Reality and Consciousness
Every philosophically justifiable system of beliefs must rest on some axiom or axioms—that is, beginning points taken as valid and not requiring proof. We cannot prove all of our beliefs from each other, without a beginning point—or else all of our beliefs rest on circular logic and cannot be rationally justified. The basic starting point we will use in this course is the axiom that existence exists. We borrow this axiom from the Objectivist philosophy of Ayn Rand (), whose ideas are one significant influence upon this course. The philosophical exposition offered here, however, is ultimately the end-product of this author's thinking process, and he will occasionally depart from Rand (and other authors cited) on particular points. In more ordinary language, we may paraphrase the axiom: reality exists—that is, there is a reality of which we are aware.    

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