> Ayn Rand, writer and philosopher:
>
> 'In order to live, man must act; in order to act, he must make choices;
> in order to make choices, he must define a code of values, he must know
> *what* he is and *where* he is - i.e. he must know his own nature
> (including his means of knowledge) and the nature of the universe in
> which he acts - i.e. he needs metaphysics, epistomology, ethics, which
> means: *philosophy*. He cannot escape from this need; his only
> alternative is whether the philosophy guiding him is to be choosen by his
> mind or by chance.'
I must plead E-Prime on this one. To ask what man *is* suggests that man
does not *become*. Knowing one's nature and the nature of the universe
in which one exists is IMO the ultimate goal. If I can finally know what
I *am*, then I have stopped evolving. Since time doesn't stand still for
me, I become incorrect about what I *am* only a millisecond later.
For an interesting discussion of E-Prime by one of its major proponents,
check out http://www.crl.com/~isgs/tobecrit.htm
> 'As a human being, you have no choice about the fact that you need a
> philosophy. Your only choice is whether you define you philosophy by a
> conscious, rational, disciplined process of thought and scrupulously
> logical deliberation - or let your subconscious accumulate a junk heap of
> unwarrented conclusions, false generalizations, undefined contradictions,
> undigested slogans, unidentified wishes, doubts and fears, thrown
> together by chance, but integrated by your subconscious into a kind of
> mongrel philosophy and fused into a single, solid weight: *self-doubt*,
> like a ball and chain in the place of where your mind's wings should have
> grown.'
Amen. :-)
Hagbard