Definitions: by essentials (genus/differentia); context-keeping; rule of fundamentality.
- Logic: non-contradictory identification (identity, non-contradiction, excluded middle).
- Knowledge is contextual and hierarchical; certainty is contextual.
- Validation is by reduction to perceptual evidence.
- The arbitrary (unsupported and non-validatable) is neither true nor false → dismiss.
- Common corruptors to exclude: [PD], [SC], equivocation, reification of the zero, etc.
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START OF THE VOLITION-TO-ACTION CHAIN (within reality)
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REALITY / FACTS (metaphysically given context)
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| A/C: sensory stimulation → awareness occurs
v
PERCEPTION / AWARENESS (A)
- Perception is the given.
- Emotions arise automatically as effects of past ideas/judgments (A/C), not as tools of cognition.
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v
COGNITIVE FIELD / MATERIAL AVAILABLE (C) (cognitively relevant causal shaping, not compulsion)
- present evidence (data, observations)
- available concepts/definitions & language clarity vs. floating abstractions
- stored knowledge, integrations, skills, memories
- learned method (logic/reduction/context) or its absence
- prior premises (explicit/implicit philosophy)
- active goals/values (what you’re pursuing and why)
- habitual attention patterns (earned automaticity) vs blanks (from past evasion)
NOTE: This CONDITIONS the range/quality of alternatives and ease of thought; it does not force choice.
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v
VOLITIONAL GATE #1 (root): CHOOSE TO FOCUS OR NOT (F)
ENTER/MAINTAIN FOCUS (F) <--------------------------------> DROP FOCUS (F)
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| v
| NI: drift / imitation / defaulting
| (slogans, social pressure, moods;
| unexamined “reasons”)
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-------------------------------------- FOCUS BRANCH --------------------------------------
NODE A: GOVERNING-STANDARDS CHOICE — “WHAT COUNTS AS A REASON?” (F)
You choose the criteria that will govern your mental realm:
1) OBJECTIVITY: facts + logic + context (F to adopt/maintain)
2) SUBJECTIVISM: feelings/wishes/approval as primary (F)
3) MYSTICISM: faith/revelation/authority as primary (F)
Causal shaping (C): your education, concepts, past integrations, and habits condition how you see
these alternatives—but you still choose which to accept as governing.
Volition note (anti-misreading):
- You do not directly choose beliefs at whim; you choose to focus or evade, to think or not,
and to use (or drop) the method by which beliefs are formed.
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v
NODE B: PREMISE-SELECTION & INTEGRATION (F + C)
- Choose/accept/reject specific premises (F): definitions, principles, moral code, view of man/world.
- Integrate them (C) into a consistent (or inconsistent) structure.
- Revision policy (F): update only by new evidence/better proof—never by convenience.
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v
NODE C: METHOD GUARDS (C, applied under focus; requires ongoing F to enforce)
- Define terms; keep context; check non-contradiction; demand evidence.
- Validation by reduction to perceptual facts.
- Dismiss AR (unsupported, non-reducible claims).
- Detect/exclude [PD] and [SC] (and related fallacies).
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v
NODE D: DISPUTE TRIGGER (procedural rule; explicit)
IF confusion/contradiction arises → invoke DOWNWARD REDUCTION to the lowest disputed level:
policy/plan → principle → abstraction → first-level concept → perceptual facts
then rebuild upward with corrected definitions/evidence/integrations.
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ETHICS FRAME (objective value; the content that properly structures Node E)
- “Life” is the root of “value”; the standard is the life proper to a rational being.
- Rationality is the primary virtue; the others are its applications:
independence, integrity, honesty, justice, productiveness, pride.
- The individual is an end in himself; sacrifice/altruism as moral ideal is rejected.
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v
NODE E: PURPOSE / ENDS + HIERARCHY OF VALUES (C integration; F to commit)
- Choose and order values by long-range importance (F to commit; C to integrate).
- The hierarchy becomes a causal governor (C): it structures attention, trade-offs, priorities.
- Values must be objective (tied to facts and life), not social metaphysics.
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NODE F: POLICY / PLAN (C design; F to commit)
- Translate values/principles into operational standards, schedules, and trade-offs.
- A plan is values made actionable (and therefore testable against reality).
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v
NODE I: MIND → ACTION EXPRESSION LINK (C)
ACTIONS WILL REFLECT THE CONTENT/STRUCTURE OF THE MIND:
- Integrated, reality-based premises → coherent, goal-directed action.
- Contradictory/floating premises → conflict, short-range swings, rationalization.
- Habitual evasion → avoidance, dependence, drift, and the corrosion of self-trust.
(This is causal: content + method + hierarchy → guidance → behavior.)
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NODE J: ACTION INTEGRITY GATE (recurrent at every concrete choice-point) (F)
J0 (C; requires F to perform): HIERARCHY CHECK
- Identify the value at stake and its rank in your long-range hierarchy.
- Identify the governing principle/policy.
- Project long-range consequences of acting on the short-range fragment.
Emotion line (C; requires F to heed):
Emotions are data about your premises, not directives—so a strong desire/fear is a fact to interpret,
not a “reason.”
Option 1: ACT IN ACCORDANCE WITH YOUR (RATIONAL) HIERARCHY OF VALUES (integrity) (F)
- choose means consistent with long-range values/principles
- accept short-term discomfort when required by long-range success
Option 2: BETRAY / EVADE / DROP THE HIERARCHY (F)
- act on impulse, fear, social approval, or a short-range “value” in conflict
- treat the moment as detached from life as a whole
To ‘drop the hierarchy’ is to act on an unintegrated fragment as though it were the whole.
Anti-rationalization guard:
If you start “explaining away” the conflict (special pleading / “just this once”) → treat it as a
contradiction alarm → invoke DOWNWARD REDUCTION to the lowest disputed level.
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NODE G: EXECUTION: THOUGHT & ACTION (F to initiate/continue; C mechanics)
- Action is performed by the acting entity (the individual); the determinants are:
the individual’s nature (as a rational volitional being), his chosen premises/method/values,
and the factual context—nothing else “moves” him.
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OBJECTIVE CONSEQUENCES / RESULTS (C/A)
- Reality answers: success/failure; achievement/loss; health/illness; prosperity/poverty, etc.
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v
FEEDBACK / LEARNING / CHARACTER EFFECTS (C, conditioned by earlier F choices)
- Under sustained focus and honesty: integrate results, correct errors, strengthen method (C)
→ earned automaticity over time (C)
- Under evasion and rationalization: contradictions widen, dependence grows, clarity shrinks (C)
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v
(Loops back into COGNITIVE FIELD / MATERIAL AVAILABLE, shaping future alternatives)
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EXPLICIT IRRATIONALITY PATH (available at any point; the characteristic form of irrationality)
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NODE X: CHOICE TO EVADE (F) — a deliberate policy, not mere blankness
“I will not look / not integrate / not name it / not follow the implication.”
Consequences (C, over time):
- selective blindness → contradictions accumulate
- rationalization substitutes for cognition
- AR tolerated as “belief,” [PD]/[SC] proliferate as definitions and roots are not checked
- the future COGNITIVE FIELD shrinks/corrodes (less clarity, less integration, weaker method)
- drift becomes chronic (NI strengthened by repeated evasion)
Operational modes:
X1) ACTIVE RATIONALIZATION (C + F to sustain): invent “reasons” to protect a desired conclusion.
X2) PASSIVE DRIFT (NI): postpone thought indefinitely; go along; imitate.
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KNOWLEDGE HIERARCHY (used continuously; especially in reduction)
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(4) policies/plans (applications)
(3) principles
(2) higher abstractions [PD]/[SC] often hide here
(1) first-level concepts need clear definitions tied to concretes
(0) percepts/concretes terminus of reduction/validation
END: A unified causal-volitional system
- Reality and identity ground causality.
- Epistemology provides the method.
- Volition chooses focus vs. evasion and chooses the governing standards of “reasons.”
- Ethics provides objective ends and a hierarchy of values.
- Integrity applies the hierarchy in action.
- Consequences feed back, reshaping knowledge, habits, and character over time.
