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weightsof one elementthat combinewithidenticalweightsof the otherare in simplemultiple
proportions.Dalton’s discoverywascrucialto science’s abilityto distinguishcarbonmonoxidefrom
carbondioxide.Eachof thesechemicalcompoundsare madeup of no morethantwo
elements—carbonandoxygen.Yet,in samplesof bothgasescontainingcarbonin the
sameweight,one findsthatthe weightof oxygenin CO 2 is twicethatof the oxygenin
CO 1. Enlightenment-erascientistsrecognizedthat a theoreticalmodelthat wouldaccount
for theirobservationswouldbe one envisioningeachformof matterto be comprisedof
microscopicparticles.Thesescientistsrememberedthe wordatomfromDemocritusand
the Greekphilosophersand,in tributeto them,appropriatedthattermfor themselves.
Oncetheyhad suchtermsasmoleculeandatom, the chemistswerebetterableto produce
namesand theoreticalmodelsto explaintheirfindings;suchtheoreticalmodelswithstood
the test andretestof variousexperiments.As DemocritusandthoseotherGreekspos-
sessedno evidentiarybasisfor theirclaimsaboutatoms,theirconceptofatomwasless
thanminisculein size;it wasvacuous.“If one triesto thinkaboutthe implications” of an
ideaas arbitraryas Democritus’s, notesHarriman,“one drawsa blank;implicationsde-
penduponconnectionsto the restof one’s knowledge.” Considerwhatthismeansin
respectto AynRand’s analogythata mindis like a file cabinet.A conceptis like a file
folder.Collectingmoresensorydataabouta conceptis likefillingthe file folderwith
moreimportantdocuments.Sometimeswhenyoufill the file folderwitha book’s worth
of documentsof varioussub-categories,you mighthaveto dividethatsinglefile, putting
morefile foldersintothe cabinetandplacingthemcloseto eachother.In the caseof
Democritus’s idea,“the word‘atom’ wasjusta labelon an emptyfile folder.”^14 By
contrast,despitetheirappropriationof the old word,the chemistsdevisedan entirely
newconceptfilledwithgenuineintellectualcontentsderivedfromsensorydata.Al-
thoughindividualatomsandmoleculesare too smallfor the unaidedsensesto observe,
atomictheorydoesaccountfor scientificobservations.Shouldyouvisita laboratoryand
encountersamplesof carbondioxideand carbonmonoxide,withthe carbonpartbeingof
identicalweightsin bothsamples,you will findthatthe weightof the oxygenin the CO 2
sampleis exactlydoublein proportionto the weightof the oxygenin the CO 1 sample.You
willnoticethatthis is alwaysthe case,whetherthe carbonin eachsampleweighsone
gramor fivekilograms.For thisreason,Democritus’s conceptionof “atom” is invalid
whereasJohnDalton’s conceptionof “atom”isvalid.Additionally,this demonstratesthat
Dalton’s conceptof “atom” is not the sameas Democritus’s.
The sameprincipleappliesto otherareasof life. SupposeI holdstrongconvictionsin
privatepropertyrightsand free markets.I havea philosophicbasisin sayingthis.Whatis
mostimportantis not how verballysophisticatedone’s argumentsare;whatis most
importantis thatonehas,at leastimplicitly,a logicalandevidentiarysupportfor the
conclusions.SupposePoliticianXsaysthathe, too,upholdsthe absolutenessof private
propertyrightsandfreemarkets“becausethat’s whatI deducedfromthe EighthCom-
mandment.TheBibleis the ultimateauthorityon truth.” SupposePoliticianXalways
deduces,unlikeme, thatfree-marketprinciplesprovethatan artistdoesnot deservethe
rightto ask the Stateto enforcethe copyrightson his originalartwork.Justbecause
PoliticianXandI use the samesentences,suchas “I opposethe initiationof the use of
physicalforceagainstpersonand property,” it doesnot provethatour conceptualmean-
ingsbehindthosesentencesare the same.The conceptthatis one’s conclusionsubsumes
the epistemologicalmethodwherebyone arrivedat thatconclusion.It is alsobecauseof
our veryconceptsbeingdistinctthatwe inevitablyformulatewhollyoppositeapplica-
tionsof the sentence“I opposethe initiationof the use of physicalforceagainstperson
and property.” Hencemy supportfor copyrightsand PoliticianX’s oppositionto them.