The "Principles of Human Action" course, which develops concepts such as reason, existence, life, objective value, good, freedom, and rights in a systematic manner, obviously embodies the intellectual-activist approach. One specific positive step that students desiring a free society could take, therefore, would be to help publicize this website—for instance, by adding a link to it from their personal home pages.

This course, however, is directed toward relatively astute and inquisitive students, and most people will require simpler and less detailed presentations of these ideas. Some may therefore wonder whether freedom and the ideas underlying it are simply too abstract to be understood by the majority of citizens.

Despite the ravages of state-run education, people have a natural capacity to grasp abstractions, a capacity which is usually underestimated. Many common clichés, for instance, are really abstractions, concretized by means of a metaphor (cf. p. 1.3:63). The fact that the abstract meanings of these clichés are understood by most persons of average intelligence indicates that some rudimentary ability to think in principles remains, an ability which could no doubt be improved through training. Finding more effective pedagogical ways of conveying to average individuals the concepts offered in this course should be a high-priority goal for those who desire freedom. This material needs to be adapted for people of various learning styles, especially for the private instruction of young people outside of the public schools.      Next page


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