Misplaced Pages

Ayn Rand: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editContent deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 03:14, 11 January 2009 editSlimVirgin (talk | contribs)172,064 edits restored sentence that was left incomplete in previous edit; see talk← Previous edit Latest revision as of 15:26, 28 December 2024 edit undoBearcat (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Administrators1,564,943 edits no redlinked categories; only categories that actually exist are permitted 
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|Russian-born American author and philosopher (1905–1982)}}
{{Infobox Writer <!-- for more information see ] -->
{{Good article}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Ayn Rand | name = Ayn Rand
| native_name = Алиса Зиновьевна Розенбаум
| image = Ayn_Rand1.jpg
| image = Ayn Rand (1943 Talbot portrait).jpg
| imagesize =
| alt = Half-length monochrome portrait photo of Ayn Rand, seated, holding a cigarette | alt = Photo of Ayn Rand
| caption = Ayn Rand | caption = Rand in 1943
| birth_name = Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum
| birthdate = {{birth date|mf=yes|1905|2|2|}}
| birth_date = {{birth date|1905|02|02}}
| birthplace = ], ]
| birth_place = ], ]
| deathdate = {{death date and age|mf=yes|1982|3|6|1905|2|2}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|1982|3|6|1905|2|2}}
| deathplace = ], ]
| death_place = New York City, U.S.<!-- DO NOT REMOVE the country per ] -->
| occupation = writer
| pseudonym = Ayn Rand
| influences = ], ], ], ], ], ], ]
| occupation = {{hlist|Author|philosopher}}
| influenced = ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ]
| language = {{cslist|English|Russian}}
| notableworks = '']''<br />'']''
| citizenship = {{ublist|
| Russia (until 1931){{efn|Rand's initial citizenship was in the ] and continued through the ] and the ], which became part of the ].}}
| United States (from 1931)}}
| alma_mater = ]
| period = 1934–1982
| notableworks = ]
| spouse = {{marriage|]|1929|1979|end=d}}{{efn|name="frank"|Rand's husband, Charles Francis O'Connor (1897–1979),{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=65}} is not to be confused with the actor and director ] (1881–1959) or the writer whose pen name was ].}}
| signature = Ayn Rand signature 1949.svg
| signature_alt = Ayn Rand
}} }}
'''Ayn Rand''' ({{IPAEng|ˈaɪn ˈrænd}}, {{OldStyleDate|February 2|1905|January 20}} &ndash; March 6, 1982), was a Russian-American ], ], and ], widely known for her best-selling novels '']'' and '']'', and for developing a popular philosophical system that she called ].


'''Alice O'Connor''' (born '''Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum''';{{efn|{{langx|ru|link=no|Алиса Зиновьевна Розенбаум}}, {{IPA|ru|ɐˈlʲisə zʲɪˈnovʲjɪvnə rəzʲɪnˈbaʊm|}}. Most sources ] her given name as either ''Alisa'' or ''Alissa''.{{sfn|Gladstein|1999|p=121}}}} {{OldStyleDateNY|February 2|January 20}}, 1905{{dash}}March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name '''Ayn Rand''' ({{IPAc-en|aɪ|n}}), was a Russian-born American author and philosopher.<!-- DO NOT REMOVE WITHOUT CONSENSUS. -->{{sfn|Badhwar|Long|2020}} She is known for her fiction and for developing a philosophical system she named ]. Born and educated in Russia, she moved to the United States in 1926. After two early novels that were initially unsuccessful and two ] plays, Rand achieved fame with her 1943 novel '']''. In 1957, she published her best-selling work, the novel '']''. Afterward, until her death in 1982, she turned to non-fiction to promote her philosophy, publishing her own ] and releasing several collections of essays.
Born and educated in Russia, Rand emigrated to the United States in 1925 after graduating from university. She was noticed by leading ] director ] and worked as a screen-writer until 1932, when her first play was produced in ] and ]. Her first successful novel was ''The Fountainhead'', published in 1943, and her best-known work the ] ''Atlas Shrugged'', published in 1957.


Rand advocated ] and rejected ] and religion. She supported ] and ] as opposed to ] and ]. In politics, she condemned the ] as immoral and supported ], which she defined as the system based on recognizing ], including ] rights. Although she opposed ], which she viewed as ], Rand is often associated with the modern ]. In art, she promoted ]. She was sharply critical of most philosophers and philosophical traditions known to her, with a few exceptions.
Her political philosophy, reflected in both her fiction and in her theoretical work, lies within the general framework of the ], with its emphasis on ], ], and the constitutional protection of the ], liberty, and property. Her most fundamental principle is that ] &mdash; the idea that one is an end in oneself, and that one's own life and fulfillment are of the highest value &mdash; is the true standard of morality and that ] is profoundly immoral.<ref name=Hicks>Hicks, Stephen R. C. , ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', 2006, accessed January 10, 2009.</ref> As such, she controversially promoted the concept of the hero standing against the mob, amid derisive depictions of trade unions, socialism, and egalitarianism.


Rand's books have sold over 37 million copies. Her fiction received mixed reviews from literary critics, with reviews becoming more negative for her later work.{{sfn|Gladstein|1999|pp=117–119}} Although academic interest in her ideas has grown since her death,{{sfn|Cocks|2020|p=15}} academic philosophers have generally ignored or rejected Rand's philosophy, arguing that she has a polemical approach and that her work lacks methodological rigor.{{sfn|Badhwar|Long|2020}} Her writings have politically influenced some ] and ]. The ] circulates her ideas, both to the public and in academic settings.
She has attracted a popular following, mainly in America, where her views have influenced a number of public figures.<ref>A survey jointly conducted by the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club early in the 1990s asked readers to name the book that had most influenced their lives: ''Atlas Shrugged'' was second only to the Bible - ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', ''ibid''.</ref> Within academia, her philosophical work has earned either no attention or has been criticized for its allegedly derivative nature,<ref>Walker, Jeff. ''The Ayn Rand Cult''. Open Court, 1998.<!--needs a page number--> Walker argues that everything Rand wrote was either derivative (from a combination of Jewish tradition, laissez-faire manifestos, and mystery novels), or devoid of literary value.</ref> a lack of rigor, and a limited understanding of the issues she wrote about,<ref>], a Kant scholar, alleges that she misunderstood Kant, and outlines what he sees as some elementary logical errors in her work.</ref> though an increasing interest in her work saw the philosophy department of the University of Texas at Austin establish a fellowship in her honor in 2001.<ref name=CohenGuardian>Cohen, David. , ''The Guardian'', December 7, 2001.</ref>


==Life== == Life ==
===Childhood and education=== === Early life ===
Rand was born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum on February{{nbs}}2, 1905, into a Jewish ] family living in ] in what was then the ].{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=xiii}} She was the eldest of three daughters of Zinovy Zakharovich Rosenbaum, a pharmacist, and Anna Borisovna ({{née|Kaplan}}).{{sfn|Heller|2009|pp=3–5}} She was 12 when the ] and the rule of the ] under ] disrupted her family's lives. Her father's pharmacy was nationalized,{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=31}} and the family fled to ] in Crimea, which was initially under the control of the ] during the ].{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=35}} After graduating high school there in June 1921,{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=36}} she returned with her family to Petrograd (as Saint Petersburg was then named),{{efn|The city was renamed ''Petrograd'' from the Germanic ''Saint Petersburg'' in 1914 because Russia was at war with Germany. In 1924 it was renamed ''Leningrad''. The name ''Saint Petersburg'' was restored in 1991.{{sfn|Ioffe|2022}}}} where they faced desperate conditions, occasionally nearly starving.{{sfn|Sciabarra|2013|pp=86–87}}
].]]
Rand was born Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum ({{lang-ru|Алиса Зиновьевна Розенбаум}}) in 1905, into a middle-class family living in ], ], the eldest of three daughters (Alisa, Natasha, and Nora),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.asenseoflife.com/synopsis.html|title=''A Sense of Life''|accessdate=2006-03-22}} website of the documentary film about Rand's life.</ref> to Zinovy Zacharovich Rosenbaum and Anna Borisovna Rosenbaum, ] and largely non-observant ]s. Her father was a ] and a successful pharmaceutical entrepreneur who earned the privilege of living outside the ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nyu.edu/projects/sciabarra/rad/PubRadReviews/fc1.html|title="Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical—Published Reviews."|accessdate=2006-03-23}}</ref>


].]]
Rand was twelve at the time of the ], and her family life was disrupted by the rise of the ] party. Her father's pharmacy was confiscated by the Soviets, and the family fled to the ] to recover financially. Rand then returned to Saint Petersburg to attend the ],<ref name=Hicks/> where she joined the department of social pedagogy, majoring in history with additional studies in philosophy, philology, and law.<ref name=Sciabarra>Sciabarra, Chris Matthew. , ''The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies'' vol. 1, iss. 1 (1999): 1-26]</ref> She read ], ], and ], as well as the philosophical works of ], admiring his depiction of the hero in '']''. She completed a three-year program and graduated in 1924,<ref name=Sciabarra/> after which she entered the State Institute for Cinema Arts to study screenwriting.
When Russian universities were opened to women after the revolution, Rand was among the first to enroll at ].{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=15}} At 16, she began her studies in the department of ], majoring in history.{{sfn|Sciabarra|2013|p=72}} She was one of many bourgeois students purged from the university shortly before graduating. After complaints from a group of visiting foreign scientists, many purged students, including Rand, were reinstated.{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=47}}{{sfn|Britting|2004|p=24}} She graduated from the renamed Leningrad State University in October 1924.{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=15}}{{sfn|Sciabarra|1999|p=1}} She then studied for a year at the State ] for Screen Arts in Leningrad. For an assignment, Rand wrote an essay about the Polish actress ]; it became her first published work.{{sfn|Heller|2009|pp=49–50}} She decided her professional surname for writing would be ''Rand'',{{sfn|Britting|2004|p=33}} and she adopted the first name ''Ayn'' (pronounced {{IPAc-en|aɪ|n}}).{{sfn|Gladstein|1999|p=9}}{{efn|She may have taken ''Rand'' as her surname because it is graphically similar to a vowelless excerpt {{lang|ru|Рзнб}} of her birth surname {{lang|ru|Розенбаум}} in ].{{sfn|Gladstein|2010|p=7}}{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=55}} Rand said ''Ayn'' was adapted from a ] name.{{sfn|Burns|2009|pp=19, 301}} Some biographical sources question this, suggesting it may come from a nickname based on the Hebrew word {{lang|he| עין}} ('']'', meaning 'eye').{{sfn|Heller|2009|pp=55–57}} Letters from Rand's family do not use such a nickname.<ref>Milgram, Shoshana. "The Life of Ayn Rand: Writing, Reading, and Related Life Events". In {{harvnb|Gotthelf|Salmieri|2016|p=39}}.</ref>}}


In late 1925, Rand was granted a ] to visit relatives in Chicago.{{sfn|Burns|2009|pp=18–19}} She arrived in New York City on February{{nbs}}19, 1926.{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=53}} Intent on staying in the United States to become a screenwriter, she lived for a few months with her relatives learning English{{sfn|Hicks}} before moving to ], California.{{sfn|Heller|2009|pp=57–60}}
===Immigration and marriage===
In late 1925, she was granted a ] to visit American relatives. She arrived in the United States in February 1926, at the age of 21, entering by ship through ], which would ultimately become her home. After a brief stay with her relatives in ], she resolved never to return to the Soviet Union, and set out for ] to become a screenwriter. Already using ''Rand'' as a ] ] of her surname, she adopted the name ''Ayn'', which is of disputed origin.<ref>Possibly the contraction of the last three letters of her surname in handwritten Cyrillic which strongly resemble the three Roman letters a.y.n. ARI Biographical researcher Drs. Gotthelf and Berliner note that while still in Russia, Anna used the name "Rand", which is a Cyrillic contraction of Rosenbaum. They also note a hypothesis about a Finnish origin of Ayn. </ref>


In Hollywood a chance meeting with director ] led to work as an ] in his film '']'' and a subsequent job as a junior screenwriter.{{sfn|Britting|2004|pp=34–36}} While working on ''The King of Kings'', she met the aspiring actor ];{{efn|name="frank"}} they married on April{{nbs}}15, 1929. She became a ] in July 1929 and an ] on March{{nbs}}3, 1931.{{sfn|Britting|2004|p=39}}{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=71}}{{efn|Rand's immigration papers ] her given name as ''Alice'';{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=53}} her legal married name became ''Alice O'Connor'', but she did not use that name publicly or with friends.<ref>Milgram, Shoshana. "The Life of Ayn Rand: Writing, Reading, and Related Life Events". In {{harvnb|Gotthelf|Salmieri|2016|p=24}}.</ref>{{sfn|Branden|1986|p=72}}}} She tried to bring her parents and sisters to the United States, but they could not obtain permission to emigrate.{{sfn|Heller|2009|pp=96–98}}{{sfn|Britting|2004|pp=43–44, 52}} Rand's father died of a heart attack in 1939; one of her sisters and their mother died during the ].{{sfn|Popoff|2024|p=119}}
Initially, she struggled in Hollywood and took odd jobs to pay her basic living expenses. A chance meeting with famed director ] led to a job as an ] in his film, ''],'' and to subsequent work as a script reader.<ref name="ari-bio">
{{cite web
|url=http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_ayn_rand_aynrand_biography
|title=A Brief Biography of Ayn Rand
|publisher=]
|accessdate=2008-12-29
}}
</ref> She also worked as the head of the costume department at ] Studios.<ref name="Leiendecker"> Leiendecker, Harold. {{cite web|url=http://www.eckerd.edu/aspec/writers/atlas_shrugged.htm|title="Atlas Shrugged."|accessdate=2006-03-30}}</ref> While working on ''The King of Kings'', she intentionally bumped into an aspiring young actor, ], who caught her eye. The two married on April 15, 1929, and remained married for fifty years, until O'Connor's death in 1979 at the age of 82. Rand became an ] in 1931.


===Later years=== === Early fiction ===
{{see also|Night of January 16th|We the Living|Anthem (novella)}}
]'' opened on Broadway in 1935.]]
Rand's first literary success was the sale of her screenplay '']'' to ] in 1932, although it was never produced.{{sfn|Britting|2004|pp=40, 42}}{{efn|It was later published in '']'' along with other screenplays, plays, and short stories that were not produced or published during her lifetime.{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=22}}}} Her courtroom drama '']'', first staged in Hollywood in 1934, reopened successfully on ] in 1935. Each night, a jury was selected from members of the audience; based on its vote, one of two different endings would be performed.{{sfn|Heller|2009|pp=76, 92}}{{efn|In 1941, ] produced a ]. Rand did not participate in the production and was highly critical of the result.{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=78}}{{sfn|Gladstein|2010|p=87}}}} Rand and O'Connor moved to New York City in December 1934 so she could handle revisions for the Broadway production.{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=82}}


Her first novel, the semi-autobiographical{{sfn|Rand|1995|p=xviii}} '']'', was published in 1936. Set in ], it focuses on the struggle between the individual and the state. Initial sales were slow, and the American publisher let it go out of print,{{sfn|Gladstein|2010|p=13}} although European editions continued to sell.<ref>Ralston, Richard E. "Publishing ''We the Living''". In {{harvnb|Mayhew|2004|p=141}}.</ref> She adapted the story as ], but the Broadway production closed in less than a week.<ref>Britting, Jeff. "Adapting ''We the Living''". In {{harvnb|Mayhew|2004|p=164}}.</ref>{{efn|In 1942, the novel was adapted without permission into a pair of Italian films, ''Noi vivi'' and ''Addio, Kira''. After Rand's post-war legal claims over the piracy were settled, the films were re-edited with her approval and released as '']'' in 1986.<ref>Britting, Jeff. "Adapting ''We the Living''". In {{harvnb|Mayhew|2004|pp=167–176}}.</ref>}} After the success of her later novels, Rand released a revised version in 1959 that has sold over three million copies.<ref>Ralston, Richard E. "Publishing ''We the Living''". In {{harvnb|Mayhew|2004|p=143}}.</ref>
Beginning in 1960, Rand was a visiting lecturer at several universities such as ], ] and ]. In subsequent years, she went on to lecture at ], ], ] and ].<ref>Ayn Rand's Bibliography {{cite web|title="Ayn Rand's Bibliography"|url=http://festivals.iloveindia.com/teachers-day/famous-teachers/ayn-rand.html|accessdate=2006-10-22}}</ref> She received an honorary doctorate from ] in 1963.<ref name="ari-timeline">{{cite web|url=http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_ayn_rand_aynrand_timeline|title=Timeline of Ayn Rand's Life and Career|publisher=ARI|accessdate=2008-12-29}}</ref>


Rand started her next major novel, '']'', in December 1935,{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=98}} but took a break from it in 1937 to write her novella '']''.{{sfn|Britting|2004|pp=54–55}} The novella presents a ] future world in which ] collectivism has triumphed to such an extent that the word ''I'' has been forgotten and replaced with ''we''.{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=50}}{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=102}} Protagonists Equality 7-2521 and ] eventually escape the collectivistic society and rediscover the word ''I''.{{Sfn|Gladstein|2010|pp=24–25}} It was published in England in 1938, but Rand could not find an American publisher at that time. As with ''We the Living'', Rand's later success allowed her to get a revised version published in 1946, and this sold over 3.5{{nbs}}million copies.<ref>Ralston, Richard E. "Publishing ''Anthem''". In {{harvnb|Mayhew|2005a|pp=24–27}}.</ref>
For many years, she gave an annual lecture at the ], responding, afterwards, in her famously spirited form to questions from the audience.


=== ''The Fountainhead'' and political activism ===
===Declining health and death===
{{see also|The Fountainhead|The Fountainhead (film)}}
] and Ayn Rand.]]In 1973, she was briefly reunited with her youngest sister, Nora, who still lived in the Soviet Union.<ref name="JVL">Daligga, Catherine. {{cite web|url=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Rand.html|title="Ayn Rand" Biography at the Jewish Virtual Library|accessdate=2006-03-24}}</ref> Although Rand had written 1,200 letters to her family in the Soviet Union, and had attempted to bring them to the United States, she had ceased contacting them in 1937 after reading a notice in the post office that letters from Americans might imperil Russians at risk from ] repression.<ref name="arc-sister">{{cite web|url=http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?id=7581|title="Ayn Rand's Sister: Eleanora Drobyshev 1910-1999"|accessdate=2008-12-29}}</ref> Rand received a letter from Nora in 1973 and invited her and her husband to America; but her sister's views had changed, and to Rand's disappointment Nora voluntarily returned to the USSR.<ref name="arc-sister"/>
During the 1940s, Rand became politically active. She and her husband were full-time volunteers for Republican ]'s 1940 presidential campaign.{{sfn|Britting|2004|p=57}} This work put her in contact with other intellectuals sympathetic to free-market capitalism. She became friends with journalist ], who introduced her to the ] economist ]. Despite philosophical differences with them, Rand strongly endorsed the writings of both men, and they expressed admiration for her. Mises once called her "the most courageous man in America", a compliment that particularly pleased her because he said "man" instead of "woman".{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=114}}{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=249}} Rand became friends with libertarian writer ]. Rand questioned her about American history and politics during their many meetings, and gave Paterson ideas for her only non-fiction book, '']''.{{sfn|Burns|2009|pp=75–78}}{{efn|Their friendship ended in 1948 after Paterson made what Rand considered rude comments to valued political allies.{{sfn|Burns|2009|pp=130–131}}{{sfn|Heller|2009|pp=214–215}}}}


]'' was Rand's first bestseller.]]
Rand underwent surgery for ] in 1974, and conflicts continued in the wake of the break with Branden and the subsequent collapse of the NBI. Several more of her closest "Collective" friends parted company with her, and during the late 1970s her activities within the Objectivist movement declined, especially after the death of her husband on November 9, 1979.<ref name="ari-timeline"/> One of her final projects was work on a television adaptation of ''Atlas Shrugged.'' She had also planned to write another novel, ''To Lorne Dieterling,'' but did not get far in her notes.<ref>{{cite book | title = Journals of Ayn Rand | first = Ayn | last = Rand | publisher = Dutton (1997)}} Edited by David Harriman. p.''697''.</ref>
Rand's first major success as a writer came in 1943 with ''The Fountainhead'',{{sfn|Britting|2004|pp=61–78}} a novel about an uncompromising architect named Howard Roark and his struggle against what Rand described as "second-handers" who attempt to live through others, placing others above themselves. Twelve publishers rejected it before ] accepted it at the insistence of editor Archibald Ogden, who threatened to quit if his employer did not publish it.{{sfn|Britting|2004|pp=58–61}} While completing the novel, Rand was prescribed ], an ], to fight fatigue.{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=85}} The drug helped her to work long hours to meet her deadline for delivering the novel, but afterwards she was so exhausted that her doctor ordered two weeks' rest.{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=89}} Her use of the drug for approximately three decades may have contributed to mood swings and outbursts described by some of her later associates.{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=178}}{{sfn|Heller|2009|pp=304–305}}


The success of ''The Fountainhead'' brought Rand fame and financial security.{{sfn|Doherty|2007|p=149}} In 1943, she sold the film rights to ] and returned to Hollywood to write the screenplay. Producer ] then hired her as a screenwriter and script-doctor for screenplays including '']'' and '']''.{{sfn|Britting|2004|pp=68–71}} Rand became involved with the ] ] and ].{{sfn|Burns|2009|pp=100–101, 123}} In 1947, during the ], she testified as a "friendly witness" before the United States ] that the 1944 film '']'' grossly misrepresented conditions in the ], portraying life there as much better and happier than it was.{{sfn|Mayhew|2005b|pp=91–93, 188–189}} She also wanted to criticize the lauded 1946 film '']'' for what she interpreted as its negative presentation of the business world but was not allowed to do so.{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=125}} When asked after the hearings about her feelings on the investigations' effectiveness, Rand described the process as "futile".{{sfn|Mayhew|2005b|p=83}}
Rand died of ] on March 6, 1982 at her 34th Street home in ],<ref> Saxon, Wolfgang. {{cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/07/obituaries/07randobit.html|title="Ayn Rand, 'Fountainhead' Author, Dies."|accessdate=2008-02-02}} ''The New York Times,'' March 7, 1982.</ref> years after having successfully battled cancer, and was interred in the ], ].
Rand's funeral was attended by some of her prominent followers, including ]. ] read her favorite poem ]'s "]". A six-foot floral arrangement in the shape of a dollar sign was placed near her casket.<ref name="Leiendecker"/>


After several delays, the ] of ''The Fountainhead'' was released in 1949. Although it used Rand's screenplay with minimal alterations, she "disliked the movie from beginning to end" and complained about its editing, the acting and other elements.{{sfn|Britting|2004|p=71}}
==Fiction==
{{Main|The Night of January 16th|We the Living|Anthem (novella)}}
Rand's first literary success came with the sale of her screenplay ''Red Pawn'' in 1932 to ]. ] considered it for ], but Russian themes were unpopular at the time, and the project came to nothing.<ref name="Turner">{{cite web|title="As Astonishing as Elvis"|last=Turner |first=Jenny |url=http://www.lrb.co.uk/v27/n23/turn03_.html|date=March 24, 2006}} Review of Jeff Briting's biography, ''Ayn Rand''.</ref> This was followed by the ] '']'' in 1934, on ].


=== ''Atlas Shrugged'' and Objectivism ===
Her first novel, the semi-autobiographical '']'', appeared the same year. Set in communist Russia, it focused on the struggle between the individual and the state. The novella '']'' followed, a vision of a ] future world in which collectivism has triumphed to such an extent that even the word "I" has vanished from the language and from man's memory.
{{see also|Atlas Shrugged|Objectivism|Objectivist movement}}
]''.<ref>Ralston, Richard E. "Publishing ''Anthem''". In {{harvnb|Mayhew|2005a|p=26}}.</ref>]]
Following the publication of ''The Fountainhead'', Rand received many letters from readers, some of whom the book had influenced profoundly.{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=91}} In 1951, Rand moved from Los Angeles to New York City, where she gathered a group of these admirers who met at Rand's apartment on weekends to discuss philosophy. The group included future ] ], a young psychology student named Nathan Blumenthal (later ]) and his wife ], and Barbara's cousin ]. Later, Rand began allowing them to read the manuscript drafts of her new novel, ''Atlas Shrugged''.{{sfn|Heller|2009|pp=240–243}} In 1954, her close relationship with Nathaniel Branden turned into a romantic affair. They informed both their spouses, who briefly objected, until Rand "spn out a deductive chain from which you just couldn't escape", in Barbara Branden's words, resulting in her and O'Connor's assent.{{sfn|Heller|2009|pp=256–259}} Historian ] concludes that O'Connor was likely "the hardest hit" emotionally by the affair.{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=157}}


Published in 1957, ''Atlas Shrugged'' is considered Rand's '']''.{{sfn|Sciabarra|2013|p=106}}{{sfn|Mayhew|2005b|p=78}} She described the novel's theme as "the role of the mind in man's existence—and, as a corollary, the demonstration of a new moral philosophy: the morality of rational self-interest".<ref>Salmieri, Gregory. "''Atlas Shrugged'' on the Role of the Mind in Man's Existence". In {{harvnb|Mayhew|2009|p=248}}.</ref> It advocates the core tenets of Rand's philosophy of ] and expresses her concept of human achievement. The plot involves a ]n United States in which the most creative industrialists, scientists, and artists respond to a ] government by going on ] and retreating to a hidden valley where they build an independent free economy. The novel's hero and leader of the strike, ], describes it as stopping "the motor of the world" by withdrawing the minds of individuals contributing most to the nation's wealth and achievements.{{sfn|Gladstein|1999|p=54}} The novel contains an exposition of Objectivism in a lengthy monologue delivered by Galt.<ref>] "The Role and Essence of John Galt's Speech in Ayn Rand's ''Atlas Shrugged''". In {{harvnb|Younkins|2007|p=99}}.</ref>
===''The Fountainhead''===
{{Main|The Fountainhead|The Fountainhead (film)}}
Rand's first major success came with ''The Fountainhead'' in 1943, a romantic drama and philosophical work that she wrote over a period of seven years. The novel centers around an uncompromising young architect named ], and his struggle against what Rand described as "second-handers" — those who attempt to live through others, placing others above self. It was rejected by twelve publishers before finally being accepted by the ] on the insistence of editorial board member Archibald Ogden.<ref name="Cato">{{cite web|url=http://www.cato.org/special/threewomen/fountainhead.html|title="''The Fountainhead''"|accessdate=2006-03-30 |publisher=]}}</ref> The novel became a ] in 1949, produced by ], starring ] and ], with the screenplay written by Rand herself. She had already written screenplays for two other Hollywood movies, '']'' and '']''.


Despite many negative reviews, ''Atlas Shrugged'' became an international bestseller,{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=2}} but the reaction of intellectuals to the novel discouraged and depressed Rand.{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=178}}{{sfn|Heller|2009|pp=303–306}} ''Atlas Shrugged'' was her last completed work of fiction, marking the end of her career as a novelist and the beginning of her role as a popular philosopher.{{sfn|Younkins|2007|p=1}}
''The Fountainhead'' eventually became a worldwide success, bringing Rand fame and financial security. In the sixty years since it was published, it has sold six million copies, and continues to sell about 100,000 copies per year.<ref name="Cato"/>


In 1958, Nathaniel Branden established the Nathaniel Branden Lectures, later incorporated as the ] (NBI), to promote Rand's philosophy through public lectures. He and Rand co-founded '']'' (later renamed ''The Objectivist'') in 1962 to circulate articles about her ideas;{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=321}} she later republished some of these articles in book form. Rand was unimpressed by many of the NBI students{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=303}} and held them to strict standards, sometimes reacting coldly or angrily to those who disagreed with her.{{sfn|Doherty|2007|pp=237–238}}{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=329}}{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=235}} Critics, including some former NBI students and Branden himself, later said the NBI culture was one of intellectual conformity and excessive reverence for Rand. Some described the NBI or the ] as a ] or religion.{{sfn|Gladstein|2010|pp=105–106}}{{sfn|Burns|2009|pp=232–233}} Rand expressed opinions on a wide range of topics, from literature and music to sexuality and facial hair. Some of her followers mimicked her preferences, wearing clothes to match characters from her novels and buying furniture like hers.{{sfn|Burns|2009|pp=236–237}} Some former NBI students believed the extent of these behaviors was exaggerated, and the problem was concentrated among Rand's closest followers in New York.{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=235}}{{sfn|Doherty|2007|p=235}}
===''Atlas Shrugged''===
{{Main|Atlas Shrugged}}
Rand's ], the 1,100-page ''Atlas Shrugged,'' was published in 1957. Because of the success of ''The Fountainhead,'' the initial print run was 100,000 copies, and the book went on to become an international bestseller, with many interviewees<!--give examples--> citing it as the book that most influenced them. It currently sells almost 200,000 copies annually.<!--citation--> (See ], below.)


=== Later years ===
The theme of ''Atlas Shrugged'' is the morality of rational self-interest. It advocates the core tenets of Rand's philosophy of ] and expresses her idea of human greatness. The plot involves a ]n United States in which industrialists and other creative individuals go on ] and retreat to a mountainous hideaway where they build an independent ]. The hero, ], describes the strike as "stopping the motor of the world" by withdrawing the people that Rand saw as contributing the most to the nation's productivity and creativity. With their strike, they aim to demonstrate that, without "the men of the mind," the economy would collapse and society would fall apart. The novel includes elements of ] and ], and contains Rand's most extensive statement of Objectivism in any of her works of fiction, including a lengthy monologue delivered by John Galt.
Throughout the 1960s and 70s, Rand developed and promoted her Objectivist philosophy through nonfiction and speeches,{{sfn|Branden|1986|pp=315–316}}{{sfn|Gladstein|1999|p=14}} including annual lectures at the ].{{sfn|Gladstein|1999|p=16}} In answers to audience questions, she took controversial stances on political and social issues. These included supporting abortion rights,{{sfn|Heller|2009|pp=320–321}} opposing the ] and the ] (but condemning many ] as "bums"),{{sfn|Burns|2009|pp=228–229, 265}}{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=352}} supporting Israel in the ] of 1973 against a coalition of Arab nations as "civilized men fighting savages",{{sfn|Brühwiler|2021|p=202 n114}}{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=266}} claiming ] had the right to invade and take land inhabited by ],{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=266}}<ref>Thompson, Stephen. "Topographies of Liberal Thought: Rand and Arendt and Race". In {{harvnb|Cocks|2020|p=237}}.</ref> and calling homosexuality "immoral" and "disgusting", despite advocating the repeal of all laws concerning it.{{sfn|Heller|2009|pp=362, 519}} She endorsed several ] candidates for president of the United States, most strongly ] in ].{{sfn|Burns|2009|pp=204–206}}{{sfn|Heller|2009|pp=322–323}}


] in ]{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=405}}]]
==Objectivism==
In 1964, Nathaniel Branden began an affair with the young actress ], whom he later married. Nathaniel and Barbara Branden kept the affair hidden from Rand. As her relationship with Nathaniel Branden deteriorated, Rand had her husband be present for difficult conversations between her and Branden.{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=360–361}} In 1968, Rand learned about Branden's relationship with Scott. Though her romantic involvement with Nathaniel Branden was already over,{{sfn|Britting|2004|p=101}} Rand ended her relationship with both Brandens, and the NBI closed.{{sfn|Heller|2009|pp=374–375}} She published an article in ''The Objectivist'' repudiating Nathaniel Branden for dishonesty and "irrational behavior in his private life".{{sfn|Heller|2009|pp=378–379}} In subsequent years, Rand and several more of her closest associates parted company.{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=276}}{{sfn|Heller|2009|pp=398–400}}
{{Main|Objectivism (Ayn Rand)|Ayn Rand and the history of philosophy}}
Rand saw her views as constituting a complete philosophical system, which she called "Objectivism." She embraced ] and advocated ], or rational self-interest, as a guiding moral principle. Her politics are generally described as ] and ], though she did not use the first term and disavowed any connection to the second.<ref> {{cite web|url=http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=education_campus_libertarians|title="Ayn Rand's Q&A on Libertarians."|accessdate=2006-03-22}} at the ]. Rand stated in 1980, "I've read nothing by a Libertarian ... that wasn't my ideas badly mishandled—i.e., had the teeth pulled out of them—with no credit given."</ref> She wrote of Objectivism that it amounted to "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute."<ref>{{cite book |last=Rand |first=Ayn |title=Atlas Shrugged |publisher=] |location=] |year=1957 |isbn=0394415760 |chapter=Appendix}}</ref> The individual "must exist for his own sake," she wrote in 1962, "neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself.<ref>{{cite book | title = The Voice of Reason | first = Ayn | last = Rand | publisher = Dutton Plume (1989)}} "Introducing Objectivism" p. ''3''. This article originally appeared in the ''Los Angeles Times'' on June 17, 1962.</ref>


Rand's younger sister Eleonora Drobisheva (née ''Rosenbaum'', 1910–1999) visited her in the US in 1973 at the former's invitation, but did not accept her lifestyle and views, as well as finding little literary merit in her works. She subsequently returned to the Soviet Union and spent the rest of her life in Leningrad (later ]).<ref>https://biography.wikireading.ru/hj9OluXAZo</ref>
She supported ] capitalism, holding that the sole function of government ought to be the protection of individual rights, including ]s. Rejecting ] as antithetical to reason, she opposed any form of mysticism or supernaturalism, including organized religion.


Rand had surgery for lung cancer in 1974 after decades of heavy smoking.{{sfn|Heller|2009|pp=391–393}} In 1976, she retired from her newsletter and, despite her lifelong objections to any government-run program, was enrolled in and subsequently claimed ] and ] with the aid of a social worker.{{sfn|McConnell|2010|pp=520–521}}{{sfn|Weiss|2012|p=62}} Her activities in the Objectivist movement declined, especially after her husband died on November{{nbs}}9, 1979.{{sfn|Branden|1986|pp=392–395}} One of her final projects was a never-completed television adaptation of ''Atlas Shrugged''.{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=406}}
Rand saw the ] or fraud as immoral, and held that government action should consist only in protecting citizens from criminal aggression (via the police), foreign aggression (via the military), and in maintaining a system of courts to decide guilt in criminal cases and to resolve civil disputes. In a 1976 Q&A session, she said that the most important parts of her philosophy were her "theory of concepts, my ethics, and my discovery in politics that evil—the violation of rights—consists of the initiation of force."<ref name=Rand2005>{{cite book
| last = Rand | first = Ayn
| coauthors=Mayhew, Robert
| year = 2005
| title = Ayn Rand Answers, the Best of Her Q&A
| isbn = 0-451-21665-2
| publisher = New American Library
| location = New York
| page=166
}}</ref>


On March{{nbs}}6, 1982, Rand died of heart failure at her home in New York City.{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=410}} Her funeral included a {{convert|6|ft|m|adj=on}} floral arrangement in the shape of a dollar sign.{{sfn|Gladstein|2010|p=20}} In her will, Rand named Peikoff as her heir.{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=400}}
She was greatly influenced by ] and found early inspiration in ], although she later rejected his approach, holding it to be anti-reason. She was vociferously opposed to the views of ], particularly those claiming the inability of reason to know reality "as it is in itself." Addressing the United States Military Academy at West Point on March 6, 1974, she said that, "or some two hundred years, under the influence of Immanuel Kant, the dominant trend of philosophy has been directed to a single goal: the destruction of man's mind, of his confidence in the power of reason," and continued:


== Literary approach, influences and reception ==
<blockquote>Today's mawkish concern with and compassion for the feeble, the flawed, the suffering, the guilty, is a cover for the profoundly Kantian hatred of the innocent, the strong, the able, the successful, the virtuous, the confident, the happy. A philosophy out to destroy
Rand described her approach to literature as "]".{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=179}} She wanted her fiction to present the world "as it could be and should be", rather than as it was.<ref>Britting, Jeff. "Adapting ''The Fountainhead'' to Film". In {{harvnb|Mayhew|2006|p=96}}.</ref> This approach led her to create highly stylized situations and characters. Her fiction typically has ] who are heroic individualists, depicted as fit and attractive.{{sfn|Gladstein|1999|p=26}} Her villains support duty and collectivist moral ideals. Rand often describes them as unattractive, and some have names that suggest negative traits, such as Wesley Mouch in ''Atlas Shrugged''.{{sfn|Gladstein|1999|p=27}}{{sfn|Baker|1987|pp=99–105}}
man's mind is necessarily a philosophy of hatred for man, for man's life, and for every human value. Hatred of the good for being the good, is the hallmark of the twentieth century."<ref>Rand, Ayn. , delivered to the United States Military Academy, West Point, March 6, 1974, accessed January 9, 2009.</ref></blockquote>


Rand considered plot a critical element of literature,{{sfn|Torres|Kamhi|2000|p=64}} and her stories typically have what biographer Anne Heller described as "tight, elaborate, fast-paced plotting".{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=64}} ]s are a common plot element in Rand's fiction; in most of her novels and plays, the main female character is romantically involved with at least two men.{{sfn|Duggan|2019|p=44}}<ref>Wilt, Judith. "The Romances of Ayn Rand". In {{harvnb|Gladstein|Sciabarra|1999|pp=183–184}}.</ref>
She recognized an intellectual kinship with ] in political philosophy, agreeing with Locke's ideas that individuals have a right to the products of their own labor and have ] to life, liberty, and property. Unlike Locke, she found the basis for individual rights in man's nature as a being whose survival depends upon his independent exercise of reason. She agreed in a general way with the philosophies of the ] and the ] and reported her approval of specific philosophical positions, including some of ] and ].


===Objectivist movement=== === Influences ===
].]]
{{Main|Objectivist movement}}
In school, Rand read works by ], ], ], and ], who became her favorites.{{sfn|Britting|2004|pp=17, 22}} She considered them to be among the "top rank" of ] writers because of their focus on moral themes and their skill at constructing plots.{{sfn|Torres|Kamhi|2000|p=59}} Hugo was an important influence on her writing, especially her approach to plotting. In the introduction she wrote for an English-language edition of his novel '']'', Rand called him "the greatest novelist in world literature".{{sfn|Heller|2009|pp=32–33}}
In 1951 Rand moved from Los Angeles to 36 East 36th Street (across from the J.P. Morgan Library) in New York City, the city she most loved and admired. From 1965 to her death in 1982, she resided at 120 East 34th Street. In New York, she formed a group (jokingly designated "]") which included future ] chairman ], a young psychology student named Nathan Blumenthal (later ]) and his wife ], and ], all of whom had been profoundly influenced by ''The Fountainhead.'' Rand launched the ] movement with this group to promote her philosophy.


Although Rand disliked most Russian literature, her depictions of her heroes show the influence of the ]{{sfn|Grigorovskaya|2018|pp=315–325}} and other nineteenth-century Russian writing, most notably the 1863 novel '']'' by ].{{sfn|Kizilov|2021|p=106}}{{sfn|Weiner|2020|pp=6–7}} Scholars of Russian literature see in Chernyshevsky's character Rakhmetov, an "ascetic revolutionist", the template for Rand's literary heroes and heroines.{{sfn|Johnson|2000|pp=47–67}}
The group originally started out as an informal gathering of friends who met with Rand on weekends at her apartment to discuss philosophy; later the Collective would proceed to play a larger, more formal role, reading ''Atlas Shrugged'' as the manuscript pages were written and promoting Rand's philosophy through the ] (NBI), established by him for that purpose. Many Collective members gave lectures at the NBI and in cities across the United States, while others wrote articles for her publications, '']'' and ''].'' Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Rand developed and promoted her Objectivist philosophy through both her fiction and non-fiction works, and by giving talks at several prominent universities, including Yale, Columbia, and the University of Michigan. "''],'' later expanded and renamed simply ''The Objectivist,'' contained essays by Rand, Branden, and other associates ... that analyzed current political events and applied the principles of Objectivism to everyday life."<ref name="JVL"/> Rand later published some of these in book form.


Rand's experience of the Russian Revolution and early Communist Russia influenced the portrayal of her villains. Beyond ''We the Living'', which is set in Russia, this influence can be seen in the ideas and rhetoric of Ellsworth Toohey in ''The Fountainhead'',{{sfn|Rosenthal|2004|pp=220–223}} and in the destruction of the economy in ''Atlas Shrugged''.{{sfn|Kizilov|2021|p=109}}{{sfn|Rosenthal|2004|pp=200–206}}
After several years, Rand's close relationship with the much younger Branden turned into a romantic affair, with the consent of their spouses.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/bio/biofaq.html#Q4.4 | title="Ayn Rand Biographical FAQ: Did Rand have an affair with Nathaniel Branden?" | accessdate=2008-04-28}}</ref> It lasted until Branden (having separated from Barbara) entered into an affair with the young actress ], whom he later married. The Brandens hid the affair from Rand, lied about it (by their own admission). When Rand found out, she abruptly ended her relationship with both Brandens and with NBI, which closed. She published a letter in ''The Objectivist'' repudiating Branden for dishonesty and other "irrational behavior",<ref name="thimc">Rand, Ayn. To whom it may concern. ''The Objectivist,'' v. 7, no. 5, pp. 1-8, New York 1968.</ref> never disclosing their affair. Both Brandens remain '']'' with certain Objectivists, particularly the group that formed the ].


Rand's descriptive style echoes her early career writing scenarios and scripts for movies; her novels have many narrative descriptions that resemble early Hollywood movie scenarios. They often follow common film editing conventions, such as having a broad ] description of a scene followed by ] details, and her descriptions of women characters often take a "]" perspective.<ref>Gladstein, Mimi Reisel. "Ayn Rand's Cinematic Eye". In {{harvnb|Younkins|2007|pp=109–111}}.</ref>
Several prominent critics of the movement denoted it as a "cult"<ref>*] (who helped define modern ] and ]) in Rothbard, Murray. {{cite web|title="The sociology of the Ayn Rand cult."|url=http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard23.html|accessdate=2006-03-31}} ] (founder of ]),in Shermer, Michael. {{cite web|title="The Unlikeliest Cult in History"|url=http://www.2think.org/02_2_she.shtml|accessdate=2006-03-30}} Originally published in ''Skeptic'' vol. 2, no. 2, 1993, pp. 74-81.</ref> claiming that it exhibited typical cult traits, including slavish adherence to unprovable doctrine and extreme adulation of the founder. Objectivists counter that even if some of Rand's followers have acted like cultists, this was not intended by Rand, and note that Rand explicitly condemned "blind followers."<ref>Rand, Ayn ''Letters'', p. 592 Letter dated December 10, 1961, Plume (1997), ISBN 0-452-27404-4, as cited in {{cite web|title="Ayn Rand Biographical FAQ: Did Rand organize a cult?"|url=http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/bio/biofaq.html#Q3.3|accessdate=2006-06-25}}</ref>


=== Contemporary reviews ===
===Epistemological views===
]
Rand held that ]—the theory of knowledge—was fundamental to philosophy. She wrote that her advocacy of capitalism in politics and egoism in ethics was only a consequence of her advocacy of reason in epistemology. She defined "reason" as "the faculty that identifies and integrates the material provided by man's senses."
The first reviews Rand received were for ''Night of January 16th''. Reviews of the Broadway production were largely positive, but Rand considered even positive reviews to be embarrassing because of significant changes made to her script by the producer.{{sfn|Branden|1986|pp=122–124}} Although Rand believed that ''We the Living'' was not widely reviewed, over 200 publications published approximately 125 different reviews. Overall, they were more positive than those she received for her later work.<ref>Berliner, Michael S. "Reviews of ''We the Living''". In {{harvnb|Mayhew|2004|pp=147–151}}.</ref> ''Anthem'' received little review attention, both for its first publication in England and for subsequent re-issues.<ref>Berliner, Michael S. "Reviews of ''Anthem''". In {{harvnb|Mayhew|2005a|pp=55–60}}.</ref>


Rand's first bestseller, ''The Fountainhead'', received far fewer reviews than ''We the Living'', and reviewers' opinions were mixed.<ref name="tfreviews">Berliner, Michael S. "''The Fountainhead'' Reviews". In {{harvnb|Mayhew|2006|pp=77–82}}.</ref> ]'s positive review in '']'', which called the author "a writer of great power" who wrote "brilliantly, beautifully and bitterly",{{sfn|Pruette|1943|p=BR7}} was one that Rand greatly appreciated.{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=152}} There were other positive reviews, but Rand dismissed most of them for either misunderstanding her message or for being in unimportant publications.<ref name="tfreviews"/> Some negative reviews said the novel was too long;{{sfn|Gladstein|1999|pp=117–119}} others called the characters unsympathetic and Rand's style "offensively pedestrian".<ref name="tfreviews"/>
To defend and explain her position on reason, she developed a theory of sense-perception that distinguishes between the form and object of perception, holding that the form in which an organism perceives is determined by its physiological means of perception but that in whatever form it perceives, ''what'' it perceives—the object of its perception—is reality. She rejected the Kantian dichotomy between "things as we perceive them" and "things as they are in themselves." Perception, she held, is the unchallengeable given; perception, being physiologically determined, cannot make mistakes or err. Apparent errors, such as in "optical illusions," she regarded as errors in the conceptual identification of what is seen, not in the seeing itself. Perception is, she argued, automatic, infallible, and provides the base for the non-automatic, fallible processes of conceptual interpretation and inference that is the sphere of reason.


''Atlas Shrugged'' was widely reviewed, and many of the reviews were strongly negative.{{sfn|Gladstein|1999|pp=117–119}}<ref name="asreviews">Berliner, Michael S. "The ''Atlas Shrugged'' Reviews". In {{harvnb|Mayhew|2009|pp=133–137}}.</ref> ''Atlas Shrugged'' received positive reviews from a few publications,<ref name="asreviews"/> but Rand scholar ] later wrote that {{qi|reviewers seemed to vie with each other in a contest to devise the cleverest put-downs}}, with reviews including comments that it was {{qi|written out of hate}} and showed {{qi|remorseless hectoring and prolixity}}.{{sfn|Gladstein|1999|pp=117–119}} ] wrote what was later called the novel's most "notorious" review{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=174}}{{sfn|Doherty|2007|p=659 n4}} for the conservative magazine '']''. He accused Rand of supporting a godless system (which he related to that of the ]), claiming, {{qi|From almost any page of ''Atlas Shrugged'', a voice can be heard ... commanding: 'To a gas chamber—go!'}}.{{sfn|Chambers|1957|p=596}}{{efn|Although she was previously friendly with ''National Review'' editor ], Rand cut off all contact with him after the review was published.{{sfn|Heller|2009|pp=285–286}} Historian Jennifer Burns describes the review as a break between Buckley's religious conservatism and non-religious libertarianism.{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=175}}}}
In her 1979 work, '']'', Rand presented her novel theory of concepts—in effect, her solution to the age-old "problem of universals." In essence, her theory holds that concepts (abstract ideas) are classifications of existents that possess ''commensurable'' characteristics. Things that are similar, she held, have "the same characteristic but in different measure or degree." Seeing many links between concepts and mathematics, her theory of concepts uses such mathematical terms as "unit," "measurement," and "common denominator." Her definition of "concept" is: "A concept is a mental integration of two or more units possessing the same distinguishing characteristic(s), with their particular measurements omitted."


Rand's nonfiction received far fewer reviews than her novels. The tenor of the criticism for her first nonfiction book, '']'', was similar to that for ''Atlas Shrugged''.{{sfn|Gladstein|1999|p=119}} Philosopher ] likened her certainty to "the way philosophy is written in the Soviet Union",{{sfn|Hook|1961|p=28}} and author ] called her viewpoint "nearly perfect in its immorality".{{sfn|Vidal|1962|p=}} These reviews set the pattern for reaction to her ideas among ] critics.{{sfn|Burns|2009|pp=193–194}} Her subsequent books got progressively less review attention.{{sfn|Gladstein|1999|p=119}}
In other areas of epistemology, she advanced a theory that concepts, and knowledge generally, is both contextual and hierarchical. She rejected the "analytic-synthetic" dichotomy, holding that the meaning of a concept includes ''all'' the characteristics of its referents, including those yet to be discovered. Her overall theory of the cognitive function of concepts was that they expand man's range of awareness by condensing the number of units one needs to hold in mind in one frame of awareness ("unit-economy").


=== Academic assessments of Rand's fiction ===
A strong advocate of Aristotelian logic, she titled the three parts of '']'' with the names of the three axioms of Aristotelian logic: "A is A," "Non-Contradiction," and "Either/Or." In regard to inductive logic, she held that her theory of concepts would provide the basis for a new approach to validating inductive generalization, and ] has attempted this development.
Academic consideration of Rand as a literary figure during her life was limited. Mimi Reisel Gladstein could not find any scholarly articles about Rand's novels when she began researching her in 1973, and only three such articles appeared during the rest of the 1970s.{{sfn|Gladstein|2003|pp=373–374, 379–381}} Since her death, scholars of English and American literature have continued largely to ignore her work,{{sfn|Gladstein|2003|p=375}} although attention to her literary work has increased since the 1990s.{{sfn|Gladstein|2003|pp=384–391}} Several academic book series about important authors cover Rand and her works,{{efn|These include Twayne's United States Authors (''Ayn Rand'' by James T. Baker), Twayne's Masterwork Studies (''The Fountainhead: An American Novel'' by Den Uyl and ''Atlas Shrugged: Manifesto of the Mind'' by Gladstein), and Re-reading the Canon (''Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand'', edited by Gladstein and Sciabarra).{{sfn|Sciabarra|2003|p=43}}}} as do popular study guides like ] and ].{{sfn|Gladstein|2003|pp=382–389}} In '']'' entry for Rand written in 2001, ] declared that {{qi|Rand wrote the most intellectually challenging fiction of her generation.}}{{sfn|Lewis|2001}} In 2019, ] described Rand's fiction as popular and influential on many readers, despite being easy to criticize for {{qi|her cartoonish characters and melodramatic plots, her rigid moralizing, her middle- to lowbrow aesthetic preferences{{nbs}}... and philosophical strivings}}.{{sfn|Duggan|2019|p=4}}


== Philosophy ==
For more discussion of her epistemology, see '']'' by Leonard Peikoff and '']'' by Allan Gotthelf.
{{Objectivist movement}}
{{Libertarianism US}}
{{main|Objectivism}}
Rand called her philosophy "Objectivism", describing its essence as "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute".{{sfn|Rand|1992|pp=1170–1171}} She considered Objectivism a ] and laid out positions on ], ], ], ], and ].{{sfn|Gladstein|Sciabarra|1999|p=2}}


=== Metaphysics and epistemology ===
===Ethics===
In metaphysics, Rand supported ] and opposed anything she regarded as mysticism or supernaturalism, including all forms of religion.<ref>Den Uyl, Douglas J. & Rasmussen, Douglas B. "Ayn Rand's Realism". In {{harvnb|Den Uyl|Rasmussen|1986|pp=3–20}}.</ref> Rand believed in ] as a form of ] and rejected ].<ref>Rheins, Jason G. "Objectivist Metaphysics: The Primacy of Existence". In {{harvnb|Gotthelf|Salmieri|2016|p=260}}.</ref>
Rand's ethical egoism is her most well-known position. She advocated "rational selfishness." In '']'' she gave an original validation of her moral code, claiming to have bridged the infamous gap between ]—or between facts and values. She begins by asking "What are values? Why does man need them?" She argues that the concept of "value" depends upon the concept of an "alternative" in the face of which one must act. "Where no alternatives exist, no goals and no values are possible."<ref name="obj-ethics">"The Objectivist Ethics," in '']''.</ref> The next point in her derivation is to argue that "there is only one fundamental alternative in the universe: existence or non-existence—and it pertains to a single class of entities: to living organisms. The existence of inanimate matter is unconditional, the existence of life is not: it depends on a specific course of action....It is only a living organism that faces a constant alternative: the issue of life or death....It is only the concept of 'Life' that makes the concept of 'Value' possible."<ref name="obj-ethics"/>


Rand also related her aesthetics to metaphysics by defining art as a "selective re-creation of reality according to an artist's metaphysical value-judgments".{{sfn|Torres|Kamhi|2000|p=26}} According to her, art allows philosophical concepts to be presented in a concrete form that can be grasped easily, thereby fulfilling a need of human consciousness.{{sfn|Sciabarra|2013|pp=191–192}} As a writer, the art form Rand focused on most closely was literature. In works such as '']'' and '']'', she described ] as the approach that most accurately reflects the existence of human free will.{{sfn|Gotthelf|2000|p=93}}
All living organisms, she held, act to gain values—i.e., the items their survival requires. An organism's own life is its ultimate value. But man enters the sphere of ''moral'' values because man has free will: one does not automatically hold his own life as his ultimate value. Whether he acts to promote and fulfill his own life or not is up to him, not hard-wired into his physiology. "Man has the power to act as his own destroyer—and that is the way he has acted through most of his history."<ref>'']'', p. 931.</ref> The purpose of a moral code, Rand held, is to provide a ''standard of value'' and a code of virtues by reference to which man can achieve the values his survival requires and which enhance his life. Her standard of value is: "Man's life qua rational being," and rationality is the primary virtue of this code. The derivative virtues of her Objectivist morality are: independence, integrity, honesty, justice, productiveness, and pride—each of which she explains in some detail in "The Objectivist Ethics."


In epistemology, Rand considered all knowledge to be based on forming higher levels of understanding from sense perception, the validity of which she considered ]atic.{{sfn|Gotthelf|2000|p=54}} She described reason as "the faculty that identifies and integrates the material provided by man's senses".<ref>Salmieri, Gregory. "The Objectivist Epistemology". In {{harvnb|Gotthelf|Salmieri|2016|p=283}}.</ref> Rand rejected all claims of non-perceptual knowledge, including {{" '}}instinct,' 'intuition,' 'revelation,' or any form of 'just knowing{{' "}}.{{sfn|Sciabarra|2013|p=403 n20}} In her '']'', Rand presented a theory of concept formation and rejected the ].{{sfn|Salmieri|Gotthelf|2005|p=1997}}{{sfn|Gladstein|1999|pp=85–86}} She believed epistemology was a foundational branch of philosophy and considered the advocacy of reason to be the single most significant aspect of her philosophy.<ref>Salmieri, Gregory. "The Objectivist Epistemology". In {{harvnb|Gotthelf|Salmieri|2016|pp=271–272}}.</ref>
Integrating with this is her view that the primary locus of man's free will is in the choice: to think or not to think. "Thinking is not an automatic function. In any hour and issue of his life, man is free to think or to evade that effort. Thinking requires a state of full, focused awareness. The act of focusing one's consciousness is volitional. Man can focus his mind to a full, active, purposefully directed awareness of reality—or he can unfocus it and let himself drift in a semiconscious daze, merely reacting to any chance stimulus of the immediate moment, at the mercy of his undirected sensory-perceptual mechanism and of any random, associational connections it might happen to make."<ref>'']'', p. 21.</ref>


Commentators, including ], Nathaniel Branden, and ], have criticized Rand's focus on the importance of reason. Barnes and Ellis said Rand was too dismissive of emotion and failed to recognize its importance in human life. Branden said Rand's emphasis on reason led her to denigrate emotions and create unrealistic expectations of how consistently rational human beings should be.{{sfn|Sciabarra|2013|pp=173–176}}
She concludes that "for you, who are a human being, the question 'to be or not to be' is the question 'to think or not to think.'"<ref>'']'', p. 939.</ref>


==Political and social views== === Ethics and politics ===
In ethics, Rand argued for ] and ] (rational self-interest), as the guiding moral principle. She said the individual should "exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself".<ref>Wright, Darryl. {{" '}}A Human Society': Rand's Social Philosophy". In {{harvnb|Gotthelf|Salmieri|2016|p=163}}.</ref> Rand referred to egoism as "the virtue of selfishness" in her ].{{sfn|Kukathas|1998|p=55}} In it, she presented her solution to the ] by describing a ] theory that based morality in the needs of "man's survival <em>qua</em> man", which requires the use of a rational mind.{{sfn|Badhwar|Long|2020}} She condemned ethical altruism as incompatible with the requirements of human life and happiness,{{sfn|Badhwar|Long|2020}} and held the ] was evil and irrational,{{sfn|Gotthelf|2000|p=91}} writing in ''Atlas Shrugged'' that "Force and mind are opposites".{{sfn|Sciabarra|2013|p=252}}
Rand held that the only moral social system is ''laissez-faire'' capitalism. Her political views were strongly ] and hence ] and ]. She exalted what she saw as the heroic ] of ] and ]. As a champion of rationality, Rand also had a strong opposition to ] and religion, which she believed helped foster a crippling culture acting against individual human happiness and success. Rand detested many prominent ] and ] politicians of her time, including prominent anti-Communists, such as ], ], ], and ].


Rand's ethics and politics are the most criticized areas of her philosophy.{{sfn|Den Uyl|Rasmussen|1986|p=165}} Several authors, including ] and William F. O'Neill in two of the earliest academic critiques of her ideas,{{sfn|Gladstein|1999|pp=100, 115}} said she failed in her attempt to solve the is–ought problem.{{sfn|Sciabarra|2013|p=224}} Critics have called her definitions of ''egoism'' and ''altruism'' biased and inconsistent with normal usage.{{sfn|Sciabarra|2013|p=220}} Critics from religious traditions oppose her ] and her rejection of altruism.{{sfn|Baker|1987|pp=140–142}}
Many consider Rand one of the three founding mothers (along with ] and ]) of modern American ], although she rejected libertarianism and the ].<ref>{{cite web | title="Three Women Who Inspired the Modern Libertarian Movement" | url=http://www.fee.org/publications/the-freeman/article.asp?aid=3345 | accessdate=2008-01-17}}</ref>


Rand's political philosophy emphasized ], including ]. She considered '']'' ] the only moral social system because in her view it was the only system based on protecting those rights.{{sfn|Gotthelf|2000|pp=91–92}} Rand opposed ] and ],<ref>Lewis, John David & Salmieri, Gregory. "A Philosopher on Her Times: Ayn Rand's Political and Cultural Commentary". In {{harvnb|Gotthelf|Salmieri|2016|p=353}}.</ref> which she considered to include many specific forms of government, such as ], ], ], ], and the ].<ref>Ghate, Onkar. {{" '}}A Free Mind and a Free Market Are Corollaries': Rand's Philosophical Perspective on Capitalism". In {{harvnb|Gotthelf|Salmieri|2016|p=233}}.</ref> Her preferred form of government was a ] republic that is limited to the protection of individual rights.{{sfn|Peikoff|1991|pp=367–368}} Although her political views are often classified as ] or ], Rand preferred the term "radical for capitalism". She worked with conservatives on political projects but disagreed with them over issues such as religion and ethics.{{sfn|Burns|2009|pp=174–177, 209, 230–231}}{{sfn|Doherty|2007|pp=189–190}} Rand rejected ] as a naive theory based in ] that would lead to collectivism in practice,{{sfn|Sciabarra|2013|pp=261–262}} and denounced libertarianism, which she associated with anarchism.{{sfn|Sciabarra|2013|pp=248–249}}{{sfn|Burns|2009|pp=268–269}}
===War===
While Rand often criticized conventional motivations for U.S. involvement in ], ],<ref name="WWII"> {{cite web|title="Ayn Rand on WWII"|url=http://ariwatch.com/AynRandOnWWII.htm|accessdate=2006-04-07}} Excerpts from Rand's writing, cited at the ARI Watch website.{{Verify credibility|date=December 2008}}</ref> and the ], she approved American action when strictly justified in response to an attack, as in ].<ref>{{cite book | title = Journals of Ayn Rand | first = Ayn | last = Rand | publisher = Dutton (1997)}} Edited by David Harriman. p.''315''.</ref> She strongly denounced ]: "When a nation resorts to war, it has some purpose, rightly or wrongly, something to fight for—and the only justifiable purpose is self-defense."<ref name="honoringvirtue"> {{cite web|url=http://ariwatch.com/HonoringVirtue.htm|title="Honoring Virtue"|accessdate=2006-04-06}} at the ARI website.</ref>


Several critics, including Nozick, have said her attempt to justify individual rights based on egoism fails.<ref>Miller, Fred D., Jr. & Mossoff, Adam. "Ayn Rand's Theory of Rights: An Exposition and Response to Critics". In {{harvnb|Salmieri|Mayhew|2019|pp=135–142}}</ref> Others, like libertarian philosopher ], have gone further, saying that her support of egoism and her support of individual rights are inconsistent positions.<ref>Miller, Fred D., Jr. & Mossoff, Adam. "Ayn Rand's Theory of Rights: An Exposition and Response to Critics". In {{harvnb|Salmieri|Mayhew|2019|pp=146–148}}</ref> Some critics, like ], have said that her opposition to the initiation of force should lead to support of anarchism, rather than limited government.{{sfn|Sciabarra|2013|p=260, 442 n33}}{{sfn|Gladstein|1999|p=116}}
Rand opposed the ],<ref name="honoringvirtue"/> but also believed that unilateral American withdrawal would be a mistake of ] that would embolden communists and the ].<ref name="WWII"/> Her opposition to the Vietnam War was based on her view that no actual American self-interest was involved, that it was an exercise in self-sacrifice, not self-defense. She vehemently opposed the draft and her argument that a draft violates the right to life motivated some of those in the Nixon Administration who worked for the draft's repeal.


=== Relationship to other philosophers ===
Rand supported ] during the 1973 ], which she saw as an attack by a primitive society on a government that largely supported individual rights.<ref>Ayn Rand ] lecture, 1974, text published on the website of ] </ref> While Rand characterized Israel as "a ] inclined toward socialism," this was secondary to the consideration that "when it comes to the power of the mind—the development of industry in that wasted desert continent—versus savages who don't want to use their minds, then if one cares about the future of civilization, don't wait for the government to do something. Give whatever you can".
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=300
| image1=Aristotle Altemps Inv8575.jpg|alt1=Marble statue of Aristotle
| image2=Immanuel Kant portrait c1790.jpg|alt2=Painting of Immanuel Kant
| footer=Rand claimed ] (left) as her primary philosophical influence, and strongly criticized ] (right).
}}
Except for Aristotle, ] and ], Rand was sharply critical{{sfn|Sciabarra|2013|p=111}} of most philosophers and philosophical traditions known to her.{{sfn|O'Neill|1977|pp=18–20}}{{sfn|Sciabarra|2013|p=11}} Acknowledging Aristotle as her greatest influence,{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=2}} Rand remarked that in the ] she could only recommend "three A's"—Aristotle, Aquinas, and Ayn Rand.{{sfn|Sciabarra|2013|p=11}} In a 1959 interview with ], when asked where her philosophy came from, she responded: {{qi|Out of my own mind, with the sole acknowledgement of a debt to Aristotle, the only philosopher who ever influenced me.}}{{sfn|Podritske|Schwartz|2009|pp=174–175}}


In an article for the '']'', political scientist ] criticized Rand's claim that her only "philosophical debt" was to Aristotle. He asserted her ideas were derivative of previous thinkers such as ] and ].{{sfn|Murray|2010}} Rand took early inspiration from Nietzsche,{{sfn|Burns|2009|pp=16, 22}}{{sfn|Sciabarra|2013|pp=94–99}} and scholars have found indications of this in Rand's private journals. In 1928, she alluded to his idea of the "]" in notes for an unwritten novel whose protagonist was inspired by the murderer ].{{sfn|Burns|2009|pp=24–25}} There are other indications of Nietzsche's influence in passages from the first edition of ''We the Living'' (which Rand later revised),<ref>Loiret-Prunet, Valerie. "Ayn Rand and Feminist Synthesis: Rereading ''We the Living''". In {{harvnb|Gladstein|Sciabarra|1999|p=97}}.</ref> and in her overall writing style.{{sfn|Badhwar|Long|2020}}<ref>Sheaffer, Robert. "Rereading Rand on Gender in the Light of Paglia". In {{harvnb|Gladstein|Sciabarra|1999|p=313}}.</ref> By the time she wrote ''The Fountainhead'', Rand had turned against Nietzsche's ideas,{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=42}}{{sfn|Burns|2009|pp=41, 68}} and the extent of his influence on her even during her early years is disputed.{{sfn|Burns|2009|pp=303–304}} Rand's views also may have been influenced by the promotion of egoism among the ], including Chernyshevsky and ],{{sfn|Weinacht|2021|pp=31–32}}{{sfn|Offord|2022|p=40}} although there is no direct evidence that she read them.{{sfn|Weinacht|2021|pp=12–13}}{{sfn|Offord|2022|pp=38–39}}
===Economics===
Rand expressed qualified enthusiasm for the economic thought of ] and ], and The ] notes that "it was largely as a result of Ayn's efforts that the work of von Mises began to reach its potential audience."<ref>] {{cite web|url=http://www.mises.org/fullstory.aspx?Id=1738|title="Ayn Rand's Contributions to the Cause of Freedom."|accessdate=2006-03-26}} </ref> Later Objectivists, such as ], have claimed that Rand's economic theories are implicitly more supportive of the doctrines of ], though Rand herself was likely not acquainted with his work.{{Fact|date=May 2008}}


Rand considered ] her philosophical opposite and {{qi|the most evil man in mankind's history}};{{sfn|Rand|1971|p=4}} she believed his epistemology undermined reason and his ethics opposed self-interest.<ref>Salmieri, Gregory. "An Introduction to the Study of Ayn Rand". In {{harvnb|Gotthelf|Salmieri|2016|p=14}}.</ref> Philosophers George Walsh and Fred Seddon have argued she misinterpreted Kant and exaggerated their differences.{{sfn|Hill|2001|p=195}}{{sfn|Register|2004|p=155}} She was also critical of ] and viewed his differences with Aristotle on questions of metaphysics and epistemology as the primary conflict in the history of philosophy.<ref>]. {{" '}}Who Sets the Tone for a Culture?' Ayn Rand's Approach to the History of Philosophy". In {{harvnb|Gotthelf|Salmieri|2016|p=325}}.</ref>
===Charity===
Rand did not see ] as a moral duty or a major virtue and held charity to be proper only when the recipient is worthy and when it does not involve sacrifice.<ref></ref> She opposed all forms of aid given by governments, just as she opposed any other government activity not directed at protecting individual rights.


Rand's relationship with contemporary philosophers was mostly antagonistic. She was not an academic and did not participate in academic discourse.{{sfn|Machan|2000|p=121}}{{sfn|Brühwiler|2021|pp=24–26}} She was dismissive of critics and wrote about ideas she disagreed with in a polemical manner without in-depth analysis.{{sfn|Brühwiler|2021|pp=24–26}}{{sfn|Machan|2000|p=147}} Academic philosophers in turn viewed her negatively and dismissed her as an unimportant figure who should not be considered a philosopher or given any serious response.{{sfn|Badhwar|Long|2020}}{{sfn|Brühwiler|2021|p=27}}{{sfn|Cleary|2018}}
===Gender and sex===


=== Early academic reaction ===
Rand's views on ] are controversial. While her books champion men and women as intellectual equals, she thought that physiological differences between the sexes led to fundamental psychological differences that were the source of legitimate gender roles, revolving around the man's initiatory role in the sex act. Rand denied endorsing any kind of power-difference between men and women, stating that man's "metaphysical dominance" in sexual relations refers to the man's role as the prime mover in sex and the necessity of male arousal for sex to occur.<ref name="Ayn Rand Answers">{{cite book |author=Rand, Ayn; Mayhew, Robert J. |title=Ayn Rand answers: the best of her Q & A |publisher=New American Library |location=New York |year=2005 |pages= |isbn=0-451-21665-2}}{{pn}}</ref> According to Rand, "For a woman ''qua'' woman, the essence of femininity is hero-worship—the desire to look up to man."<ref name = "iijwxo">{{cite journal |last=Rand |first=Ayn |title=An Answer to Readers (about a Woman President) |journal=The Objectivist |year=1968 |volume=7 |issue=12}}{{pn}}</ref> Rand believed that sex in its highest form is a physical response to intellectual and spiritual values, a means of giving concrete, physical expression to values that could otherwise only be experienced in the abstract.
During Rand's lifetime, her work received little attention from academic scholars.{{sfn|Sciabarra|2013|pp=1–2}} In 1967, ] discussed Rand's ethical ideas in the second edition of his textbook, ''An Introduction to Philosophical Analysis''. That same year, Hazel Barnes included a chapter critiquing Objectivism in her book ''An Existentialist Ethics''.{{sfn|Burns|2009|pp=188, 325}} When the first full-length academic book about Rand's philosophy appeared in 1971, its author declared writing about Rand "a treacherous undertaking" that could lead to "guilt by association" for taking her seriously.{{sfn|O'Neill|1977|p=3}} A few articles about Rand's ideas appeared in academic journals before her death in 1982, many of them in '']''.{{sfn|Gladstein|1999|p=115}} One of these was "On the Randian Argument" by libertarian philosopher Robert Nozick, who criticized her meta-ethical arguments.{{sfn|Sciabarra|2013|p=224}} In the same journal, other philosophers argued that Nozick misstated Rand's case.{{sfn|Gladstein|1999|p=115}} In an article responding to Nozick, ] and ] defended her positions, but described her style as {{qi|literary, hyperbolic and emotional}}.{{sfn|Den Uyl|Rasmussen|1978|p=203}}


After her death, interest in Rand's ideas increased gradually.{{sfn|Gladstein|2010|pp=114–122}}{{sfn|Salmieri|Gotthelf|2005|p=1995}} '']'', a 1984 collection of essays about Objectivism edited by Den Uyl and Rasmussen, was the first academic book about Rand's ideas published after her death.{{sfn|Gladstein|1999|p=101}} In one essay, political writer Jack Wheeler wrote that despite {{qi|the incessant bombast and continuous venting of Randian rage}}, Rand's ethics are {{qi|a most immense achievement, the study of which is vastly more fruitful than any other in contemporary thought}}.<ref>Wheeler, Jack. "Rand and Aristotle". In {{harvnb|Den Uyl|Rasmussen|1986|p=96}}.</ref> In 1987, the Ayn Rand Society was founded as an affiliate of the ].{{sfn|Gotthelf|2000|pp=2, 25}}
In a ] magazine interview, Rand stated that while women are competent to be ], as a matter of psychology, no rational woman would enjoy being in that position (as a woman in charge of men); she later explained that it would be psychologically damaging to the woman.<ref name = "iijwxo"/> She strongly opposed the modern ] movement, despite supporting women needing careers and being the intellectual equals of men.<ref name="new left">{{cite book |author=Rand, Ayn |title=The New Left: The Anti-Industrial Revolution |publisher=Plume |location=New York |year=1993 |pages= |isbn=0-452-01125-6}}{{pn}}</ref> Feminist author ] called Rand "a traitor to her own sex," while others, including ] and the contributors to 1999's ''Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand,'' have noted Rand's "fiercely independent—and unapologetically sexual" heroines who are unbound by "tradition's chains ... who had sex because they wanted to."<ref name="McLemee"> McLemee, Scott. {{cite web|title="The Heirs of Ayn Rand."|url=http://www.mclemee.com/id39.html|accessdate=2006-04-03}} originally in ''Lingua Franca'', September 1999. </ref>


In a 1995 entry about Rand in ''Contemporary Women Philosophers'', Jenny A. Heyl described a divergence in how different academic specialties viewed Rand. She said that Rand's philosophy {{qi|is regularly omitted from academic philosophy. Yet, throughout literary academia, Ayn Rand is considered a philosopher.}}{{sfn|Heyl|1995|p=223}} Writing in the 1998 edition of the '']'', political theorist ] summarized the mainstream philosophical reception of her work in two parts. He said most commentators view her ethical argument as an unconvincing variant of Aristotle's ethics, and her political theory "is of little interest" because it is marred by an "ill-thought out and unsystematic" effort to reconcile her hostility to the state with her rejection of anarchism.{{sfn|Kukathas|1998|p=55}} '']'', a ], ] ] devoted to the study of Rand and her ideas, was established in 1999.{{sfn|Sciabarra|2012|p=184}}
Some of Rand's fiction features sex scenes with stylized erotic combat that some claim borders on ]. Rand said that if what ''The Fountainhead'' depicted was rape it was "rape by engraved invitation."<ref>{{cite book |author=Branden, Barbara |title=The passion of Ayn Rand |publisher=Doubleday |location=Garden City, N.Y |year=1986 |page=134 |isbn=0-385-19171-5}}</ref> In a review of a biography of Rand, writer Jenny Turner opined, <blockquote>"the sex in Rand’s novels is extraordinarily violent and fetishistic. In ''The Fountainhead,'' the first coupling of the heroes, heralded by whips and rock drills and horseback riding and cracks in marble, is ‘an act of scorn ... not as love, but as defilement’—in other words, a rape... In ''Atlas Shrugged,'' erotic tension is cleverly increased by having one heroine bound into a plot with lots of spectacularly cruel and handsome men.<ref name="Turner"/></blockquote>
Rand's ] homosexuality as "immoral" and "disgusting."<ref name="Ford"> Ford Hall forum remarks, cited in {{cite web|url=http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/bio/biofaq.html#Q5.2.6|title="Ayn Rand Biographical FAQ: Ayn Rand and Homosexuality"|accessdate=2006-03-24}}</ref> and said that "there is a psychological immorality at the root of homosexuality" because "it involves psychological flaws, corruptions, errors, or unfortunate premises."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/bio/biofaq-notes.html#n5.2.6-1|title=Notes, The Ayn Rand Biographical FAQ|accessdate=2006-03-24}}</ref>. She did however say the government has no right to prohibit ] <ref name="Ford"/>. Her position on this subject has been controversial within the objectivist movement. <ref name=varnell>Varnell, Paul. {{cite web|title="Ayn Rand and Homosexuality"|url=http://www.indegayforum.org/authors/varnell/varnell118.html|accessdate=2007-10-06}} at the Indegay Forum, originally published in the Chicago Free Press December 3, 2003. </ref>


=== 21st-century academic reaction ===
===Race===
In 2009, historian Jennifer Burns identified "an explosion of scholarship" about Rand since 2000,{{sfn|Burns|2009|pp=295–296}} although as of that year, few universities included Rand or Objectivism as a philosophical specialty or research area.{{sfn|Gladstein|2010|p=116}} From 2002 to 2012, over 60 colleges and universities accepted grants from the charitable foundation of ] that required teaching Rand's ideas or works; in some cases, the grants were controversial or even rejected because of the requirement to teach about Rand.{{sfn|Flaherty|2015}}{{sfn|Gladstein|2010|pp=116–117}}
Rand vehemently opposed ethnic and racial prejudice on moral grounds, in essays like "Racism" and "Global ]," while still arguing for the right of individuals and businesses to act on such prejudice without government intervention. She wrote, "] is the lowest, most crudely primitive form of ] ... that a man is to be judged, not by his own character and actions, but by the characters and actions of a collective of ancestors,"<ref>{{cite book |author=Rand, Ayn |chapter=Racism |title=Return of the primitive: the anti-industrial revolution |publisher=Meridian |location=Australia |year=1999 |page=179 |isbn=0-452-01184-1}}</ref> but opposed governmental remedies for this problem: "Private racism is not a legal, but a moral issue—and can be fought only by private means, such as economic ] or social ostracism."<ref>{{cite book |author=Rand, Ayn |chapter=Racism |title=Return of the primitive: the anti-industrial revolution |publisher=Meridian |location=Australia |year=1999 |page=182 |isbn=0-452-01184-1}}</ref>


In a 2010 essay for the ], Huemer argued very few people find Rand's ideas convincing, especially her ethics. He attributed the attention she receives to her being a "compelling writer", especially as a novelist.{{sfn|Huemer|2010}} In 2012, the ] agreed to take over publication of ''The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies'',{{sfn|Sciabarra|2012|p=183}} and the ] launched an "Ayn Rand Society Philosophical Studies" series based on the Society's proceedings.{{sfn|Seddon|2014|p=75}} The Fall 2012 update to the entry about Rand in the '']'' said that {{qi|only a few professional philosophers have taken her work seriously}}.{{sfn|Badhwar|Long|2020}} That same year, political scientist ] dismissed Rand as a "nonperson" among academics, an attitude that writer Ben Murnane later described as "the traditional academic view" of Rand.{{sfn|Murnane|2018|p=3}} In a 2018 article for '']'', philosopher Skye C. Cleary wrote: {{qi|Philosophers love to hate Ayn Rand. It's trendy to scoff at any mention of her.}} However, Cleary said that because many people take Rand's ideas seriously, philosophers {{qi|need to treat the Ayn Rand phenomenon seriously}} and provide refutations rather than ignoring her.{{sfn|Cleary|2018}}
===HUAC testimony===
{{Wikisource|Ayn Rand's testimony before the House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities}}
In 1947, during the ], Rand testified as a "friendly witness" before the ] ]. Her testimony regarded the disparity between her personal experiences in the ] and the whitewashed portrayal of it in the 1944 film ''].'' Rand argued that the film grossly misrepresented the socioeconomic conditions in the Soviet Union and portrayed life in the USSR as being much better and happier than it actually was. Furthermore, she believed that even if a temporary alliance with the USSR was necessary to defeat the Nazis, the case for this should not have been made by portraying what she believed were falsely positive images of Soviet life:


In 2020, media critic ] said, {{qi|Rand is surely the most engaging philosopher of my lifetime}},{{sfn|Burns|2020|p=261}} but {{qi|nobody in the academe pays any attention to her, neither as an author nor a philosopher}}.{{sfn|Burns|2020|p=259}} That same year, the editor of a collection of critical essays about Rand said academics who disapproved of her ideas had long held {{qi|a stubborn resolve to ignore or ridicule}} her work,{{sfn|Cocks|2020|p=11}} but he believed more were engaging with her work in recent years.{{sfn|Cocks|2020|p=15}}
{{bquote|If we had good reason, if that is what you believe, all right, then why not tell the truth? Say it is a dictatorship, but we want to be associated with it. Say it is worthwhile being associated with the devil, as Churchill said, in order to defeat another evil which is Hitler. There might be some good argument made for that. But why pretend that Russia was not what it was?"<ref name="HUAC"/>}}


== Legacy ==
After the hearings, when Rand was asked about her feelings on the effectiveness of their investigations, she described the process as "futile".<ref name="HUAC">Rand's HUAC testimony, cited at {{cite web|url=http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/texts/huac.html|title=The Objectivism Reference Center|accessdate=2006-04-07}}</ref>
=== Popular interest ===
]'' has sold more than 10 million copies.{{sfn|Offord|2022|p=12}}]]
With over 37{{nbs}}million copies sold {{as of|2020|lc=y}}, Rand's books continue to be read widely.{{sfn|Offord|2022|p=12}}{{efn|This total includes 4.5{{nbs}}million copies purchased for free distribution to schools by the ] (ARI).<ref name="ARI2020">{{cite web |url=https://issuu.com/aynrandinstitute/docs/237692_aynrand_r2_proof |title=Ayn Rand Institute Annual Report 2020 |publisher=Ayn Rand Institute |date=December 20, 2020 |page=17 |via=]}}</ref>}} A survey conducted for the ] and the ] in 1991 asked club members to name the most influential book in their lives. Rand's ''Atlas Shrugged'' was the second most popular choice, after the Bible.{{sfn|Doherty|2007|p=11}} Although Rand's influence has been greatest in the United States, there has been international interest in her work.{{sfn|Gladstein|2003|pp=384–386}}{{sfn|Murnane|2018|pp=2–3}}


Rand's contemporary admirers included fellow novelists, like ], ] and ]; she has influenced later writers like ], ],{{sfn|Riggenbach|2004|pp=91–144}} and comic book artist ].{{sfn|Sciabarra|2004|pp=8–11}} Rand provided a positive view of business and subsequently many business executives and entrepreneurs have admired and promoted her work.{{sfn|Burns|2009|pp=168–171}} Businessmen such as ] of ] and ] of ] have funded the promotion of Rand's ideas.{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=298}}{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=412}}
==Legacy==
], ]]]
After decades of dismissal or outright hostility from the profession, Rand's ideas have found some recognition within academic philosophy. ] and ] have established chairs or centers which involve the study of Rand's views. In 2001 a $300,000 fellowship was sponsored by the Anthem Foundation for Objectivist Scholarship at the University of Texas.<ref name=CohenGuardian>Cohen, David. , ''The Guardian'', December 7, 2001. The fellowship was sponsored by the Anthem Foundation for Objectivist Scholarship.</ref> Her books continue to be widely sold and read, with 25 million copies sold (as of 2007), and 800,000 more being sold each year.<ref>Ayn Rand Institute, {{cite web|title="Ayn Rand Institute: Sales of Ayn Rand Books Reach 25 million Copies"|url=http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=17345&news_iv_ctrl=1221|accessdate=2008-04-20}}</ref> Following Rand's death, continued conflict within the ] led to establishment of independent organizations.


Television shows, movies, songs, and video games have referred to Rand and her works.{{sfn|Sciabarra|2004|pp=4–5}}{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=282}} Throughout her life she was the subject of many articles in popular magazines,{{sfn|Gladstein|1999|p=110–111}} as well as book-length critiques by authors such as the psychologist Albert Ellis{{sfn|Gladstein|1999|p=98}} and Trinity Foundation president John W. Robbins.{{sfn|Gladstein|1999|p=101}} Rand or characters based on her figure prominently in novels by American authors,{{sfn|Sciabarra|2004|p=3}} including Kay Nolte Smith, ], ], and ].{{sfn|Brühwiler|2021|pp=15–22}} ], former editor-in-chief of '']'', remarked: {{qi|Rand's is a tortured immortality, one in which she's as likely to be a punch line as a protagonist. Jibes at Rand as cold and inhuman run through the popular culture.}}{{sfn|Chadwick|Gillespie|2005|loc=at 1:55}} Two movies have been made about Rand's life. A 1997 documentary film, '']'', was nominated for the ].{{sfn|Gladstein|1999|p=128}} '']'', a 1999 television adaptation of the ], won several awards.{{sfn|Gladstein|2010|p=122}} Rand's image also appears on a ] ] illustrated by artist ].{{sfn|Wozniak|2001|p=380}}
=== Institutes ===
A range of institutes have been established since Rand's death


Rand's works, most commonly ''Anthem'' or ''The Fountainhead'', are sometimes assigned as secondary school reading.<ref>Salmieri, Gregory. "An Introduction to the Study of Ayn Rand". In {{harvnb|Gotthelf|Salmieri|2016|p=4}}.</ref> Since 2002, the Ayn Rand Institute has provided free copies of Rand's novels to teachers who promise to include the books in their curriculum.{{sfn|Duffy|2012}} The Institute had distributed 4.5{{nbs}}million copies in the U.S. and Canada by the end of 2020.<ref name="ARI2020"/> In 2017, Rand was added to the required reading list for the ] Politics exam in the United Kingdom.{{sfn|Wang|2017}}
====Ayn Rand Institute====
{{main|Ayn Rand Institute}}
In 1985, ], a surviving member of "]" and Ayn Rand's legal heir, established "The ]: The Center for the Advancement of Objectivism" (ARI). The Ayn Rand Institute "works to introduce young people to Ayn Rand's novels, to support scholarship and research based on her ideas, and to promote the principles of reason, rational self-interest, individual rights and laissez-faire capitalism to the widest possible audience."


=== Political influence ===
====Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights====
{{Capitalism sidebar}}
In 2008, The Ayn Rand Institute opened the for Individual Rights ("ARC") in Washington, D.C. to specialize in issues of public policy. During the current economic crisis, the ARC has been a vocal proponent of the position that government intervention is responsible for the crisis, and that the solution lies not in further government regulation but in a return to full laissez-faire capitalism. On foreign policy, the ARC advocates American national self-interest, including ending the regimes that sponsor terrorism, rather than the Bush Administration's policies which they see as timid, halfway measures that only weaken America's position in the world.
{{see also|Objectivism and libertarianism}}
Although she rejected the labels "conservative" and "libertarian",{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=258}}{{sfn|Weiss|2012|p=55}} Rand has had a continuing influence on ] and libertarianism.{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=4}}{{sfn|Gladstein|2010|pp=107–108, 124}} Rand is often considered one of the three most important women (along with ] and Isabel Paterson) in the early development of modern ].{{sfn|Burns|2015|p=746}}{{sfn|Brühwiler|2021|p=88}} ], one founder of the ], said that {{qi|without Ayn Rand, the libertarian movement would not exist}}.{{sfn|Branden|1986|p=414}} In his history of that movement, journalist ] described her as "the most influential libertarian of the twentieth century to the public at large".{{sfn|Doherty|2007|p=11}} Political scientist ] called her "the most widely read libertarian".{{sfn|Koppelman|2022|p=17}} Historian Jennifer Burns referred to her as "the ultimate gateway drug to life on the right".{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=4}}


The political figures who cite Rand as an influence are usually conservatives (often members of the Republican Party),{{sfn|Doherty|2009|p=54}} despite Rand taking some atypical positions for a conservative, like being ] and an atheist.{{sfn|Weiss|2012|p=155}} She faced intense opposition from ] and other contributors to the conservative ''National Review'' magazine, which published numerous criticisms of her writings and ideas.{{sfn|Burns|2004|pp=139, 243}} Nevertheless, a 1987 article in ''The New York Times'' called her the ]'s "novelist laureate".{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=279}} Republican ] and conservative pundits have acknowledged her influence on their lives and have recommended her novels.{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=xii}}{{sfn|Brühwiler|2021|p=184}}{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=283}} She has influenced some conservative politicians outside the U.S., such as ] in the United Kingdom, ] in Norway, and ] in Israel.{{sfn|Brühwiler|2021|pp=174–184}}{{sfn|Rudoren|2015}}
====The Anthem Foundation for Objectivist Scholarship====
Organized in 2000 by historian John McCaskey, this provides grants for the pursuit of scholarly work on Objectivism in academia. Recent grants have gone to the University of Pittsburgh (Department of History and Philosophy of Science) and to philosophy departments at the University of Texas at Austin, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Warwick University (England).


]
====The Objectivist Center and The Atlas Society====
The ] renewed interest in her works, especially ''Atlas Shrugged'', which some saw as foreshadowing the crisis.{{sfn|Burns|2009|pp=283–284}}{{sfn|Doherty|2009|pp=51–52}} Opinion articles compared real-world events with the novel's plot.{{sfn|Doherty|2009|p=54}}{{sfn|Gladstein|2010|p=125}} Signs mentioning Rand and her fictional hero John Galt appeared at ].{{sfn|Duggan|2019|p=xiv}}{{sfn|Brühwiler|2021|p=146}} There was increased criticism of her ideas, especially from the ]. Critics blamed the ] on her support of ] and ], particularly through her influence on Alan Greenspan.{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=283}} In 2015, Adam Weiner said that through Greenspan, "Rand had effectively chucked a ticking time bomb into the boiler room of the US economy".{{sfn|Weiner|2020|p=2}} Lisa Duggan said that Rand's novels had "incalculable impact" in encouraging the spread of ] political ideas.{{sfn|Duggan|2019|p=xiii}} In 2021, ] said Rand's ideas could be seen in the tax and regulatory policies of the ], which he attributed to the "enduring influence" of Rand's fiction.{{sfn|Sunstein|2021|pp=145–146}}
{{main|The Atlas Society}}
Arose as a result of a schism in the movement in 1989 (the reasons for which remain disputed). ] was denounced by Peikoff and expelled from the Ayn Rand Institute at which point Kelley founded The Institute for Objectivist Studies, now known as ], which has its own web site that is focused on attracting readers of Ayn Rand's fiction. The associated Objectivist Center division deals with more academic ventures. The Atlas Society/Objectivist Center also publishes ''The New Individualist'' (formerly ''Navigator'').


===Popular interest and influence=== === Objectivist movement ===
] co-founded the Ayn Rand Institute.]]
] inspired by Objectivism. The sign reads "Eat Objectively, Live Rich".]]
{{main|Objectivist movement}}
Although Rand's influence has been greatest in the United States, she has a growing international following.<ref name=CohenGuardian/> Her books were international best sellers, and they continue to sell in large numbers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=3661|title=Ayn Rand at 100|last=Boaz|first=David|date=2005-02-02|publisher=]|accessdate=2008-12-29}}</ref> For example, ''Atlas Shrugged'' is consistently in the top few hundred best sellers at ];<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Shrugged-Ayn-Rand/dp/0452011876 | title=Atlas Shrugged (Paperback) | author=Amazon.com | accessdate=2008-02-01}}</ref> 185,000 copies were sold in 2007, fifty years after it was first published.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=17225|title=Sales of Atlas Shrugged at All-Time Record|date=2008-03-10|publisher=ARC|accessdate=2008-12-29}}</ref>
After the closure of the Nathaniel Branden Institute, the Objectivist movement continued in other forms. In the 1970s, Peikoff began delivering courses on Objectivism.{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=249}} In 1979, ] started a newsletter called '']'', which Rand endorsed.{{sfn|Sciabarra|2013|p=402 n5}}{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=276}} She also endorsed '']'', a bimonthly magazine founded by Objectivist philosopher ], which ran from 1980 to 1987.{{sfn|Gladstein|1999|p=79}}


In 1985, Peikoff worked with businessman Ed Snider to establish the ], a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting Rand's ideas and works. In 1990, after an ideological disagreement with Peikoff, David Kelley founded the Institute for Objectivist Studies, now known as ].{{sfn|Burns|2009|pp=280–281}}{{sfn|Gladstein|2010|pp=19, 114}} In 2001, historian John P. McCaskey organized the Anthem Foundation for Objectivist Scholarship, which provides grants for scholarly work on Objectivism in academia.{{sfn|Gladstein|2010|p=117}}
When asked in a 1991 survey by the ] and the ] what the most influential book in the respondent's life was, Rand's ''Atlas Shrugged'' was the second most popular choice, after the ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9D0CE7D61339F933A15752C1A967958260|title= Book Notes|author=Fein, Esther B|date=1991-11-20|work=] |publisher=]|accessdate=2008-12-29}}</ref> Readers polled in 1998 and 1999 by ] placed four of her books on the 100 Best Novels list (''Atlas Shrugged'', ''The Fountainhead'', ], and ''We the Living'' were in first, second, seventh, and eighth place, respectively) and one on the 100 Best Nonfiction list ('']'', in first place), with books about Rand and her philosophy in third and sixth place.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100best.html|title=100 Best|work=|publisher=]|accessdate=2008-12-29}}</ref> However, the validity of such polls has been disputed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.enotes.com/contemporary-literary-criticism/literature-millennial-lists|title=Literature and Millennial Lists|work=|accessdate=2008-12-29}}</ref> Freestar Media/Zogby polls conducted in 2007 found that around 8 percent of American adults have read ''Atlas Shrugged''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.freestarmedia.com/randpoll2007.html|title=Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand read by 8.1%|date=2007-10-17|work=Freestar Media / Zogby|accessdate=2008-12-29}}</ref>


== Selected works ==
Rand has had an influence on a number of notable people in different fields. Examples include philosophers such as ], ], ], ] and ], economists such as ] and ], psychologists such as ], historians such as ], and political writers such as ]. Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve ], U.S. Congressmen ], and ], and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States ] have acknowledged her influence on their lives. The "Randex" website lists recent media references to Rand or her work. Although not Objectivists, the popular right-wing pundit ] makes frequent positive reference to "Atlas" on his radio program,{{Fact|date=January 2009}} and former President ] described himself as an "admirer" of Rand in private correspondence in the 1960s.<ref>Skinner, Anderson and Anderson, ''Reagan: a Life in Letters'' (2003) New York: Free Press, pp.281-282.</ref>
{{main|Bibliography of Ayn Rand and Objectivism}}
<!-- NOTE: This is a selected bibliography and not meant to be comprehensive. -->
{{col-float}}
'''Fiction and drama:'''
* '']'' (performed 1934, published 1968)
* '']'' (1936, revised 1959)
* '']'' (1938, revised 1946)
* '']'' (performed 1940, published 2014)
* '']'' (1943)
* '']'' (1957)
* '']'' (1984)
** '']'' (1936, performed 1989)
** ''Think Twice'' (1939)
* '']'' (based on the eponymous play, 2015)
{{col-float-break}}
'''Non-fiction:'''
* ''Pola Negri'' (1925)
* '']'' (1961)
* '']'' (1964)
* '']'' (1966, expanded 1967)
* '']'' (1969, expanded 1975)
* '']'' (1971, expanded 1975)
* '']'' (1979, expanded 1990)
* '']'' (1982)
* '']'' (1995)
* '']'' (1997)
{{col-float-end}}


== Notes ==
'']'', an award-winning ] released in the summer of 2007, is built around a story influenced by Rand's philosophy and ''Atlas Shrugged''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/magazine/15-09/pl_games |title=First-Person Shooter ''BioShock'' Owes More to Ayn Rand Than Doom |accessdate=2008-01-18 |last=Gillen |first=Kieron |coauthors= |date=2008-08-23 |work=]}}</ref>
{{notelist}}


== References ==
Rand appears on a 33 cent ],<ref>{{Dead link|date=December 2008}} USPS.com. Retrieved on: January 18, 2008</ref> which debuted April 22, 1999 in New York City.
{{reflist|colwidth=20em}}


===Rand's work and academic philosophy=== === Works cited ===
{{refbegin|30em}}
During Rand's lifetime her work was not given much attention by academic philosophers, and currently only a few universities consider Rand or Objectivism to be a philosophical specialty or research area. Many adherents and practitioners of ] criticize her celebration of self-interest, and as a result there has been little focus on her work in this intellectual discipline. However, since her death in 1982, there has been an increase in interest in Ayn Rand's work.<ref>{{worldcat|name=Ayn Rand|id=lccn-n50-54463}}</ref> In a 1999 interview in the ''Chronicle of Higher Education,'' Rand scholar ] said, "I know they laugh at Rand," while forecasting a growth of interest in her work in the academic community.<ref>Sharlet, Jeff.{{cite web|url=http://chronicle.com/colloquy/99/rand/background.htm|title="Ayn Rand Has Finally Caught the Attention of Scholars"|accessdate=2006-03-28}}</ref>
* {{cite web |url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ayn-rand/ |title=Ayn Rand |last1=Badhwar |first1=Neera |last2=Long |first2=Roderick T. |editor-first=Edward N. |editor-last=Zalta |editor-link=Edward N. Zalta |date=Fall 2020 |website=] |access-date=May 3, 2021 |name-list-style=amp}}
* {{cite book |title=Ayn Rand |series=Twayne's United States Authors |last=Baker |first=James T. |location=Boston |publisher=] |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-8057-7497-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/aynrand0000bake |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book |title=The Passion of Ayn Rand |last=Branden |first=Barbara |author-link=Barbara Branden |location=Garden City, New York |publisher=] |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-385-19171-5 |title-link=The Passion of Ayn Rand}}
* {{cite book |title=Ayn Rand |last=Britting |first=Jeff |author-link=Jeff Britting |location=New York |publisher=] |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-58567-406-0 |series=Overlook Illustrated Lives |url=https://archive.org/details/aynrand00jeff |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book |first=Claudia Franziska |last=Brühwiler |title=Out of a Gray Fog: Ayn Rand's Europe |date=2021 |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=] |edition=Kindle |isbn=978-1-79363-686-7 |series=Politics, Literature & Film}}
* {{cite book |first=Eric |last=Burns |author-link=Eric Burns |year=2020 |title=1957: The Year that Launched the American Future |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=] |isbn=978-1-5381-3995-0}}
* {{cite journal |last=Burns |first=Jennifer |author-link=Jennifer Burns (historian) |date=November 2004 |title=Godless Capitalism: Ayn Rand and the Conservative Movement |journal=] |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=359–385 |doi=10.1017/S1479244304000216 |s2cid=145596042|issn=1479-2443 }}
* {{cite book |title=Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right |last=Burns |first=Jennifer |location=New York |publisher=] |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-19-532487-7 |title-link=Goddess of the Market}}
* {{cite journal |last=Burns |first=Jennifer |title=The Three 'Furies' of Libertarianism: Rose Wilder Lane, Isabel Paterson, and Ayn Rand |journal=] |volume=102 |issue=3 |date=December 2015 |pages=746–774 |doi=10.1093/jahist/jav504}}
* {{cite episode |title=Book Bag: Marking the Ayn Rand Centennial |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4475441 |series=Day to Day |series-link=Day to Day |network=] |air-date=February 2, 2005 |last1=Chadwick |first1=Alex |author-link1=Alex Chadwick |first2=Nick |last2=Gillespie |author-link2=Nick Gillespie |name-list-style=amp |access-date=March 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118184517/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4475441 |archive-date=January 18, 2022 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Chambers |first=Whittaker |author-link=Whittaker Chambers |title=Big Sister Is Watching You |magazine=] |pages=594–596 |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2005/01/big-sister-watching-you-whittaker-chambers/ |date=December 28, 1957}}
* {{cite web |last=Cleary |first=Skye C. |date=June 22, 2018 |title=Philosophy Shrugged: Ignoring Ayn Rand Won't Make Her Go Away |url=https://aeon.co/ideas/philosophy-shrugged-ignoring-ayn-rand-wont-make-her-go-away |access-date=September 2, 2022 |website=] |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921020727/https://aeon.co/ideas/philosophy-shrugged-ignoring-ayn-rand-wont-make-her-go-away |archive-date=September 21, 2022 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Cocks |editor-first=Neil |title=Questioning Ayn Rand: Subjectivity, Political Economy, and the Arts |series=Palgrave Studies in Literature, Culture and Economics |location=Cham, Switzerland |publisher=] |edition=Kindle |date=2020 |isbn=978-3-030-53072-3}}
* {{cite journal |title=Nozick On the Randian Argument |last1=Den Uyl |first1=Douglas |author1-link=Douglas Den Uyl |last2=Rasmussen |first2=Douglas |author2-link=Douglas B. Rasmussen |journal=] |date=April 1978 |volume=59 |issue=2 |pages=184–205 |name-list-style=amp |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-0114.1978.tb07120.x |doi=<!-- Citation bot adds broken DOI-->}}
* {{cite book |title=The Philosophic Thought of Ayn Rand |title-link=The Philosophic Thought of Ayn Rand |editor1-last=Den Uyl |editor1-first=Douglas |editor2-last=Rasmussen |editor2-first=Douglas |location=Chicago |publisher=] |year=1986 |orig-year=1984 |isbn=978-0-252-01407-9 |edition=paperback |name-list-style=amp}}
* {{cite book |title=Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement |last=Doherty |first=Brian |location=New York |publisher=] |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-58648-350-0 |title-link=Radicals for Capitalism}}
* {{cite magazine |first=Brian |last=Doherty |title=She's Back! |url=https://reason.com/2009/11/09/ayn-rand-is-back/ |magazine=] |date=December 2009 |volume=41 |issue=7 |pages=51–58}}
* {{cite news |title=Teachers Stocking Up on Ayn Rand Books |last=Duffy |first=Francesca |date=August 20, 2012 |work=] |url=https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/teachers-stocking-up-on-ayn-rand-books/2012/08 |access-date=July 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210721130106/https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/teachers-stocking-up-on-ayn-rand-books/2012/08 |archive-date=July 21, 2021 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=Duggan |first=Lisa |author-link=Lisa Duggan |title=Mean Girl: Ayn Rand and the Culture of Greed |publisher=] |location=Oakland, California |date=2019 |isbn=978-0-520-96779-3 |series=American Studies Now}}
* {{cite news |first=Colleen |last=Flaherty |title=Banking on the Curriculum |work=] |date=October 16, 2015 |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/10/16/new-paper-details-extent-bbt-banks-ayn-rand-inspired-grant-program |access-date=May 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210721130106/https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/teachers-stocking-up-on-ayn-rand-books/2012/08 |archive-date=July 21, 2021 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |title=The New Ayn Rand Companion |last=Gladstein |first=Mimi Reisel |author-link=Mimi Reisel Gladstein |location=Westport, Connecticut |publisher=] |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-313-30321-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/newaynrandcompan0000glad |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite journal |title=Ayn Rand Literary Criticism |last=Gladstein |first=Mimi Reisel |journal=The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies |volume=4 |issue=2 |date=Spring 2003 |pages=373–394 |jstor=41560226}}
* {{cite book |title=Ayn Rand |last=Gladstein |first=Mimi Reisel |location=New York |publisher=] |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-8264-4513-1 |series=Major Conservative and Libertarian Thinkers}}
* {{cite book |title=Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand |editor1-last=Gladstein |editor1-first=Mimi Reisel |editor2-last=Sciabarra |editor2-first=Chris Matthew |editor1-link=Mimi Reisel Gladstein |editor2-link=Chris Matthew Sciabarra |location=University Park, Pennsylvania |publisher=] |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-271-01830-0 |series=Re-reading the Canon |name-list-style=amp |url=https://archive.org/details/feministinterpre0000unse_o1t1 |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book |title=On Ayn Rand |last=Gotthelf |first=Allan |author-link=Allan Gotthelf |location=Belmont, California |publisher=] |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-534-57625-7 |series=Wadsworth Philosophers |title-link=On Ayn Rand}}
* {{cite book |title=A Companion to Ayn Rand |editor1-last=Gotthelf |editor1-first=Allan |editor2-last=Salmieri |editor2-first=Gregory |location=Chichester, United Kingdom |publisher=] |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-4051-8684-1 |series=Blackwell Companions to Philosophy |name-list-style=amp |doi=10.1002/9781118324950}}
* {{cite journal |title=Ayn Rand's 'Integrated Man' and Russian Nietzscheanism |first=Anastasiya Vasilievna |last=Grigorovskaya |journal=] |volume=18 |issue=2 |date=December 2018 |pages=308–334 |doi=10.5325/jaynrandstud.18.2.0308 |s2cid=172003322}}
* {{cite book |title=Ayn Rand and the World She Made |last=Heller |first=Anne C. |location=New York |publisher=Nan A. Talese/Doubleday |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-385-51399-9 |title-link=Ayn Rand and the World She Made}}
* {{cite book |first=Jenny A. |last=Heyl |chapter=Ayn Rand (1905–1982) |title=A History of Women Philosophers: Contemporary Women Philosophers, 1900–Today |volume=4 |date=1995 |editor-first=Mary Ellen |editor-last=Waithe |location=Boston |publisher=] |isbn=978-0-7923-2807-0 |pages=207–224}}
* {{cite IEP |url-id=rand |title=Ayn Rand (1905—1982) |first=Stephen R. C. |last=Hicks |author-link=Stephen Hicks |access-date=July 21, 2022}}
* {{cite journal |title=Reply to George Walsh: Rethinking Rand and Kant |first=R. Kevin |last=Hill |journal=The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies |date=Fall 2001 |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=195–204 |jstor=41560182}}
* {{cite news |first=Sidney |last=Hook |author-link=Sidney Hook |title=Each Man for Himself |work=] |date=April 9, 1961 |page=28 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1961/04/09/archives/each-man-for-himself-for-the-new-intellectual-the-philosophy-of-ayn.html}}
* {{cite web |first=Michael |last=Huemer |author-link=Michael Huemer |url=https://www.cato-unbound.org/2010/01/22/michael-huemer/why-ayn-rand-some-alternate-answers |title=Why Ayn Rand? Some Alternate Answers |website=] |date=January 22, 2010 |access-date=August 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025093458/https://www.cato-unbound.org/2010/01/22/michael-huemer/why-ayn-rand-some-alternate-answers/ |archive-date=October 25, 2012 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |author-last=Ioffe |author-first=Grigory |title=St. Petersburg |encyclopedia=] |date=November 13, 2022 |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/St-Petersburg-Russia |access-date=November 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240307152732/https://www.britannica.com/place/St-Petersburg-Russia |archive-date=March 7, 2024}}
* {{cite journal |last=Johnson |first=D. Barton |date=Fall 2000 |title=Strange Bedfellows: Ayn Rand and Vladimir Nabokov |url=https://annas-archive.org/scidb/10.2307/41560131?scidb_verified=1 |journal=The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=47–67 |jstor=41560131}}
* {{cite journal |title=Re-reading Rand through a Russian Lens |first=Mikhail |last=Kizilov |author-link=Mikhail Kizilov |journal=The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies |volume=21 |issue=1 |date=July 2021 |pages=105–110 |doi=10.5325/jaynrandstud.21.1.0105 |s2cid=235717431}}
* {{cite book |last=Koppelman |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Koppelman |date=2022 |title=Burning Down the House: How Libertarian Philosophy Was Corrupted by Delusion and Greed |publisher=] |location=New York |edition=Kindle |isbn=978-1-250-28014-5}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Kukathas |first=Chandran |author-link=Chandran Kukathas |year=1998 |title=Rand, Ayn (1905–82) |editor-last=Craig |editor-first=Edward |editor-link=Edward Craig (philosopher) |encyclopedia=] |location=New York |publisher=] |volume=8 |pages=55–56 |isbn=978-0-415-07310-3 |url=https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/biographical/rand-ayn-1905-82/v-1}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3705 |title=Ayn Rand |last=Lewis |first=John David |author-link=John David Lewis |date=October 20, 2001 |website=] |access-date=August 2, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223215728/http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3705 |archive-date=December 23, 2023}}
* {{cite book |title=Ayn Rand |last=Machan |first=Tibor R. |author-link=Tibor R. Machan |location=New York |publisher=] |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-8204-4144-3 |series=Masterworks in the Western Tradition |url=https://archive.org/details/aynrand0005mach |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book |title=Essays on Ayn Rand's We the Living |editor-last=Mayhew |editor-first=Robert |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=Lexington Books |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-7391-0697-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_073910697 |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book |title=Essays on Ayn Rand's Anthem |editor-last=Mayhew |editor-first=Robert |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=Lexington Books |year=2005a |isbn=978-0-7391-1031-7}}
* {{cite book |title=Ayn Rand and Song of Russia: Communism and Anti-Communism in 1940s Hollywood |last=Mayhew |first=Robert |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=] |year=2005b |isbn=978-0-8108-5276-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/aynrandsongofrus0000mayh_c0h7 |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book |title=Essays on Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead |editor-last=Mayhew |editor-first=Robert |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=Lexington Books |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7391-1578-7}}
* {{cite book |title=Essays on Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged |editor-last=Mayhew |editor-first=Robert |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=Lexington Books |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-7391-2780-3}}
* {{cite book |title=100 Voices: An Oral History of Ayn Rand |url=https://archive.org/details/100voicesoralhis0000mcco |url-access=registration |last=McConnell |first=Scott |location=New York |publisher=] |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-451-23130-7}}
* {{cite book |last=Murnane |first=Ben |title=Ayn Rand and the Posthuman: The Mind-Made Future |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=Cham, Switzerland |date=2018 |isbn=978-3-319-90853-3}}
* {{cite magazine |url=https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/who-is-ayn-rand/ |magazine=] |title=Who Is Ayn Rand? |first=Charles |last=Murray |author-link=Charles Murray (political scientist) |date=Spring 2010 |volume=10 |issue=2 |access-date=May 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513121901/https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/who-is-ayn-rand/ |archive-date=May 13, 2021 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |title=Ayn Rand and the Russian Intelligentsia: The Origins of an Icon of the American Right |last=Offord |first=Derek |year=2022 |location=London |publisher=] |isbn=978-1-3502-8393-0 |series=Russian Shorts |edition=Kindle}}
* {{cite book |title=With Charity Toward None: An Analysis of Ayn Rand's Philosophy |last=O'Neill |first=William F. |location=New York |publisher=Littlefield, Adams & Company |year=1977 |orig-year=1971 |isbn=978-0-8226-0179-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/withcharitytowar00onei |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book |title=Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand |last=Peikoff |first=Leonard |author-link=Leonard Peikoff |location=New York |publisher=] |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-452-01101-4 |title-link=Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand}}
* {{cite book |title=Objectively Speaking: Ayn Rand Interviewed |editor1-last=Podritske |editor1-first=Marlene |editor2-last=Schwartz |editor2-first=Peter |editor2-link=Peter Schwartz (writer) |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=Lexington Books |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-7391-3195-4 |name-list-style=amp |url=https://archive.org/details/objectivelyspeak0000unse |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book |last=Popoff |first=Alexandra |title=Ayn Rand: Writing a Gospel of Success |publisher=] |location=New Haven |year=2024 |isbn=978-0-300-25321-4 |series=]}}
* {{cite news |first=Lorine |last=Pruette |author-link=Lorine Pruette |work=] |date=May 16, 1943 |title=Battle Against Evil |page=BR7 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1943/05/16/archives/battle-against-evil-the-fountainhead-by-ayn-rand-754-pp.html}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Rand |first=Ayn |title=Brief Summary |magazine=] |date=September 1971 |volume=10 |issue=9 |pages=1–4}}
* {{cite book |last=Rand |first=Ayn |title=Atlas Shrugged |location=New York |publisher=E.P. Dutton |year=1992 |orig-year=1957 |edition=35th anniversary |isbn=978-0-525-94892-6 |title-link=Atlas Shrugged}}
* {{cite book |last=Rand |first=Ayn |chapter=Foreword |title=We the Living |location=New York |publisher=Dutton |isbn=978-0-525-94054-8 |edition=60th Anniversary |year=1995 |orig-year=1936 |title-link=We the Living}}
* {{cite journal |title=Review: ''Ayn Rand, Objectivists, and the History of Philosophy'' |first=Bryan |last=Register |journal=] |volume=15 |issue=1 |date=2004 |pages=153–156 |jstor=20718655}}
* {{cite journal |last=Riggenbach |first=Jeff |journal=The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies |title=Ayn Rand's Influence on American Popular Fiction |volume=6 |issue=1 |date=Fall 2004 |pages=91–144 |jstor=41560271}}
* {{cite journal |title=The Russian Subtext of ''Atlas Shrugged'' and ''The Fountainhead'' |first=Bernice Glatzer |last=Rosenthal |journal=The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies |date=Fall 2004 |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=195–225 |jstor=41560275}}
* {{cite news |first=Jodi |last=Rudoren |author-link=Jodi Rudoren |title=Ayelet Shaked, Israel's New Justice Minister, Shrugs Off Critics in Her Path |work=The New York Times |date=May 15, 2015 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/16/world/middleeast/ayelet-shaked-israels-new-justice-minister-shrugs-off-critics-in-her-path.html |access-date=June 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210526140009/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/16/world/middleeast/ayelet-shaked-israels-new-justice-minister-shrugs-off-critics-in-her-path.html |archive-date=May 26, 2021}}
* {{cite book |editor-first=John R. |editor-last=Shook |first1=Gregory |last1=Salmieri |first2=Allan |last2=Gotthelf |author2-link=Allan Gotthelf |chapter=Rand, Ayn (1905–82) |title=The Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers |title-link=The Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers |publisher=] |location=London |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-84371-037-0 |name-list-style=amp |volume=4 |pages=1995–1999}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Salmieri |editor1-first=Gregory |editor2-last=Mayhew |editor2-first=Robert |title=Foundations of a Free Society: Reflections on Ayn Rand's Political Philosophy |series=Ayn Rand Society Philosophical Studies |date=2019 |location=Pittsburgh |publisher=] |isbn=978-0-8229-4548-2 |name-list-style=amp}}
* {{cite journal |last=Sciabarra |first=Chris Matthew |title=The Rand Transcript |journal=The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies |volume=1 |issue=1 |date=Fall 1999 |pages=1–26 |jstor=41560109}}
* {{cite journal |last=Sciabarra |first=Chris Matthew |title=Recent Work: Ayn Rand |journal=] |date=January 2003 |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=42–52 |doi=10.1111/1468-0149.00280}}
* {{cite journal |last=Sciabarra |first=Chris Matthew |title=The Illustrated Rand |journal=The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies |volume=6 |issue=1 |date=Fall 2004 |pages=1–20 |jstor=41560268}}
* {{cite journal |last=Sciabarra |first=Chris Matthew |date=December 2012 |title=Expanding Boards, Expanding Horizons |journal=The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=183–191 |doi=10.5325/jaynrandstud.12.2.0183 |jstor=41717246 |s2cid=246626268}}
* {{cite book |title=Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical |last=Sciabarra |first=Chris Matthew |author-link=Chris Matthew Sciabarra |location=University Park, Pennsylvania |publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press |year=2013 |edition=2nd |isbn=978-0-271-06374-4 |title-link=Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical}}
* {{cite journal |last=Seddon |first=Fred |s2cid=169272272 |title=Ayn Rand Society Philosophical Studies |journal=The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies |volume=14 |issue=1 |date=July 2014 |pages=75–79 |doi=10.5325/jaynrandstud.14.1.0075 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/548844}}
* {{cite book |last=Sunstein |first=Cass R. |author-link=Cass Sunstein |year=2021 |title=This Is Not Normal: The Politics of Everyday Expectations |location=New Haven |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-25350-4}}
* {{cite book |title=What Art Is: The Esthetic Theory of Ayn Rand |last1=Torres |first1=Louis |last2=Kamhi |first2=Michelle Marder |author-link2=Michelle Marder Kamhi |location=Chicago |publisher=] |year=2000 |isbn=0-8126-9372-8 |name-list-style=amp |url=https://archive.org/details/whatartisestheti0000torr |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book |first=Gore |last=Vidal |author-link=Gore Vidal |title=Rocking the Boat |url=https://archive.org/details/rockingboat00vida |url-access=registration |chapter=Two Immoralists: Orville Prescott and Ayn Rand |publisher=] |location=Boston |year=1962 |oclc=291123 |pages=226–234}} Reprinted from '']'', July 1961.
* {{cite news |title=Ayn Rand's 'Objectivist' Philosophy Is Now Required Reading for British Teens |last=Wang |first=Amy X. |date=March 27, 2017 |work=] |url=https://qz.com/942295/ayn-rands-controversial-objectivist-philosophy-is-now-required-reading-for-british-teens/ |access-date=July 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809200715/https://qz.com/942295/ayn-rands-controversial-objectivist-philosophy-is-now-required-reading-for-british-teens/ |archive-date=August 9, 2021 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |first=Aaron |last=Weinacht |title=Nikolai Chernyshevskii and Ayn Rand: Russian Nihilism Travels to America |publisher=Lexington Books |location=Lanham, Maryland |date=2021 |isbn=978-1-79363-478-8 |edition=Kindle |series=Politics, Literature & Film}}
* {{cite book |title=How Bad Writing Destroyed the World: Ayn Rand and the Literary Origins of the Financial Crisis |edition=Kindle |last=Weiner |first=Adam |date=2020 |orig-date=2016 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |location=London |isbn=978-1-5013-1314-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/howbadwritingdes0000wein |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book |title=Ayn Rand Nation: The Hidden Struggle for America's Soul |last=Weiss |first=Gary |author-link=Gary Weiss |location=New York |publisher=St. Martin's Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-312-59073-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/aynrandnationhid0000weis |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book |title=Krause-Minkus Standard Catalog of U.S. Stamps |title-link=Minkus catalogue |editor-first=Maurice D. |editor-last=Wozniak |publisher=] |location=Iola, Wisconsin |year=2001 |edition=5th |isbn=978-0-87349-321-5}}
* {{cite book |title=Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged: A Philosophical and Literary Companion |editor-last=Younkins |editor-first=Edward W. |location=Burlington, Vermont |publisher=] |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-7546-5533-6}}
{{refend}}


== Further reading ==
Fellowships for the study of Ayn Rand's ideas have been established by the Anthem Foundation for Objectivist Scholarship at academic institutions such as the University of Texas at Austin.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.utexas.edu/opa/news/01newsreleases/nr_200110/nr_fellowship011016.html|title=''UT Texas Press Release''|accessdate=2006-04-14}}</ref>.
* {{Cite book |last=Eilenberger |first=Wolfram |title=The Visionaries: Arendt, Beauvoir, Rand, Weil, and the Power of Philosophy in Dark Times |publisher=] |year=2023 |isbn=9780593297452 |translator-last=Whiteside |translator-first=Shaun |translator-link=Shaun Whiteside}}


== External links ==
The ''Journal of Ayn Rand Studies ''(JARS), a self-described "nonpartisan" peer-reviewed journal dedicated to the study of Ayn Rand—principally her philosophic work—is published twice yearly.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aynrandstudies.com/jars/reviews.asp|title=''Journal of Ayn Rand Studies''|accessdate=2006-03-28}}</ref>
{{Sister project links|auto=1}}
* {{Gutenberg author|id=572|name=Ayn Rand}}
* {{Internet Archive author|sname=Ayn Rand}}
* {{Librivox author|id=4301}}
* {{OL author}}
*
* – searchable database
* from the ]
* – from ]'s '']''
* {{IMDb name|0709446}}


{{Ayn Rand|state=expanded}}
The Ayn Rand Society, founded in 1987 and affiliated with the ], has been active in sponsoring seminars.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aynrandsociety.org/|title=''Ayn Rand Society''|accessdate=2007-10-03}}</ref>
{{navboxes
A 2006 conference at the ], "Concepts and Objectivity: Knowledge, Science, and Values," featured presentations by Objectivists Onkar Ghate, ], James Lennox, and Darryl Wright alongside non-Objectivist academics such as A.P. Martinich and ].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.pitt.edu/~hpsdept/news/news/ConceptsObjConf2006.pdf|format=PDF | title=''Concepts and Objectivity: Knowledge, Science, and Values'' | accessdate=2008-01-18}}</ref>
| list=

{{Aesthetics}}
In 2006, ] published ''Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist'', a volume on Rand's ethical theory written by ARI-affiliated scholar ], a philosophy professor at the University of Texas at Austin. A review of Smith's book by Helen Cullyer of the University of Pittsburgh, published in ''Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews'', ends with the following:
{{Libertarianism}}
{{bquote|It should be stressed in conclusion that whether one is a fan or a detractor of Ayn Rand, the issues raised by this book are manifold and provocative. This book should force a debate of renewed vigor about what we mean by egoism, whether and how the egoism/altruism dichotomy should be applied within eudaemonistic ethical theories, and what our ethical theories imply about our political outlook. Smith provides us with a version of egoism that will need to be argued against by those who find it distasteful or misguided, rather than simply dismissed.<ref></ref>}}
{{Political philosophy}}

==Criticism==
Rand has remained controversial. On the left, linguist and cognitive philosopher<ref>Simon Blackburn "Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy" pp 63 states " American linguist, philosopher and political activist"</ref> ] considers Rand: "one of the most evil figures of modern intellectual history."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://westernstandard.blogs.com/shotgun/2008/12/question-period.html |title=Question Period: Noam Chomsky on being censored, CHRC censorship, Ayn Rand, Robert Nozick and libertarianism |accessdate=23 December 2008|work=The Shotgun Blog |publisher=] |date=December 08, 2008}}</ref>

On the right, conservative commentator and founder of the ] ] declared in his obituary for the New York Times that: "Ayn Rand is dead. So, incidentally, is the philosophy she sought to launch dead; it was in fact stillborn."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/0497rand.htm|title=What Conservatives Owe Ayn Rand|last=Gekko|first=Gord|date=April 1997|publisher=|accessdate=2008-12-29}}</ref>

===Philosophical criticism===
{{main|Criticism of Objectivism (Ayn Rand)}}
Online '']'' columnist Sara Dabney Tisdale says academic philosophers have generally dismissed Rand's ideas, and ''Atlas Shrugged'' in particular, as "sophomoric, preachy, and unoriginal."<ref>{{Citation
| last = Tisdale
| first = Sara Dabney
| author-link =
| last2 =
| first2 =
| author2-link =
| title = A Celebration of Self
| newspaper = U.S. News & World Report
| page = 72
| year = 2007
| date = August 13
| url =http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070805/13atlas.htm }}</ref> In addition, Greg Nyquist has written that Rand's philosophy fundamentally misunderstands the very core of human nature.<ref>{{cite book |author=Nyquist, Greg S. |title=Ayn Rand Contra Human Nature |publisher=AuthorHouse |location=Bloomington, IN |year=2001 |pages=407 |isbn=0595196330}}{{pn}}</ref>

One significant exception to the general lack of attention paid to Rand in academic philosophy is the essay "On the Randian Argument" by ] philosopher ], which appears in his collection, ''Socratic Puzzles''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Nozick |first=Robert |title=Socratic Puzzles |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge |year=1997 |isbn=0-674-81654-4 |chapter=On the Randian Argument}}{{pn}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Celebrating the life of a friend of liberty |journal=University Wire |date=January 31, 2002 |first=James |last=Eaves-Johnson }}</ref><ref>W{{cite news|title=What's not to like about Libertarianism? |work=] |authorlink=Brian Doherty (journalist) |first=Brian |last=Doherty |date=March 25, 2007}}</ref> Nozick is sympathetic to Rand's political conclusions, but does not think her arguments justify them. In particular, his essay criticizes her foundational argument in ethics—laid out most explicitly in her book ''The Virtue of Selfishness''—which claims that one's own life is, for each individual, the ultimate value because it makes all other values possible. Nozick says that to make this argument sound one needs to explain why someone could not rationally prefer dying and thus having no values. Therefore, he argues, her attempt to defend the morality of selfishness is essentially an instance of ]. Nozick also argues that Rand's solution to ]'s famous ] is unsatisfactory.{{context needed}} ] responds to this criticism in her book ''Viable Values.''{{page number}} Philosophers Douglas Rasmussen and Douglas Den Uyl have also responded to Nozick's article, arguing that there are basic misstatements of Rand's case on Nozick's part.<ref>"Den Uyl and Rasmussen, "Nozick on the Randian Argument," ''The Personalist'', Spring, 1978, reprinted in ''Reading Nozick: Essays on Anarchy, State and Utopia'', J. Paul, ed. (1981) Rowman & Littlefield, pp. 206-269.</ref>

Rand has also been accused of misinterpreting the works of many of the philosophers that she criticized in her writing. According to Fred Seddon, author of ''Ayn Rand, Objectivists, and the History of Philosophy'' (2003), Nathaniel Branden stated that Rand never read any of Kant's works.<ref>{{cite book |author=Seddon, Frederick |title=Ayn Rand, Objectivists, and the history of philosophy |publisher=University Press of America |location=Washington, D.C |year=2003 |pages= |isbn=0-7618-2308-5}}{{pn}}</ref>

Finally, ] (who helped define modern libertarianism and anarcho-capitalism),<ref>Rothbard, Murray. "The sociology of the Ayn Rand cult."</ref> Jeff Walker,<ref>Walker, Jeff (1999). The Ayn Rand Cult. Chicago: Open Court.</ref> and ](libertarian and founder of the ]),<ref>Shermer, Michael. "The Unlikeliest Cult in History". Retrieved on 2006-03-30. Originally published in Skeptic vol. 2, no. 2, 1993, pp. 74-81.</ref> have accused Objectivism of being a cult, claiming that it exhibited typical cult traits, including slavish adherence to unprovable doctrine and extreme adulation of the founder.
===Literary criticism===
Rand's novels, when they were first published, "received almost unanimously terrible reviews"<ref name="Turner" /> and were derided by some critics as long and melodramatic.<ref>Chapman, Steve{{cite web|url=http://washingtontimes.com/commentary/20050201-094832-2692r.htm|title=''The evolution of Ayn Rand''|accessdate=2006-04-09}} ''The Washington Times,'' February 2, 2005.</ref> However, they became bestsellers due largely to word of mouth.<ref name="Turner" /> Scholars of English and American ] have largely ignored her work, although Rand has received occasional positive reviews from the literary establishment.<ref>Berliner, Michael S., ''Letters of Ayn Rand'' (New York: Plume, 1995), pp. 74.</ref><ref>Lewis, John, {{cite web|url=http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3705|title=Literary Encyclopedia:Ayn Rand|accessdate=2007-11-26}}, October 20, 2001.</ref><ref>Pruett, Lorine, ''The New York Times'', May, 16, 1943.</ref>

The most famous review of Rand's novel ''Atlas Shrugged'' was written by the conservative author ] and appeared in '']'' in 1957. It was unrelentingly scathing. Chambers called the book "sophomoric"; and "remarkably silly," and said it "can be called a novel only by devaluing the term." He described the tone of the book as "shrillness without reprieve." Chambers accused Rand of supporting the same godless system as the ], claiming "From almost any page of Atlas Shrugged, a voice can be heard, from painful necessity, commanding: 'To the gas chambers—go!'"<ref>{{Citation | surname=Chambers | given=Whittaker | authorlink=Whittaker Chambers | title=Big Sister is Watching You | journal=National Review | year=1957 | pages=594–596 | url=http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles2/ChambersAynRand.shtml}}</ref> Five decades later, ''The Intellectual Activist'' published a reply, arguing that Chambers had not actually read the book, as he misspelled the names of two major characters and used no quotations from the novel in his critique.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?id=4081|title=A Half-Century-Old Attack on Ayn Rand Reminds Us of the Dark Side of Conservatism|last=Tracinski|first=Robert|date=2005-01-06|publisher=|accessdate=2008-12-29}}</ref>

Another critic, Mimi Gladstein (author of ''The New Ayn Rand Companion''), called Rand's characters flat and uninteresting, and her heroes implausibly wealthy, intelligent, physically attractive and free of doubt while arrayed against antagonists who are weak, pathetic, full of uncertainty, and lacking in imagination and talent.<ref>{{cite book |title=Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand |first=Mimi R. |last=Gladstein |coauthor=Chris Matthew Sciabarra |publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press |year=1999 |isbn=0-271-01831-3 |page=140}}</ref>

Rand stated in a 1963 essay, titled "The Goal of My Writing", that her fiction was intentionally different in that its goal was to project a vision of an ideal man: not man as he is, but man as he might be and ought to be. Rand, who described herself as a ], presented her theory of aesthetics more fully in her 1969 book, '']: A Philosophy of Literature''.

==Bibliography==
===Fiction===
* '']'' (1934) ISBN 0-452-26486-3
* '']'' (1936) ISBN 0-451-18784-9
* '']'' (1938) ISBN 0-451-19113-7
* '']'' (1943) ISBN 0-451-19115-3
* '']'' (1957) ISBN 0-451-19114-5

===Nonfiction===
* '']'' (1961) ISBN 0-451-16308-7
* '']'' (with ]) (1964) ISBN 0-451-16393-1
* '']'' (with ], ], and ]) (1966) ISBN 0-451-14795-2
* '']'' (1967) ISBN 0-452-01030-6 (expanded second edition)
* '']'' (1969) ISBN 0-451-14916-5
* '']'' (1971) ISBN 0-452-01184-1
* '']'' posthumously edited by Leonard Peikoff (1982) ISBN 0-451-13893-7. The title essay was originally an address to the 1974 graduating class of the ].

===Posthumous works===
* '']'' (edited and with commentary by ]) (1984)
* '']'' (edited by ]; additional essays by ] and ]) (1989)
* '']'' second edition (edited by ]; additional material by ]) (1990)
* ''Letters of Ayn Rand'' (edited by Michael S. Berliner) (1995)
* ''Journals of Ayn Rand'' (edited by David Harriman) (1997)
* ''Ayn Rand's Marginalia: Her Critical Comments on the Writings of over Twenty Authors'' (edited by Robert Mayhew) (1998)
* '']'' (edited by ]) (1998)
* ''Russian Writings on Hollywood'' (edited by Michael S. Berliner) (1999)
* '']'' (expanded edition of ''The New Left''; edited and with additional essays by ]) (1999)
* '']'' (edited by Tore Boeckmann) (2000)
* ''The Art of Nonfiction'' (edited by Robert Mayhew) (2001)
* ''The Objectivism Research CD-ROM'' (collection of most of Rand's works in CD-ROM format) (2001)
* ''Three Plays'' (2005)
* ''Ayn Rand Answers'' (edited by Robert Mayhew) (2005)

===Film adaptations===
Without Rand's knowledge or permission, '']'' was made into a pair of films, ''Noi vivi'' and ''Addio, Kira'' in 1942 by Scalara Films, ]. They were nearly censored by the ] government under ], but they were permitted because the novel upon which they were based was anti-Soviet. The films were successful, and the public easily realized that they were as much against Fascism as Communism. These films were re-edited into a new version which was approved by Rand and re-released as ''We the Living'' in 1986.

'']''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041386/|title=The Fountainhead (1949), at the IMDB|accessdate=2008-01-17}}</ref> was a ] film (1949, Warner Bros.) starring ], for which Rand wrote the screen-play. Rand initially insisted that ] design the architectural models used in the film, but relented when his fee was too high.<ref>{{cite book |last=Branden |first=Barbara |authorlink=Barbara Branden |title=The passion of Ayn Rand |publisher=Doubleday |location=Garden City, N.Y |year=1986 |pages=208–209 |isbn=0-385-19171-5}}</ref>

A ] is in pre-production as of early 2008, with production possibly starting in December if the script can be revised in time.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=43995 |title=''Atlas Shrugged'' Moves Forward |accessdate=2008-04-13}}</ref> In September 2007, Lions Gate Films reported that it had hired ] to revise ]'s script and to direct the film, with screen star ] cast in the role of Dagny Taggart.<ref> {{cite web|url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117971319.html|title=Vadim Perelman to direct 'Atlas'|accessdate=2007-10-02}}</ref> Jolie's 2008 pregnancy and Perelman's departure have cast the project into doubt.<ref>, Imdb.com</ref>

'']'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0140447/|title=The Passion of Ayn Rand (1999), at the IMDB|accessdate=2008-01-17}}</ref> an independent film about her life, was made in 1999, starring ] as Ayn Rand, ], ] and ]. The film was based on the book by ], one of her former associates, and won several awards including an Emmy for Helen Mirren and a Golden Globe for Peter Fonda. This film's accuracy and fairness to Rand has been questioned by ''The Passion of Ayn Rand's Critics'', by ], and even by associates of ], such as ].

A documentary film about Rand's life, ], was nominated for the ] for Best Documentary of the Year.

===Screenplays===
In addition to the screenplay of ''The Fountainhead'', Rand also collaborated on screenplays of ''You Came Along'' and the ]-nominated '']'', both filmed in 1945.

==Notes==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Further reading==
<div class="references-small">
* {{cite book
| last = Baker | first = James T.
| title = Ayn Rand
| publisher = Twayne
| location = Boston
| year = 1987
| isbn = 0-8057-7497-1
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Branden | first = Barbara
| authorlink = Barbara Branden
| title = The Passion of Ayn Rand
| publisher = Doubleday & Company
| location = Garden City, New York
| year = 1986
| isbn = 0-385-19171-5
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Branden | first = Nathaniel
| authorlink = Nathaniel Branden
| title = My Years with Ayn Rand
| publisher = Jossey Bass
| location = San Francisco
| year = 1998
| isbn = 0-7879-4513-7
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Branden | first = Nathaniel
| authorlink = Nathaniel Branden
| coauthors = ]
| title = Who Is Ayn Rand?
| publisher = Random House
| location = New York
| year = 1962
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Britting | first = Jeff
| authorlink = Jeff Britting
| title = Ayn Rand
| publisher = Overlook Duckworth
| location = New York
| year = 2005
| isbn = 1-58567-406-0
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Gladstein | first = Mimi Reisel
| title = The New Ayn Rand Companion
| publisher = Greenwood Press
| location = Westport, Connecticut
| year = 1999
| isbn = 0-313-30321-5
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Gladstein | first = Mimi Reisel
| coauthors = ] (editors)
| title = Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand
| publisher = The Pennsylvania State University Press
| location = University Park, Pennsylvania
| year = 1999
| isbn = 0-534-57625-7
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Gotthelf | first = Allan
| authorlink = Allan Gotthelf
| title = ]
| publisher = Wadsworth Publishing Company
| location = Belmont, California
| year = 2000
| isbn = 0-271-01830-5
}}
* {{cite journal
| last = Hicks | first = Stephen
| authorlink = Stephen Hicks
| title = Ayn Rand and Contemporary Business Ethics
| url = http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=782343
| journal = Journal of Accounting, Ethics, and Public Policy
| volume = 3
| issue = 1
| year = 2003
| pages = 1 – 26
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Mayhew | first = Robert
| title = Ayn Rand and Song of Russia
| publisher = Rowman & Littlefield
| location = Lanham, Maryland
| year = 2004
| isbn = 0-8108-5276-4
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Mayhew | first = Robert
| title = Essays on Ayn Rand's Anthem
| publisher = Rowman & Littlefield
| location = Lanham, Maryland
| year = 2005
| isbn = 0-7391-1031-4
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Mayhew | first = Robert
| title = Essays on Ayn Rand's We the Living
| publisher = Rowman & Littlefield
| location = Lanham, Maryland
| year = 2004
| isbn = 0-7391-0698-8
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Paxton | first = Michael
| title = Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life (The Companion Book)
| publisher = Gibbs Smith
| location = Layton, Utah
| year = 1998
| isbn = 0-87905-845-5
}}
* {{cite journal
| last = Peikoff | first = Leonard
| authorlink = Leonard Peikoff
| title = My Thirty Years with Ayn Rand: An Intellectual Memoir
| journal = The Objectivist Forum
| volume = 8
| issue = 3
| year = 1987
| pages = 1 – 16
}}
* {{cite book
| author = ]
| title = Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand
| location = New York
| publisher = Dutton
| year = 1991
| isbn = 0-452-01101-9
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Rothbard | first = Murray N.
| authorlink = Murray N. Rothbard
| title = The Sociology of the Ayn Rand Cult
| url = http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard23.html
| publisher = Liberty
| location = Port Townsend, Washington
| year = 1987
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Sciabarra | first = Chris Matthew
| authorlink = Chris Matthew Sciabarra
| title = Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical
| location = University Park, Pennsylvania
| publisher = The Pennsylvania State University Press
| year = 1995
| isbn = 0-271-01440-7
}}
* {{cite journal
| last = Sciabarra | first = Chris Matthew
| authorlink = Chris Matthew Sciabarra
| title = The Rand Transcript
| url = http://www.nyu.edu/projects/sciabarra/essays/randt2.htm
| journal = The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies
| volume = 1
| issue = 1
| year = 1999
| pages = 1 – 26
}}
* {{cite journal
| last = Shermer | first = Michael
| authorlink = Michael Shermer
| url = http://www.2think.org/02_2_she.shtml
| title = The Unlikeliest Cult In History
| journal = Skeptic
| volume = 2
| issue = 2
| year = 1993
| pages = 74 – 81
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Sures | first = Mary Ann
| coauthors = Charles Sures
| title = Facets of Ayn Rand
| url = http://www.facetsofaynrand.com/
| publisher = Ayn Rand Institute Press
| location = Los Angeles
| year = 2001
| isbn = 0-9625336-5-3
}}
* {{cite book
| author = Thomas, William (editor)
| title = The Literary Art of Ayn Rand
| location = Poughkeepsie, New York
| publisher = The Objectivist Center
| year = 2005
| isbn = 1-57724-070-7
}} }}
{{Portal bar|Books|Libertarianism|Philosophy|Politics}}
* {{cite book
{{Authority control}}
| last = Valliant | first = James S.
| authorlink = James S. Valliant
| title = The Passion of Ayn Rand's Critics
| location = Dallas
| publisher = Durban House
| year = 2005
| isbn = 1930754671
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Walker | first = Jeff
| title = The Ayn Rand Cult
| location = Chicago
| publisher = Open Court
| year = 1999
| isbn = 0-8126-9390-6
}}
</div>


==External links==
{{sisterlinks|Ayn Rand}}
{{Spoken Misplaced Pages-2|2007-06-02|Ayn_Rand1.ogg|Ayn_Rand2.ogg|...}}
*
*
*
* {{iep|r/rand.htm}}
* {{worldcat|name=Ayn Rand|id=lccn-n50-54463}}
* {{gutenberg author| id=Ayn+Rand | name=Ayn Rand}}
*
* {{imdb name | id=0709446 | name=Ayn Rand}}
* {{findagrave|851}}
* (Part 1 - 5)

{{Ayn Rand|state=autocollapse}}
<!-- Metadata: see ] -->

{{Persondata
|NAME= Rand, Ayn
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Rosenbaum, Alisa Zinov'yevna; Алиса Зиновьевна Розенбаум (Russian)
|SHORT DESCRIPTION= novelist, philosopher, playwright, screenwriter
|DATE OF BIRTH= {{birth date|mf=yes|1905|2|2|mf=y}}
|PLACE OF BIRTH= ]
|DATE OF DEATH= {{death date|mf=yes|1982|3|6|mf=y}}
|PLACE OF DEATH= ]
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rand, Ayn}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Rand, Ayn}}
]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
]
]
]
]
]
]
] ]
] ]
]
]
]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
] ]
]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
]

]
{{Link FA|he}}

]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]

Latest revision as of 15:26, 28 December 2024

Russian-born American author and philosopher (1905–1982)

Ayn Rand
Photo of Ayn RandRand in 1943
Native nameАлиса Зиновьевна Розенбаум
BornAlisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum
(1905-02-02)February 2, 1905
Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
DiedMarch 6, 1982(1982-03-06) (aged 77)
New York City, U.S.
Pen nameAyn Rand
Occupation
  • Author
  • philosopher
Language
  • English
  • Russian
Citizenship
  • Russia (until 1931)
  • United States (from 1931)
Alma materLeningrad State University
Period1934–1982
Notable worksFull list
Spouse Frank O'Connor ​ ​(m. 1929; died 1979)
Signature
Ayn Rand

Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum; February 2 [O.S. January 20], 1905 – March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (/aɪn/), was a Russian-born American author and philosopher. She is known for her fiction and for developing a philosophical system she named Objectivism. Born and educated in Russia, she moved to the United States in 1926. After two early novels that were initially unsuccessful and two Broadway plays, Rand achieved fame with her 1943 novel The Fountainhead. In 1957, she published her best-selling work, the novel Atlas Shrugged. Afterward, until her death in 1982, she turned to non-fiction to promote her philosophy, publishing her own periodicals and releasing several collections of essays.

Rand advocated reason and rejected faith and religion. She supported rational and ethical egoism as opposed to altruism and hedonism. In politics, she condemned the initiation of force as immoral and supported laissez-faire capitalism, which she defined as the system based on recognizing individual rights, including private property rights. Although she opposed libertarianism, which she viewed as anarchism, Rand is often associated with the modern libertarian movement in the United States. In art, she promoted romantic realism. She was sharply critical of most philosophers and philosophical traditions known to her, with a few exceptions.

Rand's books have sold over 37 million copies. Her fiction received mixed reviews from literary critics, with reviews becoming more negative for her later work. Although academic interest in her ideas has grown since her death, academic philosophers have generally ignored or rejected Rand's philosophy, arguing that she has a polemical approach and that her work lacks methodological rigor. Her writings have politically influenced some right-libertarians and conservatives. The Objectivist movement circulates her ideas, both to the public and in academic settings.

Life

Early life

Rand was born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum on February 2, 1905, into a Jewish bourgeois family living in Saint Petersburg in what was then the Russian Empire. She was the eldest of three daughters of Zinovy Zakharovich Rosenbaum, a pharmacist, and Anna Borisovna (née Kaplan). She was 12 when the October Revolution and the rule of the Bolsheviks under Vladimir Lenin disrupted her family's lives. Her father's pharmacy was nationalized, and the family fled to Yevpatoria in Crimea, which was initially under the control of the White Army during the Russian Civil War. After graduating high school there in June 1921, she returned with her family to Petrograd (as Saint Petersburg was then named), where they faced desperate conditions, occasionally nearly starving.

Book cover with black-and-white drawings and text in Russian
Rand's first published work was a monograph in Russian about actress Pola Negri.

When Russian universities were opened to women after the revolution, Rand was among the first to enroll at Petrograd State University. At 16, she began her studies in the department of social pedagogy, majoring in history. She was one of many bourgeois students purged from the university shortly before graduating. After complaints from a group of visiting foreign scientists, many purged students, including Rand, were reinstated. She graduated from the renamed Leningrad State University in October 1924. She then studied for a year at the State Technicum for Screen Arts in Leningrad. For an assignment, Rand wrote an essay about the Polish actress Pola Negri; it became her first published work. She decided her professional surname for writing would be Rand, and she adopted the first name Ayn (pronounced /aɪn/).

In late 1925, Rand was granted a visa to visit relatives in Chicago. She arrived in New York City on February 19, 1926. Intent on staying in the United States to become a screenwriter, she lived for a few months with her relatives learning English before moving to Hollywood, California.

In Hollywood a chance meeting with director Cecil B. DeMille led to work as an extra in his film The King of Kings and a subsequent job as a junior screenwriter. While working on The King of Kings, she met the aspiring actor Frank O'Connor; they married on April 15, 1929. She became a permanent American resident in July 1929 and an American citizen on March 3, 1931. She tried to bring her parents and sisters to the United States, but they could not obtain permission to emigrate. Rand's father died of a heart attack in 1939; one of her sisters and their mother died during the siege of Leningrad.

Early fiction

See also: Night of January 16th, We the Living, and Anthem (novella)
Poster for the play Night of January 16th
Rand's play Night of January 16th opened on Broadway in 1935.

Rand's first literary success was the sale of her screenplay Red Pawn to Universal Studios in 1932, although it was never produced. Her courtroom drama Night of January 16th, first staged in Hollywood in 1934, reopened successfully on Broadway in 1935. Each night, a jury was selected from members of the audience; based on its vote, one of two different endings would be performed. Rand and O'Connor moved to New York City in December 1934 so she could handle revisions for the Broadway production.

Her first novel, the semi-autobiographical We the Living, was published in 1936. Set in Soviet Russia, it focuses on the struggle between the individual and the state. Initial sales were slow, and the American publisher let it go out of print, although European editions continued to sell. She adapted the story as a stage play, but the Broadway production closed in less than a week. After the success of her later novels, Rand released a revised version in 1959 that has sold over three million copies.

Rand started her next major novel, The Fountainhead, in December 1935, but took a break from it in 1937 to write her novella Anthem. The novella presents a dystopian future world in which totalitarian collectivism has triumphed to such an extent that the word I has been forgotten and replaced with we. Protagonists Equality 7-2521 and Liberty 5-3000 eventually escape the collectivistic society and rediscover the word I. It was published in England in 1938, but Rand could not find an American publisher at that time. As with We the Living, Rand's later success allowed her to get a revised version published in 1946, and this sold over 3.5 million copies.

The Fountainhead and political activism

See also: The Fountainhead and The Fountainhead (film)

During the 1940s, Rand became politically active. She and her husband were full-time volunteers for Republican Wendell Willkie's 1940 presidential campaign. This work put her in contact with other intellectuals sympathetic to free-market capitalism. She became friends with journalist Henry Hazlitt, who introduced her to the Austrian School economist Ludwig von Mises. Despite philosophical differences with them, Rand strongly endorsed the writings of both men, and they expressed admiration for her. Mises once called her "the most courageous man in America", a compliment that particularly pleased her because he said "man" instead of "woman". Rand became friends with libertarian writer Isabel Paterson. Rand questioned her about American history and politics during their many meetings, and gave Paterson ideas for her only non-fiction book, The God of the Machine.

Front cover of The Fountainhead
The Fountainhead was Rand's first bestseller.

Rand's first major success as a writer came in 1943 with The Fountainhead, a novel about an uncompromising architect named Howard Roark and his struggle against what Rand described as "second-handers" who attempt to live through others, placing others above themselves. Twelve publishers rejected it before Bobbs-Merrill Company accepted it at the insistence of editor Archibald Ogden, who threatened to quit if his employer did not publish it. While completing the novel, Rand was prescribed Benzedrine, an amphetamine, to fight fatigue. The drug helped her to work long hours to meet her deadline for delivering the novel, but afterwards she was so exhausted that her doctor ordered two weeks' rest. Her use of the drug for approximately three decades may have contributed to mood swings and outbursts described by some of her later associates.

The success of The Fountainhead brought Rand fame and financial security. In 1943, she sold the film rights to Warner Bros. and returned to Hollywood to write the screenplay. Producer Hal B. Wallis then hired her as a screenwriter and script-doctor for screenplays including Love Letters and You Came Along. Rand became involved with the anti-Communist Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals and American Writers Association. In 1947, during the Second Red Scare, she testified as a "friendly witness" before the United States House Un-American Activities Committee that the 1944 film Song of Russia grossly misrepresented conditions in the Soviet Union, portraying life there as much better and happier than it was. She also wanted to criticize the lauded 1946 film The Best Years of Our Lives for what she interpreted as its negative presentation of the business world but was not allowed to do so. When asked after the hearings about her feelings on the investigations' effectiveness, Rand described the process as "futile".

After several delays, the film version of The Fountainhead was released in 1949. Although it used Rand's screenplay with minimal alterations, she "disliked the movie from beginning to end" and complained about its editing, the acting and other elements.

Atlas Shrugged and Objectivism

See also: Atlas Shrugged, Objectivism, and Objectivist movement
Magazine cover with a man holding lightning bolts
Rand's novella Anthem was reprinted in the June 1953 issue of the pulp magazine Famous Fantastic Mysteries.

Following the publication of The Fountainhead, Rand received many letters from readers, some of whom the book had influenced profoundly. In 1951, Rand moved from Los Angeles to New York City, where she gathered a group of these admirers who met at Rand's apartment on weekends to discuss philosophy. The group included future chair of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan, a young psychology student named Nathan Blumenthal (later Nathaniel Branden) and his wife Barbara, and Barbara's cousin Leonard Peikoff. Later, Rand began allowing them to read the manuscript drafts of her new novel, Atlas Shrugged. In 1954, her close relationship with Nathaniel Branden turned into a romantic affair. They informed both their spouses, who briefly objected, until Rand "spn out a deductive chain from which you just couldn't escape", in Barbara Branden's words, resulting in her and O'Connor's assent. Historian Jennifer Burns concludes that O'Connor was likely "the hardest hit" emotionally by the affair.

Published in 1957, Atlas Shrugged is considered Rand's magnum opus. She described the novel's theme as "the role of the mind in man's existence—and, as a corollary, the demonstration of a new moral philosophy: the morality of rational self-interest". It advocates the core tenets of Rand's philosophy of Objectivism and expresses her concept of human achievement. The plot involves a dystopian United States in which the most creative industrialists, scientists, and artists respond to a welfare state government by going on strike and retreating to a hidden valley where they build an independent free economy. The novel's hero and leader of the strike, John Galt, describes it as stopping "the motor of the world" by withdrawing the minds of individuals contributing most to the nation's wealth and achievements. The novel contains an exposition of Objectivism in a lengthy monologue delivered by Galt.

Despite many negative reviews, Atlas Shrugged became an international bestseller, but the reaction of intellectuals to the novel discouraged and depressed Rand. Atlas Shrugged was her last completed work of fiction, marking the end of her career as a novelist and the beginning of her role as a popular philosopher.

In 1958, Nathaniel Branden established the Nathaniel Branden Lectures, later incorporated as the Nathaniel Branden Institute (NBI), to promote Rand's philosophy through public lectures. He and Rand co-founded The Objectivist Newsletter (later renamed The Objectivist) in 1962 to circulate articles about her ideas; she later republished some of these articles in book form. Rand was unimpressed by many of the NBI students and held them to strict standards, sometimes reacting coldly or angrily to those who disagreed with her. Critics, including some former NBI students and Branden himself, later said the NBI culture was one of intellectual conformity and excessive reverence for Rand. Some described the NBI or the Objectivist movement as a cult or religion. Rand expressed opinions on a wide range of topics, from literature and music to sexuality and facial hair. Some of her followers mimicked her preferences, wearing clothes to match characters from her novels and buying furniture like hers. Some former NBI students believed the extent of these behaviors was exaggerated, and the problem was concentrated among Rand's closest followers in New York.

Later years

Throughout the 1960s and 70s, Rand developed and promoted her Objectivist philosophy through nonfiction and speeches, including annual lectures at the Ford Hall Forum. In answers to audience questions, she took controversial stances on political and social issues. These included supporting abortion rights, opposing the Vietnam War and the military draft (but condemning many draft dodgers as "bums"), supporting Israel in the Yom Kippur War of 1973 against a coalition of Arab nations as "civilized men fighting savages", claiming European colonists had the right to invade and take land inhabited by American Indians, and calling homosexuality "immoral" and "disgusting", despite advocating the repeal of all laws concerning it. She endorsed several Republican candidates for president of the United States, most strongly Barry Goldwater in 1964.

Twin gravestone for Frank O'Connor and Ayn Rand O'Connor
Grave marker for Rand and her husband at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York

In 1964, Nathaniel Branden began an affair with the young actress Patrecia Scott, whom he later married. Nathaniel and Barbara Branden kept the affair hidden from Rand. As her relationship with Nathaniel Branden deteriorated, Rand had her husband be present for difficult conversations between her and Branden. In 1968, Rand learned about Branden's relationship with Scott. Though her romantic involvement with Nathaniel Branden was already over, Rand ended her relationship with both Brandens, and the NBI closed. She published an article in The Objectivist repudiating Nathaniel Branden for dishonesty and "irrational behavior in his private life". In subsequent years, Rand and several more of her closest associates parted company.

Rand's younger sister Eleonora Drobisheva (née Rosenbaum, 1910–1999) visited her in the US in 1973 at the former's invitation, but did not accept her lifestyle and views, as well as finding little literary merit in her works. She subsequently returned to the Soviet Union and spent the rest of her life in Leningrad (later Saint Petersburg).

Rand had surgery for lung cancer in 1974 after decades of heavy smoking. In 1976, she retired from her newsletter and, despite her lifelong objections to any government-run program, was enrolled in and subsequently claimed Social Security and Medicare with the aid of a social worker. Her activities in the Objectivist movement declined, especially after her husband died on November 9, 1979. One of her final projects was a never-completed television adaptation of Atlas Shrugged.

On March 6, 1982, Rand died of heart failure at her home in New York City. Her funeral included a 6-foot (1.8 m) floral arrangement in the shape of a dollar sign. In her will, Rand named Peikoff as her heir.

Literary approach, influences and reception

Rand described her approach to literature as "romantic realism". She wanted her fiction to present the world "as it could be and should be", rather than as it was. This approach led her to create highly stylized situations and characters. Her fiction typically has protagonists who are heroic individualists, depicted as fit and attractive. Her villains support duty and collectivist moral ideals. Rand often describes them as unattractive, and some have names that suggest negative traits, such as Wesley Mouch in Atlas Shrugged.

Rand considered plot a critical element of literature, and her stories typically have what biographer Anne Heller described as "tight, elaborate, fast-paced plotting". Romantic triangles are a common plot element in Rand's fiction; in most of her novels and plays, the main female character is romantically involved with at least two men.

Influences

Photo of Victor Hugo
Rand admired the novels of Victor Hugo.

In school, Rand read works by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Victor Hugo, Edmond Rostand, and Friedrich Schiller, who became her favorites. She considered them to be among the "top rank" of Romantic writers because of their focus on moral themes and their skill at constructing plots. Hugo was an important influence on her writing, especially her approach to plotting. In the introduction she wrote for an English-language edition of his novel Ninety-Three, Rand called him "the greatest novelist in world literature".

Although Rand disliked most Russian literature, her depictions of her heroes show the influence of the Russian Symbolists and other nineteenth-century Russian writing, most notably the 1863 novel What Is to Be Done? by Nikolay Chernyshevsky. Scholars of Russian literature see in Chernyshevsky's character Rakhmetov, an "ascetic revolutionist", the template for Rand's literary heroes and heroines.

Rand's experience of the Russian Revolution and early Communist Russia influenced the portrayal of her villains. Beyond We the Living, which is set in Russia, this influence can be seen in the ideas and rhetoric of Ellsworth Toohey in The Fountainhead, and in the destruction of the economy in Atlas Shrugged.

Rand's descriptive style echoes her early career writing scenarios and scripts for movies; her novels have many narrative descriptions that resemble early Hollywood movie scenarios. They often follow common film editing conventions, such as having a broad establishing shot description of a scene followed by close-up details, and her descriptions of women characters often take a "male gaze" perspective.

Contemporary reviews

Photo of Rand
Rand in 1957

The first reviews Rand received were for Night of January 16th. Reviews of the Broadway production were largely positive, but Rand considered even positive reviews to be embarrassing because of significant changes made to her script by the producer. Although Rand believed that We the Living was not widely reviewed, over 200 publications published approximately 125 different reviews. Overall, they were more positive than those she received for her later work. Anthem received little review attention, both for its first publication in England and for subsequent re-issues.

Rand's first bestseller, The Fountainhead, received far fewer reviews than We the Living, and reviewers' opinions were mixed. Lorine Pruette's positive review in The New York Times, which called the author "a writer of great power" who wrote "brilliantly, beautifully and bitterly", was one that Rand greatly appreciated. There were other positive reviews, but Rand dismissed most of them for either misunderstanding her message or for being in unimportant publications. Some negative reviews said the novel was too long; others called the characters unsympathetic and Rand's style "offensively pedestrian".

Atlas Shrugged was widely reviewed, and many of the reviews were strongly negative. Atlas Shrugged received positive reviews from a few publications, but Rand scholar Mimi Reisel Gladstein later wrote that reviewers seemed to vie with each other in a contest to devise the cleverest put-downs, with reviews including comments that it was written out of hate and showed remorseless hectoring and prolixity. Whittaker Chambers wrote what was later called the novel's most "notorious" review for the conservative magazine National Review. He accused Rand of supporting a godless system (which he related to that of the Soviets), claiming, From almost any page of Atlas Shrugged, a voice can be heard ... commanding: 'To a gas chamber—go!'.

Rand's nonfiction received far fewer reviews than her novels. The tenor of the criticism for her first nonfiction book, For the New Intellectual, was similar to that for Atlas Shrugged. Philosopher Sidney Hook likened her certainty to "the way philosophy is written in the Soviet Union", and author Gore Vidal called her viewpoint "nearly perfect in its immorality". These reviews set the pattern for reaction to her ideas among liberal critics. Her subsequent books got progressively less review attention.

Academic assessments of Rand's fiction

Academic consideration of Rand as a literary figure during her life was limited. Mimi Reisel Gladstein could not find any scholarly articles about Rand's novels when she began researching her in 1973, and only three such articles appeared during the rest of the 1970s. Since her death, scholars of English and American literature have continued largely to ignore her work, although attention to her literary work has increased since the 1990s. Several academic book series about important authors cover Rand and her works, as do popular study guides like CliffsNotes and SparkNotes. In The Literary Encyclopedia entry for Rand written in 2001, John David Lewis declared that Rand wrote the most intellectually challenging fiction of her generation. In 2019, Lisa Duggan described Rand's fiction as popular and influential on many readers, despite being easy to criticize for her cartoonish characters and melodramatic plots, her rigid moralizing, her middle- to lowbrow aesthetic preferences ... and philosophical strivings.

Philosophy

Objectivist movement
Photo of Ayn RandAyn Rand
Philosophy
Organizations
Theorists

Ayn Rand Institute

Other

LiteratureCapitalism: The Unknown Ideal
For the New Intellectual
Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology
The New Left
Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand
Philosophy: Who Needs It
The Romantic Manifesto
The Virtue of Selfishness
Objectivist periodicals
The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies
The Fountainhead
Atlas Shrugged
Related topics
This article is part of a series on
Libertarianism
in the United States
Schools
Principles
History
Economics
Intellectuals
Commentators
Politicians
Issues
Culture
Organizations
Literature
See also
Main article: Objectivism

Rand called her philosophy "Objectivism", describing its essence as "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute". She considered Objectivism a systematic philosophy and laid out positions on metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, and political philosophy.

Metaphysics and epistemology

In metaphysics, Rand supported philosophical realism and opposed anything she regarded as mysticism or supernaturalism, including all forms of religion. Rand believed in free will as a form of agent causation and rejected determinism.

Rand also related her aesthetics to metaphysics by defining art as a "selective re-creation of reality according to an artist's metaphysical value-judgments". According to her, art allows philosophical concepts to be presented in a concrete form that can be grasped easily, thereby fulfilling a need of human consciousness. As a writer, the art form Rand focused on most closely was literature. In works such as The Romantic Manifesto and The Art of Fiction, she described Romanticism as the approach that most accurately reflects the existence of human free will.

In epistemology, Rand considered all knowledge to be based on forming higher levels of understanding from sense perception, the validity of which she considered axiomatic. She described reason as "the faculty that identifies and integrates the material provided by man's senses". Rand rejected all claims of non-perceptual knowledge, including "'instinct,' 'intuition,' 'revelation,' or any form of 'just knowing'". In her Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, Rand presented a theory of concept formation and rejected the analytic–synthetic dichotomy. She believed epistemology was a foundational branch of philosophy and considered the advocacy of reason to be the single most significant aspect of her philosophy.

Commentators, including Hazel Barnes, Nathaniel Branden, and Albert Ellis, have criticized Rand's focus on the importance of reason. Barnes and Ellis said Rand was too dismissive of emotion and failed to recognize its importance in human life. Branden said Rand's emphasis on reason led her to denigrate emotions and create unrealistic expectations of how consistently rational human beings should be.

Ethics and politics

In ethics, Rand argued for rational and ethical egoism (rational self-interest), as the guiding moral principle. She said the individual should "exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself". Rand referred to egoism as "the virtue of selfishness" in her book of that title. In it, she presented her solution to the is–ought problem by describing a meta-ethical theory that based morality in the needs of "man's survival qua man", which requires the use of a rational mind. She condemned ethical altruism as incompatible with the requirements of human life and happiness, and held the initiation of force was evil and irrational, writing in Atlas Shrugged that "Force and mind are opposites".

Rand's ethics and politics are the most criticized areas of her philosophy. Several authors, including Robert Nozick and William F. O'Neill in two of the earliest academic critiques of her ideas, said she failed in her attempt to solve the is–ought problem. Critics have called her definitions of egoism and altruism biased and inconsistent with normal usage. Critics from religious traditions oppose her atheism and her rejection of altruism.

Rand's political philosophy emphasized individual rights, including property rights. She considered laissez-faire capitalism the only moral social system because in her view it was the only system based on protecting those rights. Rand opposed collectivism and statism, which she considered to include many specific forms of government, such as communism, fascism, socialism, theocracy, and the welfare state. Her preferred form of government was a constitutional republic that is limited to the protection of individual rights. Although her political views are often classified as conservative or libertarian, Rand preferred the term "radical for capitalism". She worked with conservatives on political projects but disagreed with them over issues such as religion and ethics. Rand rejected anarchism as a naive theory based in subjectivism that would lead to collectivism in practice, and denounced libertarianism, which she associated with anarchism.

Several critics, including Nozick, have said her attempt to justify individual rights based on egoism fails. Others, like libertarian philosopher Michael Huemer, have gone further, saying that her support of egoism and her support of individual rights are inconsistent positions. Some critics, like Roy Childs, have said that her opposition to the initiation of force should lead to support of anarchism, rather than limited government.

Relationship to other philosophers

Marble statue of AristotlePainting of Immanuel KantRand claimed Aristotle (left) as her primary philosophical influence, and strongly criticized Immanuel Kant (right).

Except for Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and classical liberals, Rand was sharply critical of most philosophers and philosophical traditions known to her. Acknowledging Aristotle as her greatest influence, Rand remarked that in the history of philosophy she could only recommend "three A's"—Aristotle, Aquinas, and Ayn Rand. In a 1959 interview with Mike Wallace, when asked where her philosophy came from, she responded: Out of my own mind, with the sole acknowledgement of a debt to Aristotle, the only philosopher who ever influenced me.

In an article for the Claremont Review of Books, political scientist Charles Murray criticized Rand's claim that her only "philosophical debt" was to Aristotle. He asserted her ideas were derivative of previous thinkers such as John Locke and Friedrich Nietzsche. Rand took early inspiration from Nietzsche, and scholars have found indications of this in Rand's private journals. In 1928, she alluded to his idea of the "superman" in notes for an unwritten novel whose protagonist was inspired by the murderer William Edward Hickman. There are other indications of Nietzsche's influence in passages from the first edition of We the Living (which Rand later revised), and in her overall writing style. By the time she wrote The Fountainhead, Rand had turned against Nietzsche's ideas, and the extent of his influence on her even during her early years is disputed. Rand's views also may have been influenced by the promotion of egoism among the Russian nihilists, including Chernyshevsky and Dmitry Pisarev, although there is no direct evidence that she read them.

Rand considered Immanuel Kant her philosophical opposite and the most evil man in mankind's history; she believed his epistemology undermined reason and his ethics opposed self-interest. Philosophers George Walsh and Fred Seddon have argued she misinterpreted Kant and exaggerated their differences. She was also critical of Plato and viewed his differences with Aristotle on questions of metaphysics and epistemology as the primary conflict in the history of philosophy.

Rand's relationship with contemporary philosophers was mostly antagonistic. She was not an academic and did not participate in academic discourse. She was dismissive of critics and wrote about ideas she disagreed with in a polemical manner without in-depth analysis. Academic philosophers in turn viewed her negatively and dismissed her as an unimportant figure who should not be considered a philosopher or given any serious response.

Early academic reaction

During Rand's lifetime, her work received little attention from academic scholars. In 1967, John Hospers discussed Rand's ethical ideas in the second edition of his textbook, An Introduction to Philosophical Analysis. That same year, Hazel Barnes included a chapter critiquing Objectivism in her book An Existentialist Ethics. When the first full-length academic book about Rand's philosophy appeared in 1971, its author declared writing about Rand "a treacherous undertaking" that could lead to "guilt by association" for taking her seriously. A few articles about Rand's ideas appeared in academic journals before her death in 1982, many of them in The Personalist. One of these was "On the Randian Argument" by libertarian philosopher Robert Nozick, who criticized her meta-ethical arguments. In the same journal, other philosophers argued that Nozick misstated Rand's case. In an article responding to Nozick, Douglas Den Uyl and Douglas B. Rasmussen defended her positions, but described her style as literary, hyperbolic and emotional.

After her death, interest in Rand's ideas increased gradually. The Philosophic Thought of Ayn Rand, a 1984 collection of essays about Objectivism edited by Den Uyl and Rasmussen, was the first academic book about Rand's ideas published after her death. In one essay, political writer Jack Wheeler wrote that despite the incessant bombast and continuous venting of Randian rage, Rand's ethics are a most immense achievement, the study of which is vastly more fruitful than any other in contemporary thought. In 1987, the Ayn Rand Society was founded as an affiliate of the American Philosophical Association.

In a 1995 entry about Rand in Contemporary Women Philosophers, Jenny A. Heyl described a divergence in how different academic specialties viewed Rand. She said that Rand's philosophy is regularly omitted from academic philosophy. Yet, throughout literary academia, Ayn Rand is considered a philosopher. Writing in the 1998 edition of the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, political theorist Chandran Kukathas summarized the mainstream philosophical reception of her work in two parts. He said most commentators view her ethical argument as an unconvincing variant of Aristotle's ethics, and her political theory "is of little interest" because it is marred by an "ill-thought out and unsystematic" effort to reconcile her hostility to the state with her rejection of anarchism. The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies, a multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed academic journal devoted to the study of Rand and her ideas, was established in 1999.

21st-century academic reaction

In 2009, historian Jennifer Burns identified "an explosion of scholarship" about Rand since 2000, although as of that year, few universities included Rand or Objectivism as a philosophical specialty or research area. From 2002 to 2012, over 60 colleges and universities accepted grants from the charitable foundation of BB&T that required teaching Rand's ideas or works; in some cases, the grants were controversial or even rejected because of the requirement to teach about Rand.

In a 2010 essay for the Cato Institute, Huemer argued very few people find Rand's ideas convincing, especially her ethics. He attributed the attention she receives to her being a "compelling writer", especially as a novelist. In 2012, the Pennsylvania State University Press agreed to take over publication of The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies, and the University of Pittsburgh Press launched an "Ayn Rand Society Philosophical Studies" series based on the Society's proceedings. The Fall 2012 update to the entry about Rand in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy said that only a few professional philosophers have taken her work seriously. That same year, political scientist Alan Wolfe dismissed Rand as a "nonperson" among academics, an attitude that writer Ben Murnane later described as "the traditional academic view" of Rand. In a 2018 article for Aeon, philosopher Skye C. Cleary wrote: Philosophers love to hate Ayn Rand. It's trendy to scoff at any mention of her. However, Cleary said that because many people take Rand's ideas seriously, philosophers need to treat the Ayn Rand phenomenon seriously and provide refutations rather than ignoring her.

In 2020, media critic Eric Burns said, Rand is surely the most engaging philosopher of my lifetime, but nobody in the academe pays any attention to her, neither as an author nor a philosopher. That same year, the editor of a collection of critical essays about Rand said academics who disapproved of her ideas had long held a stubborn resolve to ignore or ridicule her work, but he believed more were engaging with her work in recent years.

Legacy

Popular interest

Dust jacket from Atlas Shrugged depicting railroad tracks
Atlas Shrugged has sold more than 10 million copies.

With over 37 million copies sold as of 2020, Rand's books continue to be read widely. A survey conducted for the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club in 1991 asked club members to name the most influential book in their lives. Rand's Atlas Shrugged was the second most popular choice, after the Bible. Although Rand's influence has been greatest in the United States, there has been international interest in her work.

Rand's contemporary admirers included fellow novelists, like Ira Levin, Kay Nolte Smith and L. Neil Smith; she has influenced later writers like Erika Holzer, Terry Goodkind, and comic book artist Steve Ditko. Rand provided a positive view of business and subsequently many business executives and entrepreneurs have admired and promoted her work. Businessmen such as John Allison of BB&T and Ed Snider of Comcast Spectacor have funded the promotion of Rand's ideas.

Television shows, movies, songs, and video games have referred to Rand and her works. Throughout her life she was the subject of many articles in popular magazines, as well as book-length critiques by authors such as the psychologist Albert Ellis and Trinity Foundation president John W. Robbins. Rand or characters based on her figure prominently in novels by American authors, including Kay Nolte Smith, Mary Gaitskill, Matt Ruff, and Tobias Wolff. Nick Gillespie, former editor-in-chief of Reason, remarked: Rand's is a tortured immortality, one in which she's as likely to be a punch line as a protagonist. Jibes at Rand as cold and inhuman run through the popular culture. Two movies have been made about Rand's life. A 1997 documentary film, Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The Passion of Ayn Rand, a 1999 television adaptation of the book of the same name, won several awards. Rand's image also appears on a 1999 U.S. postage stamp illustrated by artist Nick Gaetano.

Rand's works, most commonly Anthem or The Fountainhead, are sometimes assigned as secondary school reading. Since 2002, the Ayn Rand Institute has provided free copies of Rand's novels to teachers who promise to include the books in their curriculum. The Institute had distributed 4.5 million copies in the U.S. and Canada by the end of 2020. In 2017, Rand was added to the required reading list for the A Level Politics exam in the United Kingdom.

Political influence

Part of a series on
Capitalism
Concepts
Economic systems
Economic theories
Origins
Development
Intellectuals
Related topics
Ideologies
See also: Objectivism and libertarianism

Although she rejected the labels "conservative" and "libertarian", Rand has had a continuing influence on right-wing politics and libertarianism. Rand is often considered one of the three most important women (along with Rose Wilder Lane and Isabel Paterson) in the early development of modern American libertarianism. David Nolan, one founder of the Libertarian Party, said that without Ayn Rand, the libertarian movement would not exist. In his history of that movement, journalist Brian Doherty described her as "the most influential libertarian of the twentieth century to the public at large". Political scientist Andrew Koppelman called her "the most widely read libertarian". Historian Jennifer Burns referred to her as "the ultimate gateway drug to life on the right".

The political figures who cite Rand as an influence are usually conservatives (often members of the Republican Party), despite Rand taking some atypical positions for a conservative, like being pro-choice and an atheist. She faced intense opposition from William F. Buckley Jr. and other contributors to the conservative National Review magazine, which published numerous criticisms of her writings and ideas. Nevertheless, a 1987 article in The New York Times called her the Reagan administration's "novelist laureate". Republican congressmen and conservative pundits have acknowledged her influence on their lives and have recommended her novels. She has influenced some conservative politicians outside the U.S., such as Sajid Javid in the United Kingdom, Siv Jensen in Norway, and Ayelet Shaked in Israel.

Man holding a poster that says "I am John Galt"
A protester's sign at a 2009 Tea Party rally refers to John Galt, the hero of Rand's Atlas Shrugged.

The 2007–2008 financial crisis renewed interest in her works, especially Atlas Shrugged, which some saw as foreshadowing the crisis. Opinion articles compared real-world events with the novel's plot. Signs mentioning Rand and her fictional hero John Galt appeared at Tea Party protests. There was increased criticism of her ideas, especially from the political left. Critics blamed the Great Recession on her support of selfishness and free markets, particularly through her influence on Alan Greenspan. In 2015, Adam Weiner said that through Greenspan, "Rand had effectively chucked a ticking time bomb into the boiler room of the US economy". Lisa Duggan said that Rand's novels had "incalculable impact" in encouraging the spread of neoliberal political ideas. In 2021, Cass Sunstein said Rand's ideas could be seen in the tax and regulatory policies of the Trump administration, which he attributed to the "enduring influence" of Rand's fiction.

Objectivist movement

Photo of Leonard Peikoff
Rand's heir Leonard Peikoff co-founded the Ayn Rand Institute.
Main article: Objectivist movement

After the closure of the Nathaniel Branden Institute, the Objectivist movement continued in other forms. In the 1970s, Peikoff began delivering courses on Objectivism. In 1979, Peter Schwartz started a newsletter called The Intellectual Activist, which Rand endorsed. She also endorsed The Objectivist Forum, a bimonthly magazine founded by Objectivist philosopher Harry Binswanger, which ran from 1980 to 1987.

In 1985, Peikoff worked with businessman Ed Snider to establish the Ayn Rand Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting Rand's ideas and works. In 1990, after an ideological disagreement with Peikoff, David Kelley founded the Institute for Objectivist Studies, now known as The Atlas Society. In 2001, historian John P. McCaskey organized the Anthem Foundation for Objectivist Scholarship, which provides grants for scholarly work on Objectivism in academia.

Selected works

Main article: Bibliography of Ayn Rand and Objectivism

Fiction and drama:

Non-fiction:

Notes

  1. Rand's initial citizenship was in the Russian Empire and continued through the Russian Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, which became part of the Soviet Union.
  2. ^ Rand's husband, Charles Francis O'Connor (1897–1979), is not to be confused with the actor and director Frank O'Connor (1881–1959) or the writer whose pen name was Frank O'Connor.
  3. Russian: Алиса Зиновьевна Розенбаум, [ɐˈlʲisə zʲɪˈnovʲjɪvnə rəzʲɪnˈbaʊm]. Most sources transliterate her given name as either Alisa or Alissa.
  4. The city was renamed Petrograd from the Germanic Saint Petersburg in 1914 because Russia was at war with Germany. In 1924 it was renamed Leningrad. The name Saint Petersburg was restored in 1991.
  5. She may have taken Rand as her surname because it is graphically similar to a vowelless excerpt Рзнб of her birth surname Розенбаум in Cyrillic. Rand said Ayn was adapted from a Finnish name. Some biographical sources question this, suggesting it may come from a nickname based on the Hebrew word עין (ayin, meaning 'eye'). Letters from Rand's family do not use such a nickname.
  6. Rand's immigration papers anglicized her given name as Alice; her legal married name became Alice O'Connor, but she did not use that name publicly or with friends.
  7. It was later published in The Early Ayn Rand along with other screenplays, plays, and short stories that were not produced or published during her lifetime.
  8. In 1941, Paramount Pictures produced a movie loosely based on the play. Rand did not participate in the production and was highly critical of the result.
  9. In 1942, the novel was adapted without permission into a pair of Italian films, Noi vivi and Addio, Kira. After Rand's post-war legal claims over the piracy were settled, the films were re-edited with her approval and released as We the Living in 1986.
  10. Their friendship ended in 1948 after Paterson made what Rand considered rude comments to valued political allies.
  11. Although she was previously friendly with National Review editor William F. Buckley Jr., Rand cut off all contact with him after the review was published. Historian Jennifer Burns describes the review as a break between Buckley's religious conservatism and non-religious libertarianism.
  12. These include Twayne's United States Authors (Ayn Rand by James T. Baker), Twayne's Masterwork Studies (The Fountainhead: An American Novel by Den Uyl and Atlas Shrugged: Manifesto of the Mind by Gladstein), and Re-reading the Canon (Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand, edited by Gladstein and Sciabarra).
  13. This total includes 4.5 million copies purchased for free distribution to schools by the Ayn Rand Institute (ARI).

References

  1. Heller 2009, p. 65.
  2. Gladstein 1999, p. 121.
  3. ^ Badhwar & Long 2020.
  4. ^ Gladstein 1999, pp. 117–119.
  5. ^ Cocks 2020, p. 15.
  6. Heller 2009, p. xiii.
  7. Heller 2009, pp. 3–5.
  8. Heller 2009, p. 31.
  9. Heller 2009, p. 35.
  10. Heller 2009, p. 36.
  11. Ioffe 2022.
  12. Sciabarra 2013, pp. 86–87.
  13. ^ Burns 2009, p. 15.
  14. Sciabarra 2013, p. 72.
  15. Heller 2009, p. 47.
  16. Britting 2004, p. 24.
  17. Sciabarra 1999, p. 1.
  18. Heller 2009, pp. 49–50.
  19. Britting 2004, p. 33.
  20. Gladstein 1999, p. 9.
  21. Gladstein 2010, p. 7.
  22. Heller 2009, p. 55.
  23. Burns 2009, pp. 19, 301.
  24. Heller 2009, pp. 55–57.
  25. Milgram, Shoshana. "The Life of Ayn Rand: Writing, Reading, and Related Life Events". In Gotthelf & Salmieri 2016, p. 39.
  26. Burns 2009, pp. 18–19.
  27. ^ Heller 2009, p. 53.
  28. Hicks.
  29. Heller 2009, pp. 57–60.
  30. Britting 2004, pp. 34–36.
  31. Britting 2004, p. 39.
  32. Heller 2009, p. 71.
  33. Milgram, Shoshana. "The Life of Ayn Rand: Writing, Reading, and Related Life Events". In Gotthelf & Salmieri 2016, p. 24.
  34. Branden 1986, p. 72.
  35. Heller 2009, pp. 96–98.
  36. Britting 2004, pp. 43–44, 52.
  37. Popoff 2024, p. 119.
  38. Britting 2004, pp. 40, 42.
  39. Burns 2009, p. 22.
  40. Heller 2009, pp. 76, 92.
  41. Heller 2009, p. 78.
  42. Gladstein 2010, p. 87.
  43. Heller 2009, p. 82.
  44. Rand 1995, p. xviii.
  45. Gladstein 2010, p. 13.
  46. Ralston, Richard E. "Publishing We the Living". In Mayhew 2004, p. 141.
  47. Britting, Jeff. "Adapting We the Living". In Mayhew 2004, p. 164.
  48. Britting, Jeff. "Adapting We the Living". In Mayhew 2004, pp. 167–176.
  49. Ralston, Richard E. "Publishing We the Living". In Mayhew 2004, p. 143.
  50. Heller 2009, p. 98.
  51. Britting 2004, pp. 54–55.
  52. Burns 2009, p. 50.
  53. Heller 2009, p. 102.
  54. Gladstein 2010, pp. 24–25.
  55. Ralston, Richard E. "Publishing Anthem". In Mayhew 2005a, pp. 24–27.
  56. Britting 2004, p. 57.
  57. Burns 2009, p. 114.
  58. Heller 2009, p. 249.
  59. Burns 2009, pp. 75–78.
  60. Burns 2009, pp. 130–131.
  61. Heller 2009, pp. 214–215.
  62. Britting 2004, pp. 61–78.
  63. Britting 2004, pp. 58–61.
  64. Burns 2009, p. 85.
  65. Burns 2009, p. 89.
  66. ^ Burns 2009, p. 178.
  67. Heller 2009, pp. 304–305.
  68. Doherty 2007, p. 149.
  69. Britting 2004, pp. 68–71.
  70. Burns 2009, pp. 100–101, 123.
  71. Mayhew 2005b, pp. 91–93, 188–189.
  72. Burns 2009, p. 125.
  73. Mayhew 2005b, p. 83.
  74. Britting 2004, p. 71.
  75. Ralston, Richard E. "Publishing Anthem". In Mayhew 2005a, p. 26.
  76. Burns 2009, p. 91.
  77. Heller 2009, pp. 240–243.
  78. Heller 2009, pp. 256–259.
  79. Burns 2009, p. 157.
  80. Sciabarra 2013, p. 106.
  81. Mayhew 2005b, p. 78.
  82. Salmieri, Gregory. "Atlas Shrugged on the Role of the Mind in Man's Existence". In Mayhew 2009, p. 248.
  83. Gladstein 1999, p. 54.
  84. Stolyarov II, G. "The Role and Essence of John Galt's Speech in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged". In Younkins 2007, p. 99.
  85. ^ Burns 2009, p. 2.
  86. Heller 2009, pp. 303–306.
  87. Younkins 2007, p. 1.
  88. Heller 2009, p. 321.
  89. Heller 2009, p. 303.
  90. Doherty 2007, pp. 237–238.
  91. Heller 2009, p. 329.
  92. ^ Burns 2009, p. 235.
  93. Gladstein 2010, pp. 105–106.
  94. Burns 2009, pp. 232–233.
  95. Burns 2009, pp. 236–237.
  96. Doherty 2007, p. 235.
  97. Branden 1986, pp. 315–316.
  98. Gladstein 1999, p. 14.
  99. Gladstein 1999, p. 16.
  100. Heller 2009, pp. 320–321.
  101. Burns 2009, pp. 228–229, 265.
  102. Heller 2009, p. 352.
  103. Brühwiler 2021, p. 202 n114.
  104. ^ Burns 2009, p. 266.
  105. Thompson, Stephen. "Topographies of Liberal Thought: Rand and Arendt and Race". In Cocks 2020, p. 237.
  106. Heller 2009, pp. 362, 519.
  107. Burns 2009, pp. 204–206.
  108. Heller 2009, pp. 322–323.
  109. Heller 2009, p. 405.
  110. Heller 2009, p. 360–361.
  111. Britting 2004, p. 101.
  112. Heller 2009, pp. 374–375.
  113. Heller 2009, pp. 378–379.
  114. ^ Burns 2009, p. 276.
  115. Heller 2009, pp. 398–400.
  116. https://biography.wikireading.ru/hj9OluXAZo
  117. Heller 2009, pp. 391–393.
  118. McConnell 2010, pp. 520–521.
  119. Weiss 2012, p. 62.
  120. Branden 1986, pp. 392–395.
  121. Heller 2009, p. 406.
  122. Heller 2009, p. 410.
  123. Gladstein 2010, p. 20.
  124. Heller 2009, p. 400.
  125. Burns 2009, p. 179.
  126. Britting, Jeff. "Adapting The Fountainhead to Film". In Mayhew 2006, p. 96.
  127. Gladstein 1999, p. 26.
  128. Gladstein 1999, p. 27.
  129. Baker 1987, pp. 99–105.
  130. Torres & Kamhi 2000, p. 64.
  131. Heller 2009, p. 64.
  132. Duggan 2019, p. 44.
  133. Wilt, Judith. "The Romances of Ayn Rand". In Gladstein & Sciabarra 1999, pp. 183–184.
  134. Britting 2004, pp. 17, 22.
  135. Torres & Kamhi 2000, p. 59.
  136. Heller 2009, pp. 32–33.
  137. Grigorovskaya 2018, pp. 315–325.
  138. Kizilov 2021, p. 106.
  139. Weiner 2020, pp. 6–7.
  140. Johnson 2000, pp. 47–67.
  141. Rosenthal 2004, pp. 220–223.
  142. Kizilov 2021, p. 109.
  143. Rosenthal 2004, pp. 200–206.
  144. Gladstein, Mimi Reisel. "Ayn Rand's Cinematic Eye". In Younkins 2007, pp. 109–111.
  145. Branden 1986, pp. 122–124.
  146. Berliner, Michael S. "Reviews of We the Living". In Mayhew 2004, pp. 147–151.
  147. Berliner, Michael S. "Reviews of Anthem". In Mayhew 2005a, pp. 55–60.
  148. ^ Berliner, Michael S. "The Fountainhead Reviews". In Mayhew 2006, pp. 77–82.
  149. Pruette 1943, p. BR7.
  150. Heller 2009, p. 152.
  151. ^ Berliner, Michael S. "The Atlas Shrugged Reviews". In Mayhew 2009, pp. 133–137.
  152. Burns 2009, p. 174.
  153. Doherty 2007, p. 659 n4.
  154. Chambers 1957, p. 596.
  155. Heller 2009, pp. 285–286.
  156. Burns 2009, p. 175.
  157. ^ Gladstein 1999, p. 119.
  158. Hook 1961, p. 28.
  159. Vidal 1962, p. 234.
  160. Burns 2009, pp. 193–194.
  161. Gladstein 2003, pp. 373–374, 379–381.
  162. Gladstein 2003, p. 375.
  163. Gladstein 2003, pp. 384–391.
  164. Sciabarra 2003, p. 43.
  165. Gladstein 2003, pp. 382–389.
  166. Lewis 2001.
  167. Duggan 2019, p. 4.
  168. Rand 1992, pp. 1170–1171.
  169. Gladstein & Sciabarra 1999, p. 2.
  170. Den Uyl, Douglas J. & Rasmussen, Douglas B. "Ayn Rand's Realism". In Den Uyl & Rasmussen 1986, pp. 3–20.
  171. Rheins, Jason G. "Objectivist Metaphysics: The Primacy of Existence". In Gotthelf & Salmieri 2016, p. 260.
  172. Torres & Kamhi 2000, p. 26.
  173. Sciabarra 2013, pp. 191–192.
  174. Gotthelf 2000, p. 93.
  175. Gotthelf 2000, p. 54.
  176. Salmieri, Gregory. "The Objectivist Epistemology". In Gotthelf & Salmieri 2016, p. 283.
  177. Sciabarra 2013, p. 403 n20.
  178. Salmieri & Gotthelf 2005, p. 1997.
  179. Gladstein 1999, pp. 85–86.
  180. Salmieri, Gregory. "The Objectivist Epistemology". In Gotthelf & Salmieri 2016, pp. 271–272.
  181. Sciabarra 2013, pp. 173–176.
  182. Wright, Darryl. "'A Human Society': Rand's Social Philosophy". In Gotthelf & Salmieri 2016, p. 163.
  183. ^ Kukathas 1998, p. 55.
  184. Gotthelf 2000, p. 91.
  185. Sciabarra 2013, p. 252.
  186. Den Uyl & Rasmussen 1986, p. 165.
  187. Gladstein 1999, pp. 100, 115.
  188. ^ Sciabarra 2013, p. 224.
  189. Sciabarra 2013, p. 220.
  190. Baker 1987, pp. 140–142.
  191. Gotthelf 2000, pp. 91–92.
  192. Lewis, John David & Salmieri, Gregory. "A Philosopher on Her Times: Ayn Rand's Political and Cultural Commentary". In Gotthelf & Salmieri 2016, p. 353.
  193. Ghate, Onkar. "'A Free Mind and a Free Market Are Corollaries': Rand's Philosophical Perspective on Capitalism". In Gotthelf & Salmieri 2016, p. 233.
  194. Peikoff 1991, pp. 367–368.
  195. Burns 2009, pp. 174–177, 209, 230–231.
  196. Doherty 2007, pp. 189–190.
  197. Sciabarra 2013, pp. 261–262.
  198. Sciabarra 2013, pp. 248–249.
  199. Burns 2009, pp. 268–269.
  200. Miller, Fred D., Jr. & Mossoff, Adam. "Ayn Rand's Theory of Rights: An Exposition and Response to Critics". In Salmieri & Mayhew 2019, pp. 135–142
  201. Miller, Fred D., Jr. & Mossoff, Adam. "Ayn Rand's Theory of Rights: An Exposition and Response to Critics". In Salmieri & Mayhew 2019, pp. 146–148
  202. Sciabarra 2013, p. 260, 442 n33.
  203. Gladstein 1999, p. 116.
  204. Sciabarra 2013, p. 111.
  205. O'Neill 1977, pp. 18–20.
  206. ^ Sciabarra 2013, p. 11.
  207. Podritske & Schwartz 2009, pp. 174–175.
  208. Murray 2010.
  209. Burns 2009, pp. 16, 22.
  210. Sciabarra 2013, pp. 94–99.
  211. Burns 2009, pp. 24–25.
  212. Loiret-Prunet, Valerie. "Ayn Rand and Feminist Synthesis: Rereading We the Living". In Gladstein & Sciabarra 1999, p. 97.
  213. Sheaffer, Robert. "Rereading Rand on Gender in the Light of Paglia". In Gladstein & Sciabarra 1999, p. 313.
  214. Heller 2009, p. 42.
  215. Burns 2009, pp. 41, 68.
  216. Burns 2009, pp. 303–304.
  217. Weinacht 2021, pp. 31–32.
  218. Offord 2022, p. 40.
  219. Weinacht 2021, pp. 12–13.
  220. Offord 2022, pp. 38–39.
  221. Rand 1971, p. 4.
  222. Salmieri, Gregory. "An Introduction to the Study of Ayn Rand". In Gotthelf & Salmieri 2016, p. 14.
  223. Hill 2001, p. 195.
  224. Register 2004, p. 155.
  225. Lennox, James G. "'Who Sets the Tone for a Culture?' Ayn Rand's Approach to the History of Philosophy". In Gotthelf & Salmieri 2016, p. 325.
  226. Machan 2000, p. 121.
  227. ^ Brühwiler 2021, pp. 24–26.
  228. Machan 2000, p. 147.
  229. Brühwiler 2021, p. 27.
  230. ^ Cleary 2018.
  231. Sciabarra 2013, pp. 1–2.
  232. Burns 2009, pp. 188, 325.
  233. O'Neill 1977, p. 3.
  234. ^ Gladstein 1999, p. 115.
  235. Den Uyl & Rasmussen 1978, p. 203.
  236. Gladstein 2010, pp. 114–122.
  237. Salmieri & Gotthelf 2005, p. 1995.
  238. ^ Gladstein 1999, p. 101.
  239. Wheeler, Jack. "Rand and Aristotle". In Den Uyl & Rasmussen 1986, p. 96.
  240. Gotthelf 2000, pp. 2, 25.
  241. Heyl 1995, p. 223.
  242. Sciabarra 2012, p. 184.
  243. Burns 2009, pp. 295–296.
  244. Gladstein 2010, p. 116.
  245. Flaherty 2015.
  246. Gladstein 2010, pp. 116–117.
  247. Huemer 2010.
  248. Sciabarra 2012, p. 183.
  249. Seddon 2014, p. 75.
  250. Murnane 2018, p. 3.
  251. Burns 2020, p. 261.
  252. Burns 2020, p. 259.
  253. Cocks 2020, p. 11.
  254. ^ Offord 2022, p. 12.
  255. ^ "Ayn Rand Institute Annual Report 2020". Ayn Rand Institute. December 20, 2020. p. 17 – via Issuu.
  256. ^ Doherty 2007, p. 11.
  257. Gladstein 2003, pp. 384–386.
  258. Murnane 2018, pp. 2–3.
  259. Riggenbach 2004, pp. 91–144.
  260. Sciabarra 2004, pp. 8–11.
  261. Burns 2009, pp. 168–171.
  262. Burns 2009, p. 298.
  263. Heller 2009, p. 412.
  264. Sciabarra 2004, pp. 4–5.
  265. Burns 2009, p. 282.
  266. Gladstein 1999, p. 110–111.
  267. Gladstein 1999, p. 98.
  268. Sciabarra 2004, p. 3.
  269. Brühwiler 2021, pp. 15–22.
  270. Chadwick & Gillespie 2005, at 1:55.
  271. Gladstein 1999, p. 128.
  272. Gladstein 2010, p. 122.
  273. Wozniak 2001, p. 380.
  274. Salmieri, Gregory. "An Introduction to the Study of Ayn Rand". In Gotthelf & Salmieri 2016, p. 4.
  275. Duffy 2012.
  276. Wang 2017.
  277. Burns 2009, p. 258.
  278. Weiss 2012, p. 55.
  279. ^ Burns 2009, p. 4.
  280. Gladstein 2010, pp. 107–108, 124.
  281. Burns 2015, p. 746.
  282. Brühwiler 2021, p. 88.
  283. Branden 1986, p. 414.
  284. Koppelman 2022, p. 17.
  285. ^ Doherty 2009, p. 54.
  286. Weiss 2012, p. 155.
  287. Burns 2004, pp. 139, 243.
  288. Burns 2009, p. 279.
  289. Heller 2009, p. xii.
  290. Brühwiler 2021, p. 184.
  291. ^ Burns 2009, p. 283.
  292. Brühwiler 2021, pp. 174–184.
  293. Rudoren 2015.
  294. Burns 2009, pp. 283–284.
  295. Doherty 2009, pp. 51–52.
  296. Gladstein 2010, p. 125.
  297. Duggan 2019, p. xiv.
  298. Brühwiler 2021, p. 146.
  299. Weiner 2020, p. 2.
  300. Duggan 2019, p. xiii.
  301. Sunstein 2021, pp. 145–146.
  302. Burns 2009, p. 249.
  303. Sciabarra 2013, p. 402 n5.
  304. Gladstein 1999, p. 79.
  305. Burns 2009, pp. 280–281.
  306. Gladstein 2010, pp. 19, 114.
  307. Gladstein 2010, p. 117.

Works cited

Further reading

External links

Ayn Rand
Bibliography
Novels
Nonfiction books
Collected essays
Screenplays
Stage plays
Other writings
Characters
Adaptations
Screen
Stage
Philosophy
Influence
Depictions
Links to related articles
Aesthetics
Areas
Schools
Philosophers
Concepts
Works
Related
Libertarianism
Origins
Schools
Libertarian capitalism
(Right-libertarianism)
Libertarian socialism
(Left-libertarianism)
Concepts
Philosophers
Left-wing
Right-wing
Other
Politicians
Issues
Works
Related
Political philosophy
Terms
Government
Ideologies
Concepts
Philosophers
Antiquity
Middle Ages
Early modern
period
18th and 19th
centuries
20th and 21st
centuries
Works
Related
Portals: Categories: