Epistemology -

"The study or a theory of the nature and grounds of knowledge esp. with reference to its limits and validity." -Websters Ninth Dictionary

"Mind and body. The nature of reason-- the evidence of the senses, integrated by his mind according to the rules of logic. Logic is the art of non-contradictory identification. The nature of abstractions. Thinking is volitional-- it is not an automatic process. The root of "free will"--you have no choice about what reality is, but you have the choice of knowing what it is or not. The mind is man's tool of survival. Life is given to you, survival is not. To survive, you must think; you must discover the means and methods of survival proper to man; you have no arbitrary freedom about it--you cannot survive "at random," you must learn what is necessary for your survival as man." -Ayn Rand