What is the book?
"How We Know" is the title of Dr. Binswanger's 300-page work on consciousness
and cognition, based on Ayn Rand's Objectivist epistemology. The culmination of 45 years of
study and teaching, the manuscript is now nearing completion in draft form.
Each enrollee will receive an electronic draft of the manuscript.
What is this course?
This course offers an integrative, personalized guide to the book, going through
the manuscript, chapter by chapter, highlighting points that are original (and,
occasionally, controversial).
An innovative feature of this course will be
the use of
advance feedback to shape the discussion: prior to each class,
enrollees will be encouraged to submit
questions by email, to enable Dr. Binswanger to focus on points
that need more discussion in class. Dr. Binswanger discusses the course in
this 30-minute interview.
The version of the book the course will use is
not a finalized manuscript but a working draft, and Dr. Binswanger
expects that ideas arising in class discussion
and questions will help him in
editing this draft into the final manuscript, a process which will take many months.
Each class will be divided into three half-hour segments:
- An essentialized overview of the material, emphasizing its purpose and meaning.
- An in-depth "chewing" of points, based on the advance email questions.
- A question-and-answer session.
Specifics:
The course will be conducted via a telephone conference bridge.
The classes will meet on eight Wednesday evenings, from March 10th –
May 5th, skipping April 14th.
Time: 8:00 pm – 9:40 pm Eastern Time. Each class includes a short break.
Can't make a couple of the class dates? Enrollees will be able to hear missed classes, within two weeks of the class date, by calling a special phone number.
Course outline:
- Metaphysical Foundations
- Perception
- Concept-formation
- Abstraction from Abstraction
- Norms for Cognition
- Conceptual Knowledge
- Fundamentality
- Free Will
Cost: course plus manuscript of book: $450.
Payment may be made in 3 installments, of $150 each, billed to your credit-card at 1 month intervals.
Copies of the book manuscript are available for downloading upon enrolling.
The call-in procedures will be emailed to you.
For answers to frequently asked questions, visit our FAQ page.
To enroll in the class, click on one of the two links below:
Single payment by check or credit card.
3-payment installment plan (credit card only)
.