Mystics of Spirit

In regard to epistemology, Ayn Rand describes the idealists as mystics, “mystics of spirit.” They are mystics because they hold that knowledge (of true reality) derives not from sense perception or from reasoning based on it, but from an otherworldly source, such as revelations or the equivalent. The more sophisticated versions of idealism rest on technical analyses of the nature of percepts or concepts; these analyses will be considered in later chapters #todo. The unsophisticated but popular version of idealism, which typically upholds a personalized other dimension, is religion. Essential to all versions of the creed, however–and to countless kindred movements–is the belief in the supernatural.¹