Misplaced Pages

Talk: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 18:25, 3 April 2006 editAlienus (talk | contribs)7,662 edits Criticism section only two paragraphs long?: neutral← Previous edit Latest revision as of 18:27, 9 December 2024 edit undoRL0919 (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Administrators75,590 edits Rand was a philosopher: re 
Line 1: Line 1:
{{facfailed}} {{Skip to talk}}
{{Talk header}}
{{FAOL|Hebrew|he:איין ראנד}}
{{controversial}}
]: October 2002 to August 2004<br>
{{User:HBC Archive Indexerbot/OptIn
]: August 2004 to June 2005<br>
]: July 2005 to February 2006<br> |target=Talk:Ayn Rand/Archive index
]: February 2006 to March 2006 |mask=Talk:Ayn Rand/Archive <#>
|leading_zeros=0 |indexhere=yes
}}
{{Article history
|action1=FAC
|action1date=20 March 2006
|action1link=Misplaced Pages:Featured article candidates/Ayn Rand/Archive 1
|action1result=failed
|action1oldid=44470343


|action2=PR
== 3 Categories suggested ==
|action2date=7 April 2006
|action2link=Misplaced Pages:Peer review/Ayn Rand/archive1
|action2oldid=47456924


|action3=GAN
I ''suggest'' that what we need is a third category related to LGBT rights: something like "LGBT Rights (Friend and Foe)". (Al, you're the wordsmith; feel welcome to do better on any of this.)
|action3date=14 April 2006
|action3result=listed
|action3oldid=48378752


|action4=FAC
All 3 cats would include the same message, like the following:
|action4date=2 May 2006
|action4link=Misplaced Pages:Featured article candidates/Ayn Rand/archive1
|action4result=failed
|action4oldid=51171418


|action5=GAR
"Members of support the aims of the --] 14:41, 10 March 2006 (UTC)
|action5date=4 June 2006
|action5result=delisted
|action5oldid=56836494


|action6=GAN
Members of may support some of the GRM aims, and may oppose others.--] 14:41, 10 March 2006 (UTC)
|action6date=15 September 2009
|action6link=Talk:Ayn Rand/GA1
|action6result=listed
|action6oldid=314185675


|action7=PR
Members of oppose equal rights for LGBTs, and may oppose any LGBT rights at all."--] 14:41, 10 March 2006 (UTC)
|action7date=17:17, 20 April 2010
|action7link=Misplaced Pages:Peer review/Ayn Rand/archive2
|action7result=reviewed
|action7oldid=356630835


|action8=WPR
My intent is that all AR/O/Lib articles be removed from the two categories and added to the new kid.--] 14:41, 10 March 2006 (UTC)
|action8date=20:15, 6 September 2021
|action8result=copyedited
|action8oldid=1042794215


|action9=PR
If we can agree on wording (& the basic idea! :-), I'll volunteer to do the actual editing. Let's wait at least a week to collect comments, OK? (Signed in multiple places for easy interpolation.)--] 14:41, 10 March 2006 (UTC)
|action9date=11 April 2022
|action9link=Misplaced Pages:Peer review/Ayn Rand/archive3
|action9result=reviewed
|action9oldid=1080913721


|action10 = FAC
:I'm not sure what the benefit is to creating a third category for the mixed cases.
|action10date = 2023-02-27
:In particular, I can see how doing so might interfere with searches by giving us false negatives. Consider the use case where someone reading PFLAG's article might want to see what other organizations support gay rights. Here, we ''want'' the Outright Libertarians to show up, because they really do support some aspects of gay rights, but they won't under your scheme.
|action10link = Misplaced Pages:Featured article candidates/Ayn Rand/archive2
:What do you think? ] 17:37, 10 March 2006 (UTC)
|action10result = failed
|action10oldid = 1140671680


|currentstatus=FFAC/GA
My principal motive is to produce a consensus that is accepted freely rather than grudgingly. 3C may do that because:
|topic=Language and literature
#It is more precise, a desirable attribute in an encyclopedia;
|otd1date=2017-03-06|otd1oldid=768969940
#It eliminates a false dichotomy, and the natual rancor which results from shoving square pegs into round holes. I suggest that some of that "us or them" false attitude has spilled over into the work on the article. There is plenty of middle ground here; we have acknowledged that ''implicitly'' by the dual listing. Let's do it ''explicitly'' by creating a middle category.
|otd2date=2022-03-06|otd2oldid=1075304479
|otd3date=2023-03-06|otd3oldid=1143245258
}}
{{Annual readership|days=180}}
{{WikiProject banner shell|collapsed=yes|class=GA|vital=yes|living=no|listas=Rand, Ayn|1=
{{WikiProject Biography|a&e-priority=High|a&e-work-group=yes|politician-work-group=yes|politician-priority=high}}
{{WikiProject Atheism|importance=mid}}
{{WikiProject Conservatism|importance=mid}}
{{WikiProject Objectivism|importance=Top}}
{{WikiProject Philosophy|importance=Mid|aesthetics=yes|philosopher=yes|metaphysics=yes|social=yes|ethics=yes|contemporary=yes}}
{{WikiProject Politics|importance=mid|American=yes|American-importance=high|libertarianism=yes |libertarianism-importance=high}}
{{WikiProject Russia|importance=high}}
{{WikiProject Theatre|importance=low}}
{{WikiProject Women's History|importance=low}}
{{WikiProject Women writers|importance=top}}
}}
{{External peer review|small=yes|org=London Review of Books |url=https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v31/n10/david-runciman/like-boiling-a-frog |comment="...Reads as though it has been worked over far too much, and like any form of writing that is overcooked it alienates the reader by appearing to be closed off in its own private world of obsession and anxiety." |date=20 May 2009}}
{{User:MiszaBot/config
|archiveheader = {{talk archive navigation}}
|maxarchivesize = 100K
|counter = 51
|minthreadsleft = 5
|algo = old(30d)
|archive = Talk:Ayn Rand/Archive %(counter)d
}}


== Notable mentions sorely missing ==
As to searches, I'm not sure what method of searching you're thinking of. Going to any of the Category pages should show that tripartite message as above, with links to the other two Cats.--] 10:53, 13 March 2006 (UTC)


Article nneeds to catch up with popculture. Nothing about Obama, or for that matter the responses he received after his disparaging comments. Nothing about the highly unusual for Argentina politician Milei, although he is of course not an Objectivist. Etc. ] (]) 22:14, 29 November 2023 (UTC)
:I still don't see how this gets over the problem of unnecessarily excluding articles from categories they have a significant fit for.
:Let me give you an analogy. Imagine that Fred Phelps had a change of heart, got in touch with his inner homosexual and decided that gay men should have all the rights of straight men, but still thought lesbians go to hell. He would clearly be a gay rights advocate, but just as clearly in opposition to gay rights. If we put him into a special, third category, how is anyone ever going to find him when searching under either of these two categories? ] 04:36, 14 March 2006 (UTC)


:Obama commented about Rand briefly in 2012, people responded, and >99.999% of the population has not thought twice about it since that week. That isn't a matter of "catching up"; it is something that wasn't important then and definitely isn't now.
This is possibly a technical question (newbie here, remember): how does one search a category without going to the Cat page? Then, is is reasonable to assume that the searcher will read the page, before looking at the links? If so, then the tripartite message will broaden the search as desired.--] 11:10, 15 March 2006 (UTC)


:As for Milei, he may be more relevant since we do call out examples of politicians that she has influenced, and he could be the most important of those if the influence is firmly established. Can you point out some reliable secondary sources that establish a meaningful connection? The news articles I've seen say that he claims to have spoken with her ghost, which is not the usual sort of influence we have documented here. --] (]) 00:53, 30 November 2023 (UTC)
:I'm afraid I don't understand what you're getting at. If Rand is excluded from the gay rights activists list, nobody looking at other gay rights activists will even think to search for her in a third category. People mostly search a category by clicking on it from an article that lists the category at the bottom of the page. Could you explain? ] 18:11, 15 March 2006 (UTC)


== Influence == == Rand was a philosopher ==


The expression "public philosopher" will not be recognized by most people and is useless to readers. Also, it is a preposterous and basically meaningless expression. No one is called a "private philosopher", so why describe someone as a "public philosopher"? Calling Rand a philosopher is good enough. ] (]) 08:38, 3 December 2023 (UTC)
What does "influenced" mean in the "Legacy" section? A musician is said to have been influenced in that apprently, he wrote some lyrics that referred to Rand in some way; well, maybe (though it's pretty weak) &mdash; but how were the tennis players influenced, for example? I realise that we're talking about a sort of secular cult rather than about a philosopher, so perhaps that's the explanation; no article on a genuine philosopher has to find her influence in politicians, rock musicians, and sportspeople, none of whom is noted for depth or acuteness of thought. --] (]) 10:10, 13 March 2006 (UTC)
:The term is linked to an article that explains what it means to anyone who is unfamiliar. Rand did what that article describes, and she is mentioned in it as an example. Contrary to your comments here and in edit summaries, the term ''public philosopher'' is not "meaningless" or the "opposite" of ''philosopher'' – ''public'' is simply a modifier to indicate a specific mode of engagement with philosophy. --] (]) 22:00, 3 December 2023 (UTC)
:: I'm doubtful of PP, as opposed to P. Can you point to other examples? For example, I see ''] (born 14 May 1965) is professor of ] at Oregon State University. Her teaching and research specialties focus on ]...'' so here we have someone called a P, even though her research focusses on PP. PP sounds very much like not-as-good-as-a-proper-p ] (]) 09:15, 4 December 2023 (UTC)
:::A "public philosopher" is just a type of "philosopher" so in theory anyone who is the former could simply be called the latter in a lead, or both. ] is "public philosopher" as part of his initial description. ] is "philosopher" in the initial sentence, then "public philosopher" later in the lead. ] is "philosopher" in the lead and "public philosopher" in the body. In none of these cases does there appear to be any disparagement intended. There are modifiers for ''philosopher'' that would be widely considered disparaging, such as ''amateur'', that have come up in the past. But I don't see how ''public'' is in that category.


:::Anyhow, the modifier was added following a ] that is still above on this talk page. You are welcome to read through that for more background. I don't mind if the lead doesn't have any modifier for ''philosopher'', and I don't mind if it does have one as long as that modifier is accurate, neutral, and supported by a decent amount of sources. As I said to ] previously, I thought it was "OK to try out an alternative and see what the reaction is". If the reaction is negative, then we can return to the status quo ante and/or discuss it more. --] (]) 21:36, 4 December 2023 (UTC)
:::Mel, I was smoking some weed and listening to Rush, and man, those lyrics are deep and thoughtful. I stuck a sugar cube with LSD on my tongue and suddently ''Atlas Shrugged'' made perfect sense. The more stoned I got, the more philosophical Rand became! Next week, I'm going to get lobotomy and become a Randist for life. ] 04:28, 14 March 2006 (UTC)
::::The term "public philosopher" is useless and stupid. We are told in the article ], that "Public philosophy is a subfield of philosophy that involves engagement with the public". The definition is hopelessly vague and it does not improve the article at all to add that kind of vague language. The article also says that, public philosophy involves "doing philosophy with general audience", which is nonsense. When Rand wrote her novels and her books she wasn't "doing philosophy" with a "general audience"; she was expounding her own ideas. ] (]) 04:32, 5 December 2023 (UTC)
:::::The fact that this has been repeatedly disputed suggests to me that we should stick with just the perfectly neutral "writer". I would not object to "writer and public intellectual".
:::::Have you reviewed ]?
:::::Cheers, ] (]) 01:36, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
::::::The dispute raised in this section is about the modifier that was added in , not about the use of the term ''philosopher''. As I already quoted myself earlier regarding the addition of a modifier, we tried "an alternative see what the reaction is". This is that reaction. Not a shock to me, since I've seen this topic discussed multiple times in the past. There are literally dozens of reliable sources that refer to her as a philosopher, with or without some modifier, so there is not a good case to deny that core term. But the options for modifiers vary, so there is much more room to dispute any specific modifier. --] (]) 04:49, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
:::::::I think that someone familiar with Rand would realize that she would have completely rejected the term "public philosopher". ] (]) 07:32, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
:Hi @],
:The problem with "philosopher", as I see it, is a consequence of the highly polarized views the she inspires. I don't doubt @] for a second when they promise they could produce many quality sources calling her a philosopher. And usually this would be all we need.
:In this case, however, many other quality sources take issue with this descriptor. Some folks consider her to be just about the only person you need to read. Other folks, however, including many working in philosophy departments on research topically overlapping with her own do not consider the quality of her writing to merit mention or engagement—to the point some would consider a suggestion to the contrary disqualifying.
:For example, from the article:
:<blockquote>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. She was in turn viewed very negatively by many academic philosophers, who dismissed her as an unimportant figure who should not be considered a philosopher or given any serious response.</blockquote>
:Since, as is the case, her status as a philosopher is heavily contested by many people who incontestably are philosophers, it should not be stated as a fact in the first sentence of the lead. That is a violation of ].
:What is the objection to "public intellectual"? It is neutral and also captures a wider range of her activities. As a second choice, I would also be fine with "non-academic philosopher", suggested above by RL0919.
:Cheers, ] (]) 15:41, 6 December 2023 (UTC)


::"In this case, however, many other quality sources take issue with this descriptor." But this is not true. In actual (Misplaced Pages-reliable) ''sources'', the numbers are lopsided: many sources that call her a philosopher, and a vastly smaller number that deny it. We hear from secondary sources about what an unspecified number of mostly unidentified academics (who may or may not be "incontestably" philosophers – that is your own spin, not from any source at all) believe: there are people who ''think'' she wasn't a philosopher, and presumably make some mention of this in conversation or other informal ways that made secondary source authors aware of their existence. But these people apparently aren't bothering to put their rejection of the label into reliable source content that we can use in an article. Far from "heavily contest" the matter, these people – however many of them there may be, we don't know – have passively conceded the field of discussion about her within reliable sources. If that results in their viewpoints having less weight in this article, then that is their own fault. --] (]) 16:27, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
:*influenced
:::Hi @]
:**The musicians referenced chose to use ''Anthem'' as a title. This could have many antecedents, but the one they meant was Ayn Rand's novel.
:::If professional philosophers do not engage with her, that would seem to me to be a natural consequence of her disregard for them. It is crucial to philosophy that practitioners subject their claims to the scrutiny of their peers. All the way back in ancient Greece, Socrates practiced philosophy in the agora, Plato wrote dialogues, Aristotle began his lectures with the consideration of what has been handed down from the wise.
:**Championship tennis (or any highly-successful career) requires intense dedication and hard work. These qualities are celebrated in her fiction, and exhibited in her life; hence, she would be a source of inspiration.
:::The modern university system, for all of its many faults, institutionalizes and promotes this kind of sometimes oppositional collaboration.
:*philosopher
:::If you publish with non-academic presses and mostly just respond to questions from your fans, you're not practicing philosophy. You are propounding or evangelizing or something of that kind.
:**What criteria do you propose for "genuine philosopher"? She wrote about fundamental matters of metaphysics, episthemology, and ethics, in a systematic (system-building) fashion. She considered herself a philosopher, and left a movement (Objectivism) still going strong. (You might wish to consider the discussion in the "Controversy" section, regarding popular ''vs.'' academic venues.)
:::Academics, cultural critics, and (in some cases) journalists actually really love it when someone takes a clear, strong position, as Rand does, and resolutely defends it in response to criticism. For instance, look at the professional success of ]! Nearly everyone thought he was wrong on almost all of his core positions, but he was widely cited and even well-liked—because he expressed himself with great clarity and responded with care to criticisms of his work.
:**The category of "people noted for depth or acuteness of thought" is unfortunately rather sparce. (Whom would you nominate?) The number of people in that category and also in the "notable" (thus citable) category is even sparcer. Perhaps, being thinkers, they are wise enough to avoid being "notable", except in narrow, professional circles.--] 23:15, 13 March 2006 (UTC)
:::Rand, for her own reasons, declined to participate in this kind of knowledge-building, quality-assurance process. She opted out. So scholars interested in these topics instead write about, e.g., ] or ].
:::It is possible that she, like Nietzsche, will be elevated posthumously. Maybe this has already happened. Some of the sources listed in the bibliography are obviously legit academic work. I do not see, however, how her own output makes her a philosopher. Although I'm not at all willing to make a research project out of compiling sources rejecting the designation, there definitely are high-quality sources, e.g., ] begins with a discussion to justify her inclusion and includes lines such as,
:::<blockquote>Some who do read her work point out that her arguments too often do not support her conclusions. This estimate is shared even by many who find her conclusions and her criticisms of contemporary culture, morality, and politics original and insightful. It is not surprising, then, that she is either mentioned in passing, or not mentioned at all, in the entries that discuss current philosophical thought about virtue ethics, egoism, rights, libertarianism, or markets.</blockquote>
:::Finally, just as an aside, did you mean to imply in your parenthetical that people who have PhDs in philosophy, have published peer-reviewed work in philosophy, and are employed by accredited institutions of post-secondary education to teach philosophers are not incontestably philosophers? (I am not saying these are necessary criteria that could disqualify Rand or anyone else, just that they are sufficient.) Some of these folk are shoddy philosophers, to be sure, if that is what you mean. But if you mean something different, would you mind saying a little more about what you understand the term to mean? It might help to facilitate our discussion about the article.
:::Cheers, ] (]) 18:04, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
Ayn Rand was a ], not any sort of modified philosopher and the mainstream does not support "philosopher" in any meaningful form.]] 18:54, 6 December 2023 (UTC)


::::{{Re|PatrickJWelsh}} I am not going to argue about your personal view of who qualifies as a "philosopher" and I am not propounding my own. The beliefs of Misplaced Pages editors about who ''should'' be called a philosopher is not supposed to guide our decisions about article content (although you might have trouble reconciling that with much of what people say on these talk pages, cf some of the other participants so far). What I am saying is that when, e.g., writes that, "Many propose that not a philosopher at all", this statement tells us that such people exist in some number, but not specifically who they are or even how many. She also doesn't say that the "philosopher" status of this "many" is ''incontestable''. That is your own term reflecting your own view, not something stated in any source that I have seen. – therefore, as I said just a few sentences back, not something that should guide article content and not something I'm going to directly engage with here. (FWIW, Cleary indicates that her own view is that Rand is a philosopher, "just not a very good one".) Claudia Brühwiler, who argues a case ''against'' Rand being a philosopher, ironically highlights the asymmetry in other sources: In her discussion, she names dozen figures who credited Rand with being a philosopher. She names two who denied it. And it is the overall ecosystem of sources that we (should) care most about in deciding what labels to use in our article. --] (]) 20:30, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
:One rough and ready approach would be to look at one of the various books about notable philosophers; ones that I've used for articles include:
:::::I asked you the wrong question. Instead: what does Rand think a philosopher is? Does she give a direct definition anywhere? Or is there a scholarly source that reconstructs one from her writings?
:*] ''A Companion to the Philosophers'' (2001: Oxford, Blackwell) ISBN 0-631-22967-1
:::::This would be a welcome addition to the article. Because I politely take issue with your characterization of my previous post as just "personal opinion". It's a high-level description of a 2,500 year history of the term designating a person committed to a loosely defined set of truth-seeking practices into which Rand does not seem to comfortably fit.
:*] ''One Hundred Philosophers'' (2004: New York, Barron's) ISBN 0-7641-2791-8
:::::We need a definition stronger than just having more-or-less considered views about the world, how one ought to act, what the government should be doing, et cetera (and also, in many cases, being more than happy to propound these views at length to anyone who will listen). Because that would make just about everyone a philosopher, rendering the term nearly meaningless as a description of anyone.
:There are many more. See which of the modern philosophers have been influenced by Rand. There are probably similar books on political and economic writers (I have one or two of the former, but they don't reach recently enough), and you could do the same with those. (Tip to save time: I don't think that you'll find anything useful &mdash; I've checked the two I mention. That's probably why the article cites rock musicians, tennis players, and B-film actors turned politicians.)
:::::Perhaps something about her commitment to a systematic procedure?
:That a musician refers to a book in the title of a song is pretty feeble as a citation of influence. What you say about the tennis players has nothing to do with her as a philosopher, and could be said of any number of writers, of whatever significance and worth, not to mention cults and self-help fads.
:::::Cheers, ] (]) 22:10, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
:I don't hold the existence of the "Objectivist" movement against her; for all I know she'd have had the same opinion of it as I do. It's hardly an indication of being a genuine philosopher, though. My view of her wavers between thinking of her as a genuine but tenth-rate philosopher and thinking of her as a dabbler in philosophy who knew enough to make non-philosophers who liked her views able to think of her as a genuine philosopher. --] (]) 10:40, 14 March 2006 (UTC)


::::::Rand was very concerned with the importance of ''philosophy'' – personally, socially, and historically – but not so much with ''philosophers'', except in their functional role of generating philosophical ideas. I can't recall her defining any qualifications or other gatekeeping for who was or could be a philosopher, as long as they were producing relevant ideas. If you just accept existing ideas, however well-considered, I don't think she would call you a philosopher. People who re-transmit the ideas of others were "intellectuals" – hence the title of her first nonfiction book was '']'' because it was her giving her ideas to those she hoped would circulate them. However, while this could be interesting for the article if secondary sources can be found – the preceding was my own summary from primary sources – I don't think it speaks to the matter we were discussing. We don't generally give subjects – especially ones long dead – determinative control over their own descriptions. She would be appalled to see us revealing her legal name (thoroughly hidden during her lifetime) or describing her as an important influence on libertarianism (a movement she denounced). But sources tell us these things. If sources tell us she was a philosopher, then we can call her that regardless of whether she would have – although she did in fact use the term for herself. --] (]) 23:55, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
::Mel, Rand's influence on Rush extended past the titles and deep into the lyrics. For a concrete example, check out the words to "Antham" ; straight-up Objectivism. A quick google reveals articles like one, too. So the issue isn't whether she's significantly influenced people who are notable in irrelevant contexts; she clearly has.
:::::::@], all right. If you ever do come across a good source on either her stated conception of her own activity as a philosopher or a scholarly reconstruction of some more specific sense in which she is well-described by the term, I would consider adding this to the article. Something along these lines would probably have assuaged my concerns at least well enough have dropped the matter fairly early in our first exchange.
::The issue that remains is whether it's worth mentioning these people in a context normally reserved for philosophers, economists, and so on. If we're sticking to the ARI party line that Objectivism is a comprehensive school of philosophy, then I don't think we can justify mentioning people like Peart. However, if we're considering Objectivism as a social movement (or even a cult) that was initially engineered by her buddy Nat, then any social influence is relevant, even if it's of musicians and atheletes. In short, I see the decision as depending on how we treat the focus of the article. We need to find a consensus about whether it's about Rand as a philosopher or Rand as a generic public figure. Any suggestions? ] 17:43, 14 March 2006 (UTC)
:::::::(As it stands, this still feels uncomfortably close to calling someone who has no academic training a "psychologist" on the basis of a sequence of best-selling self-help books and television appearances.)
:::::::But I will relent to the sources you've amassed and drop the issue.
:::::::Thank you for your patience with this exchange and for your consistent civility.
:::::::Cheers, ] (]) 00:30, 7 December 2023 (UTC)
:::::::@] Hello! Would it be worth suggesting that maybe the problem is defining Ayn Rand in the article as a philosopher under "occupation"? To an extent, I believe that both you and @] are correct in your points about her. Ayn Rand is publicly considered to be a philosopher by many, but this doesn't necessarily equate to what is considered being a philosopher by occupation, as Patrick points out. The common belief of what constitutes being a philosopher by occupation usually includes a college degree in philosophy of some kind (again said by Patrick), which Ayn Rand is not in possession of. She is a philosopher (individually, but not occupationally) whom communicates her ''philosophical ideas'' through what is actually her occupation, which would be her authorship. So, saying that Ayn Rand isn't a philosopher at all is something that I would argue to be incorrect. Saying that Ayn Rand is an occupational philosopher is something that I would argue to be incorrect as well. I hope that makes sense. ] (]) 03:34, 9 December 2024 (UTC)
:::::::: That's actually a pretty good point. I don't think the problem with philosopher-as-occupation is so much about the credentials; it's the fact that, whether you consider her to be a "real" philosopher or not, it's not what she got ''paid'' for. Except in the secondary sense that people bought her books, which is covered by "author". --] (]) 04:07, 9 December 2024 (UTC)
::::::::Hello, ]. The only place "occupation" is mentioned is in the infobox, so I assume you are talking about that. No, the discussion from last year had nothing to do with occupation, because at that time the ''Occupation'' field said "writer"; "philosopher" was added in a couple of months later. I do not particularly care whether her occupation is listed in the infobox as writer, author, philosopher, some mix of these, or not at all. Ideally this would be based on what sources say, but that can be hard because sources about people's lives are more apt to just say "X was a Y" rather than saying "Y was the occupation/profession of X". --] (]) 18:26, 9 December 2024 (UTC)


== Does a better profile photo exist? ==
Damn, TJ killed my buzz. Anyhow, if Rand is a philosopher then we should list her influences on philosophers, not plumbers or actors, no matter how famous they are. Since she wrote about politics and economics, those might also be fields where it would be reasonable to list her as an influence. However, if she's a cult leader, then anything goes. You decide. ] 04:32, 14 March 2006 (UTC)


She is barely recognizable in the current one. I've seen plenty more recent photos where she smiles, is dressed differently and the shadows obscure less. It looks like a different person. But I suppose we need one that is free to use for our purposes here.] (]) 22:51, 10 December 2023 (UTC)
::I see this discussion continues on in the billions of forums which even touch on the question of Ayn Rand's status as a philosopher. Just let me make one thing excruciatingly clear to all of you Randroids out there: '''Ayn Rand DOES NOT EXIST in Europe'''!! She is completely ignored among both the so-called ''Continental'' philosophers and the ''analytics'' (whose number and influence is actually very substantial and growing, contrary to the popular misrepresentation of European philosophy fostered by anti-scientific American humanities departments). Now, if she is completely unknown even in Europe, she certainly can't be considered very important by the inhabitants of the rest of the planet (Asia, Africa, etc..) I don't know how things are in the Uk and so on, but it seems to me that, even the tiny amount of influence that she does have, is limited to the United States alone. As Mel Etitis and others, including myself, have pointed out, you will very rarely find this person mentioned in peer-reviewed professional journals of '''American''' philosphy, or cited by major '''American''' philosophers of the twentieth century as one of their significant influences, or discussed in any fundamental courses or fundamental textbooks on ethics, epistemology, etc.. Considering all of these facts, I thinks it's extremely difficult to consider this person a ''significant'' philosopher worthy of any consideration. As a cult leader, on the other hand, I think she should be taken very seriously. Objectivism reminds me quite a bit of Scientiology and Rand is as much a philosopher as L. Ron Hubbard is a psychologist because he wrote about ''engrams'' and other psychological phenomena and considered himself to be a scientist.--] 12:16, 14 March 2006 (UTC)
:Yes, we are required to include only "free use" images when such are available. The one we are using is a professional publicity shot used to promote one of her books, which is in the ] due to quirks of US copyright law. --] (]) 00:32, 11 December 2023 (UTC)


== Sentence correction edit rejected by WP bot ==
:::You're not wrong to say that Rand is isolated from the academic philosophical mainstream (even in America) and that she is far more popular in America than anywhere else. There are certainly concerted attempts by the ARI to overcome this, but it remains the case at this time. In fact, my first exposure to Rand was in an old survey-of-philosophy text, written during Rand's heyday and used for entry level college courses, which gave her all of one page. Most of it was a summary of her views, ending with a brief dismissal.


"Her villains support duty and collectivist moral ideals."
:::The hardest thing here is that Rand's popularity and esteem is largely confined to non-philosophers. There are all too many people whose grasp of philosophy is entirely constrained to what they learned from Rand, leaving them in a position relative to regular philosophers that is parallel to the relation between theologians and philosophers of religion. Such Rand specialists can, for example, explain the beliefs of Kant, but only from the rather limited (and some say erroneous) perspective held by Rand.
:::Classifying Rand is really hard, especially if you want to be fair instead of dismissing her outright. I even read one non-Randian Rand scholar who says she should be understood as an extension of Continental philosophy in the Russian mold, which would mean that an evaluation of her status as a philosopher must use somewhat different criteria. In the end, it's a bit like that old comedy in which a substance is described as being both a dessert topping ''and'' a floor wax. ] 17:43, 14 March 2006 (UTC)


This sentence as published is clearly incorrect and highly misleading.
::::Well, my first encounter with the "phenomenon" of Rand was in several reverential passages from a book by her ex-apostle and heir designate ]. I was in my first year of music school and had no idea of philosophy or anything else outside of the world of art at that time. I picked up the book in a used bookstore in the self-help pseudo-psychology section, along with Dianetics and all the other fads and nonsense that artists try to find inspiration in. Years later, I went back to the University to study Computer Science with a minor in philosophy. Not a word was mentioned about Rand in any of the serious departments of my university that wasn't sarcastic or satirical, of course. As I garudally learned more and more about mathematics, science, logic and philosophy, I picked up a copy of ''Atlas Shrugged'' and ''The Fountainhead'' and immediately realized that she was a fraud. Period. When I moved to Italy, I switched to the major in philosophy and have concentrated on philosophy of language, philosophy of science, histroy of science, etc.. The more I learn and the broader my horizons of knowledge and exprience become, the more likely it is that I will pick up something like ''Anthem'', read through about 5 pages and start laughing out loud. That's all there is to it!! I simply cannot understand a different reaction to such....lordure.--] 18:16, 14 March 2006 (UTC)


Based on personal knowledge of Ayn Rand's novels and philosophy it is clear that this sentence should be edited as follows:
To be frank, your reaction is quite typical among those who encounter her in an academic setting. But let me contrast it with another case, which is also quite typical, in its own way. A friend's son read ''Atlas Shrugged'' while a bitter and unhappy teenager, and immediately found it appealing. By the time he was out of high school, he'd read everything else by Rand that he could get a hold of.


"Her villains support duty and *reject* collectivist moral ideals."
Now, the guy's quite bright and a very good student, but knows absolutely nothing of philosophy outside of what he's learned from Rand's fiction and non-fiction. In fact, he's convinced that there is nothing worthwhile in the field of philosophy outside of Rand's fiction and non-fiction, and can only evaluate ideas with regard to how well they match up to Rand's. Regardless of the merit of Rand's ideas, I find it tragic that some people are misled into limiting themselves this way.


Please correct the record. ] (]) 12:12, 30 March 2024 (UTC)
His devotion is in every sense religious, and I've never bothered to make a serious attempt to shake his faith. However, even though he used to be a pretty good kid, he's done some rather nasty things that he's convinced are moral under Objectivism, so I've found it necessary to keep my distance from him, and have given up on my friendship with his parents.


:The bot reverted your edit because you inserted it with commentary rather than just making the change. But even if properly formatted, the change you are asking for is wrong. I'm not sure if you are misreading the sentence in the article, or if you have profoundly misunderstood Rand's views. Rand herself was opposed to collectivism, so her villains typically support collectivist morality, which is what the sentence says. Her villains definitely are not portrayed as ''rejecting'' collectivism. --] (]) 17:12, 30 March 2024 (UTC)
Does all this make me an evil collectivist Rand-basher? Apparently. After all, if I don't support Rand, I must oppose her; there can be no middle ground. Or at least that's what he told me.
::I came back to state that I was in error. My apologies. ] (]) 21:51, 1 April 2024 (UTC)


== Was Ayn Rand a Soviet Spy? ==
Now, I realize that there are plenty of people who, however much they support Rand, are not like this guy who I knew. However, I've never seen such rabid and clueless support for any other philosopher, except perhaps Nietzche.


I find it suspicious that hat she was granted a visa to visit relatives in the United States. Visas to go to America and other free countries were almost never granted to Soviet citizens unless they enjoyed a position of great trust in the Communist party. In the looking-glass world of espionage, people are often the exact opposite of what they appear to be in public. ] (]) 19:51, 1 May 2024 (UTC)
The reason I got involved with this page was not to bash Rand or to rescue young Randroids. Rather, I saw that some editors were willing to hide simple facts on the basis that were not entirely flattering towards Rand. As a result, I've gone through quite a bit of nonsense, including one ban. Fortunately, I'm a stubborn asshole, so I'm still here. ] 20:03, 14 March 2006 (UTC)


:If there are ] to support this theory, please provide details about where they are. If not, relevant information can be found ] and ]. --] (]) 01:22, 2 May 2024 (UTC)
:*Philosopher - ], mentioned above by Mel, lists Rand as a philosopher, albeit with disparaging comments.
:*Influence on (and with) philosophers - Rand took a very dim view of most modern philosophers and their work. It is hardly surprising if they return the sentiment.
:*Cult - despite the oxymoron of "a cult of reason", this charge continues to be mentioned (see King). The reaction of new admirers tends to be an explosive "YES!", as she validates their own sense of life. This sometimes leads to admittedly cult-like behavior, but that is a problem of philosophical integration, easily correctable. ] has a long essay on the "exclusivity" issue, referenced in the ] article. It is interesting to compare that with King's essay on Tolerance (ref at his bio). I wonder why King never introduced the concept of "rights", which could have clarified his difficulties with "respect".--] 11:55, 15 March 2006 (UTC)


== Opposition to ethical hedonism ==
1) I'm not sure why you're arguing that Rand is a philosopher. She wasn't an academic philosopher, certainly, and there have been criticisms about just how good a philosopher she was, but that doesn't change anything. Plato didn't have a college degree in philosophy, yet he somehow counts.


Ayn Rand opposed ], this should be specified in the lead.
2) Yeah, she's not very influencial in academic circles. I won't comment on why.


Source: http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/hedonism.html ] (]) 19:48, 8 August 2024 (UTC)
3) What matters for inclusion into Misplaced Pages is verifiability, not truth. It may or may not be true that Objectivism (or some part of it, or for some people) is a cult. Regardless, there are a number of verifiable books and essays that credibly accuse it of being a cult, so I don't see why we should exclude it from the category.

Categories, in particular, are more about allowing people to find articles than about being completely accurate. For example, many people think Nixon was impeached, even though he resigned before it could officially happen. Therefore, it's not a bad idea to include him in the same list that contains the 62 people (including Clinton) who were actually impeached.
] 18:07, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

:I don't follow TJ's comments about King's Web page; King's book was used to indicate that Rand had had no influence of philosophers, not that she wasn't a philosopher (that was ''my'' comment, and I was equivocal about it). --] (]) 22:02, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

I've done some plumbing, so I guess that makes me a plumber. Doesn't mean I'm a ''good'' plumber, though. ] 23:18, 19 March 2006 (UTC)

== Recent removal of Gay Rights Activism cat ==

I have removed the "Gay Rights Activists" category from Any Rand. Believing homosexuality should be decriminalized does NOT equate being a supporter of Gay rights.

<blockquote>"Rand's one explicit statement about homosexuality, however, came in 1971 after a public lecture in Boston. She made it clear that her philosophy of personal rights and limited government required that homosexuality be decriminalized, an enlightened view for the time, but then went on to say, “It involves psychological flaws, corruptions, errors, or unfortunate premises .... Therefore I regard it as immoral ... And more than that, if you want my really sincere opinion. It's disgusting.”"</blockquote>

Being even 20% for and 80% against stills puts her on the "opponent" side.

Plus, having "activist" and "opponent" on the same page is confusing and redundant. Anyone who cares can easily find out what Rands's views were. 14 MAR 06

:I'm familiar with her views on homosexuality, and you're right that there was a substiantial proportion that can be seen as both negative and in opposition to the conventional gay rights movement. However, she also supported gay marriage and, to the best of her understanding, full equality under the law. This puts her in much the same position that non-Objectivist libertarians find themselves in; both supporting and opposing, but not being neutral.

:In this way, using both categories does make sense. Moreover, it's the reasonable compromise that we've agreed to after much fighting over whether to remove one or both of these categories. Therefore, I'm going to revert your change unless the consensus changes. ] 21:49, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

The key lies in what rights are. A right is a moral claim to freedom of action, where freedom is the antonym of coercion. Ayn Rand did not think much of the use of recreational-drugs-other-than-alcohol in moral terms, yet stood in opposition to laws throwing hippies in jail for getting high. To observers, and especially to someone rotting in jail for victimless activities, this means she was in effect an advocate of stoner rights (by double negation). If released based on her views, I doubt anyone so coerced would return to jail because Ayn Rand did not also deem them paragons of moral virtue. By the exact same argument she was an advocate of gay rights in that she stood in opposition to the laws against "sodomy" (and gomorrarhy) that are used by organized mysticism and its agents to coerce gays. If the LP (which she in effect designed) ever gets more than 5% of the vote and those laws are all repealed, I am willing to bet money that no more than one gay individual will insist on staying in jail awaiting her "moral" approval as well. Q.E.D. The issue, where rights are concerned, is always a question of freedom versus coercion. ] 20:29, 26 March 2006 (UTC)

I'm with translator on this. Grudging acceptance of rights based on far broader principles does not constitute "activism" one way or the other. Other people in that category have participated in marches, advocated special legislation, written explicitly on the topic, etc. I assume no one would wish to put J.K. Galbraith in the "capitalist activists" category, if there were one, on the basis of ''his'' grudging acceptance of a broadly market-directed system. --] 03:15, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

:Activist has clear connotations of deep moral commitment and outspoken promotion of a certain cause: Gloria Steinem is an activist for women's rights, Jesse Jackson is an activist for the rights of African-Americans to equal opportunity, etc.. Cindy Sheehan is an anti-war (or anti-Iraq war) acitivist. People who blow up abortions clinics are activists. Protestors, hunger-strikers, peopl who organize sit-ins, etc.. are "activists" who engage in extremely open, public activities to support a cause. Writers can also be activists, but it has to be a constant and throughgoing theme in their writing: Susan Sontag, for example. Ayn Rand was certainly a ''capitalist" acitivist, but I do thing it has been even close to demonstarted that she was a gay rights ''activist''. Ask the question: How prominent a theme was it in her writings? How much was she willing to ''give'' for this cause? not much? Then it should be removed obviously. It's an insult to REAL activists. Also, the contradition is ridiculous: it doesnìt provide information. It confuses the hell out of people!!--] 07:24, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

You don't need to try to convince me that Ayn Rand did not, on the whole, support gay rights or act as an activist in that cause. That category is there as a compromise. She only grudgingly supported certain gay rights, and even then, it was more as an attack on the sovereignty of the state than for its own sake. If anythimg, it's clear that she harbored no shortage of negative views about homosexuality. If I had my way, we'd leave the category that correctly labels her as notable for her opposition to gay rights, and dump the claim that she was a pro-gay rights activist.

It's not up to me, however. Misplaced Pages is, in the end, run by amateur admins who tend to be incompetent, biased, and worse. These admins, in their infinite wisdom, have left us in this stalemate. To remove the activism category would cause the immediate removal, of the opposition category. I'd rever this, which would launch LaszloWaltrus and his Randist partisans into another edit war. The last time this happened, the article was Protected for days. Do we really want to reopen this can of worms? ] 07:32, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

==Proposed Objectivism WikiProject==
For those who may be interested, I am proposing a formal WikiProject to co-ordinate work on Objectivism-related articles here on Misplaced Pages. I have written a little about what I hope the project would achieve on my ]. Interested users should "sign" their usernames ]. WikiProject guidelines suggest that at least 5 and ideally at least 10 users express an interest in a proposed project before a formal project page is set up. --Matthew Humphreys 14:41, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

== Explanation of removed categories ==

*Category:Atheist thinkers and activists - for people involved in atheist atvicism, not activists who happen to be atheist
*Category:Epistemologists - epistemologist not her primary subject
*Category:LGBT rights activists, Category:LGBT rights opposition - contradictory, confusing, not a major aspect of her work
*Category:Political writers - political philosopher or political writeR? pick one.
*Category:Polyglots - how many languages does she know? 6 or less is not enough for this category
*Category:Pro-choice celebrities - not a celebrity, nor doe sshe primarily focus on pro-choice
*Category:Social philosophy - not her primary area.

-- ]''']''' 23:57, 21 March 2006 (UTC)


What's with the reinsertion of the contradictory LGBT cats? Am I missing something? -- ]''']''' 00:11, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

:(Edit conflict)
:The apparently contradictory LGBT categories are the result of a compromise after a rather long and ugly fight, so I'm not quick to remove them. For some idea of what's going on, look at ] as well as ]. Once you've read those, please talk to me and I'll fill you in on all the details you never wanted to know and were afraid to ask. ] 00:14, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

Whatever arguments made about Ayn Rand being pro or anti LGBT, they are redundant. The article has way too many categories attached to them already - Ayn Rand is not primarily any-opinion towards LGBT, so both cats should be deleted as extraneous. -- ]''']''' 00:18, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

:Have you had a chance to read the two articles I linked to? ] 00:51, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

Deleted another one:
*Category:Anti-Vietnam War - "vietnam" doesn't even appear in the rest of the article; so Ayn Rand is in no way notable as being anti-vietnam war.

-- ]''']''' 00:19, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

Deleted another one:
*Category:American dramatists and playwrights - ''"She continued to write short stories and screenplays and wrote sporadically in her diary"'' does not make her a playwright. Did she publish any plays, at all, during her lifetime?

-- ]''']''' 00:22, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

Justification for these categories:
*Category:Atheist thinkers and activists - she argued contstantly for freedom from religion and against such prohibitions as South Africa's anti-atheism laws (see "Ayn Rand Answers)
*Category:Epistemologists Yes, actually epistemology was her primary interest. In any case, she wrote an entire book on it, ].
*Category:LGBT rights activists, Category:LGBT rights opposition - contradictory, confusing, not a major aspect of her work - I agree with you here, although these categorizations are the result of long edit wars (see the archived talk). I don't want to get into it again.
*Category:Political writers - Rand wrote both on abstract political philosphy (in books like ] and ]) and on current political events, like the Vietnam War, Nixon's presidency, abortion laws, etc.
*Category:Polyglots - the definition of "polyglot" is speaking several languages; Rand spoke four (Russian, English, French, German)
*Category:Pro-choice celebrities - she was certainly a celebrity in her day, as a popular novelist and screenwriter; she wrote several articles defending abortion rights
*Category:Social philosophy - Social philosophy was (to a large extent) the subjects of ] and ]. It was also the subject of her book "The New Left: the Anti-Industrial Revolution."
*Category:Anti-Vietnam War - Rand was clearly against the Vietnam War; see her article "The Lessons of Vietnam"
*Category:American dramatists and playwrights - Rand had two plays produced, "The Unconquered," which was unsuccessful, and ] (produced as "Woman on Trial"), which was quite successful. In addition, two other plays of hers, "Ideal" and "Think Twice" were published posthumously. ] 02:22, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

----

LaszloWalrus, you are missing the point. She may have done some of those things, but those things were not her primary area. Adding her to every category you can think of is spam, and really not useful to the reader. When someone wants to find anti-vietnam war people, they usually want someone who is well known for it and an expert or primary authority in the field.

*Category:Atheist thinkers and activists - I can't find the word "atheist" in this article; I can find the word "religion" only once, explaining her opinion.
*Category:Epistemologists - She created her own branch of epistemology. Many philosophers are interested in epistemology but we would not call them epistemologists because that is not what they focus on.
*Category:LGBT rights activists, Category:LGBT rights opposition - Please consider deleting both. Adding categories in just for the sake of it is completely pointless. It's superficial
*Category:Political writers - Like I said, "political philosopher" or "political writer", pick one.
*Category:Polyglots - She is not known primarily for her language speaking skills. Many people can speak four languages, but they aren't in the category, because it is NOT their primary area.
*Category:Pro-choice celebrities - Again, I can't find the word "abortion" in the main article, which means she is not notable as a pro-choicer.
*Category:Social philosophy - No, she focuses on the individual, not societal relations.
*Category:Anti-Vietnam War - I can't find the word "vietnam" in the main article, which means she is not notable as an anti-vietman war person-thingy.
*Category:American dramatists and playwrights - OK, so she produced one play. Is that important enough to warrant inclusion? Does one play make her a "playwright"?

Remember, categories are for people who are notable FOR that category - not to just dump someone in there because they did some things for it. -- ]''']''' 16:36, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

:I don't want to get up in all of these categories, so I'll stick to the ones I've been most involved in. Some time ago, an anonymous user added the LGBT rights opposition category to the article, and it was immediately removed without further comment. This intrigued me so I did further research, both in terms of reading articles and talking to Objectivists. It turns out that Rand's very public statements about homosexuality are something she is well known for in the Objectivist community, to the point where it has offended some and excited others.
:If I had my way, I'd say she fits in quite soundly under the opposition category, but there's also a lesser case for considering her a supporter, as well. After a long, bloody fight, we compromised by including both categories. The bottom line is that, however people classify it, Rand's position on gay rights is something she's quite notable for.
:Let me just put it this way: if LaszloWalrus and I both agree on something, it's an event worth noting. We both agree, however reluctantly, to include both categories, and I think you should join us in this. There are bigger fish to fry. ] 20:50, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

== Trimming the "Further Reading" section ==

Per the recommendation from FrancisTyers at the article's ], I've removed two less-important items from the ]: the books by Tucille (it's not all, or even mostly, about Rand; it's a general history of the libertarian movement during the '60s-'70s) and Hamel (who?). Perhaps the books on her fiction should be moved elsewhere as well. --] 03:55, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

== BDSM ==

A recent edit removed the uncontroversial fact that Rand endorsed BDSM in her work and is a minor celebrity in the BDSM community. Unfortunately, this article did not have sufficient citations and quotes to justify the mention of the fact (largely due to a historical coincidence; the page was Protected during a crucial period). I've moved some of the BDSM-related content from ] into ] to fix this. Hopefully, it'll be enough to stand on its own without repeating too much of the fork that it references. ] 19:49, 24 March 2006 (UTC)
:That's a step in the right direction. I had removed the one reference because it was one dominatrix's website that listed "The Fountainhead" in her suggested reading list. If the refs you added back support her "minor celebrity" status in the BDSM community, then so be it. A is A, right? ] 19:58, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

Indeed; she said what she said, and we just have to accept the fact of it, regardless of how it makes us feel.
:It's hard to balance the need for the main artile to stand on its own with the need to avoid duplication and keep that main article short. My rule of thumb is that it's ok to abridge heavily just so long as what remains isn't misleading. In fact, I'm going to be adding two changes to the homosexuality section of article for this reason. ] 20:17, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

Just want to briefly list and explain the changes I made, to avoid any misunderstandings.

1) I added a short comment about how Rand did support some of the goals of the feminist movement, while opposing the movement itself. For example, she was pro-choice and opposed any legislation that discriminated against women. This is much like her opposition to the gay rights movement despite supporting same-sex marriage and opposing discriminatory legislation.

2) The sole quote in response to her view of homosexuality shows one POV, but by no means the predominant or most significant one. Yes, many Objectivists (and fellow travelers) have made excuses for her homophobia, saying it was just par for the course in those days, but others have held her responsible for her words, often quite viciously. Follow the citation or, especially, check out the ] article for examples.

3) I broke up a large paragraph and got rid of a phrase that made it sound like Rand only supported discrimination against gays during hiring. In fact, she also supported discrimination in terms of who a business does business with, whether buying, selling or renting. She supported all discrimination by anyone against anyone, just so long as it was not by the government. ] 21:06, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

Alienus, this reference is the website of one woman, who lists dozens of books about bondage and other subjects, and includes "The Fountainhead" in a section about Literature that also lists works by a number of prominent authors. I'm not disputing that there seems to be some affinity for Rand in the BDSM community, but this link is just one person's personal website. To substantiate this point would require a more systematic reviewing of the BDSM community or a reference to a study of the same. I think the other reference you have provided here is also pretty weak (one person's blog-like one sentence mention of Rand). The book review we have also referenced that describes the sexual imagery in terms of its violence etc. is more supportive of this point, IMO. ] 22:11, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

== By any other name. ==

There's a frequently-deleted line about how Rand and Branden were both born with different, more ethnic names, which they changed. The line also contrasts this with Rand's statements about not giving in to societal pressures. Since fans of Rand find this disturbing, they tend to erase this text a lot. I'm one of the people who keeps restoring it, though.

Recently, it was deleted again, this time by ], whose comment said "see talk". Well, I'm here, but I don't see any hint that this stuff was discussed previously. Perhaps 24 was planning to insert some text here and I'm just being hasty.

While I think I understand the motivation of people deleting this text, I don't understand their justification. It is demonstrably true that Rand both said these things and changed her name. Now, it may be that some change can be made to the text that preserves its valid content but makes it more neutral. If so, I'd be happy to consider such proposals. As it stands, though, I see no reason not to restore the text in its original form. ] 23:41, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

:Well, it's been a while and I still don't see anything here. I think it's reasonable to go ahead and revert, since no explanation has been given thus far. If 24 comes back at some point and wants to remove that text again, I'd appreciate it if they discussed that change here in advance, just to avoid a lot of wear and tear on the main article. ] 01:12, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

Sorry, apparently my post didn't go through on the talk, and I forgot to log in. I think it's reasonable either to 1) delete that text or 2) offer an explanation. Rand discussed her reason for changing her name, and it had nothing to do with societal pressure. She changed her name to protect her family still living in the Soviet Union from reprisals; she also saw it as a way to break with her past and start a new life in the US. She did not consider this an act of bowing to "societal pressure," as she stated that "morality ends where a gun begins" and that "one doesn't stop the juggernaut by throwing oneself in front of it." I don't know why Branden changed his name from Blumenthal; if there's a citation that he did it in deference to "societal pressure," than it belongs. Until then, I'm deleting it. ] 01:43, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

I've recategorized Rand as an "atheist thinker and activist." In almost every book she wrote (including her novels) she upholds atheism; in the introduction to Isabel Patterson's "The God of the Machine," Stephen Cox even calls her a "crusading atheist." As far as Anti-Vietnam War goes, see "The Voice of Reason," "Ayn Rand Answers" and look here . Categorization is not just for people who were "primarily" adovates of these things; they're for anyone who fits the category. To draw a parallel, ] is not "primarily" a cancer survivor or a pro-choice celebrity; he is primarily a cyclist. Nevertheless, it is completely reasonable to include him in all three categories. ] 01:58, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

::Good christ!! (sorry for the pun) do not remove Rand from the category of prominent Atheists or atheist philosophers, activists (whatever). It is the ONLY thing I agree with her on and respect her for!! She was quite outspoken and courageous in maintaining this position despite the onslaught of conservative critics such as William F. Buckley and friends. She's an important member of the category.--] 12:24, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

:If those things are not notable enough to be put into the article, they shouldn't be put as a category (I am talking about anti-vietnam war, and pro-choice). She may have criticised religion, but what did she actually do for it? This article is in about 40 categories - way too many. Also, wtf? Jewish? I thought she was an atheist?? How she was brought up as a Jew is irrelevant - she is certainly not part of Jewish American history. -- ]''']''' 10:34, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

::I thought "Jewish" was generally considered at least in part to be an ethnic category. At least, to me, to say that someone is Jewish does not imply any particular religious beliefs on their part. ] 11:44, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

:I'd have thought Russian was the ethnic category. Jewish used to mean one race, which shared the same religion, thousands of years ago, but you can't apply that today. -- ]''']''' 12:01, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

::Erm no. Russian is a nationality, whereas Jewishness has always been considered a partly ethnic notion. I agree it's difficult to come up with a coherent concept of race or ethnicity, but the fact is that many people who consider themselves Jewish do not believe in the Jewish religion. ] 12:10, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

:Russian is also an ethnic race. Is Ayn Rand is more ethnically Russian, or Jewish? -- ]''']''' 12:14, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

::It doesn't matter, she can go in both categories. ] 12:46, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

:That's spam. I don't think she considered herself Jewish, but American. Include her either in American, Russian or Jewish categories, but not all or two. -- ]''']''' 12:49, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

::Why not all? I don't think self-identification is a condition for categorisation on Misplaced Pages. And what's your basis for saying that she didn't consider herself Jewish? Did she ever deny being Jewish, or say that she considered the term inappropriate? ] 13:28, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

:Did she explicitly call herself Jewish, as opposed to American? There is already about 40 categories on the page, and most of them are repetitive (eg. American philosophers, Philosophers). Putting another (American writers, Jewish writers) etc, is spam. Is she primarily known as Jewish, or is she primarily known as American? -- ]''']''' 13:36, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

While it well be true that Rand was ethnically (though not religiously) Jewish, I don't think it's something she was particularly known for. In my experience, Objectivists are quick to identify her as a Russian courageous enough to renounce the evils of Soviet Communism, even though she considered herself fully American. And of course they identify her as an atheist.

There seem to be a number of (ethnic) Jews at the core of the Objectivist movement, but few, if any, are notable for their Jewishness. Partly it's because some of the first wave of Objectivists changed their last names, but mostly it's because Objectivism rejects Judaism and doesn't seem to have much patience with Jewish culture, either. Once you call altruism a sin and praise selfishness, you pretty much cut your ties with polite society.

In short, I think that categorizing her as an atheist is really important, while mentioning that she was Russian is only somewhat important. Her Jewishness seems to be particularly unimportant and irrelevant. That's my take on this. ] 15:53, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

I agree with Alienus to an extent; she was outspoken in her hatred of Tzarist and Communist culture in Russia; her "Jewishness," on the other hand, was totally meaningless to her. I read almost of all her works, and, until I found out her original name, I had no idea she was ethnically Jewish. I really don't see the point of categorizing people based on irrelevent ethnic characteristics, particularly when those characteristics had no meaning for them. Why does she keep getting deleted from the "atheists" category? She was quite noted for it, and it was one of the main reasons she rejected conservatism. I'm restoring the "atheists" category. ] 05:44, 26 March 2006 (UTC)

I take the point that her Jewishness is probably not notable enough to be worth categorising. (But I guess this all depends on what the criteria are for putting someone in a category -- do they just have to be a member of that category or notable for being a member of it?). ] 10:47, 26 March 2006 (UTC)

:I've come here in response to a request. The key in deciding whether or not Rand was a Jew is not how we define Jews, but what ] say on the matter. '']'' describes her as "". The historian , describes her as a "". According to the Jewish Virtual Library, "", and the Objectivism Reference Center says "" All in all, based on Misplaced Pages policy, I think you'd have to classify her as a Jew. ]<sup><small><font color="DarkGreen">]</font></small></sup> 20:58, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

With all due respect, the issue isn't whether she's Jewish or even considered Jewish; it's whether adding her to Jewish categories is helpful. As much as she may factually be ethnically Jewish, she did not see herself as Jewish and is not generally considered in light of her ethnic Judaism. If the purpose of the category is to alert people to writers (or whatever) who happen to be in some way Jewish, then perhaps adding her to some of these categories may be acceptable. But if the purpose is to help people find "characteristically" Jewish writers who write "Jewish things", however that's defined, then her addition could only be misleading. ] 21:05, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

:The category doesn't differentiate between ethnic Jews and "practicising" Jews. ] is in there, as is ], ], and dozens of other atheist Jews who had nothing particularly "Jewish" about their work. ]<sup><small><font color="DarkGreen">]</font></small></sup> 21:19, 27 March 2006 (UTC)
:Oh, and if you're looking for Jewish writers, have a gander at . Large numbers of them have nothing at all "characteristically Jewish" about their writing, nor did they write "Jewish things". Once you start using subjective measures for these things, you get into trouble. Best to stick with policy instead; ] describes them as a Jew, they go in the category. ]<sup><small><font color="DarkGreen">]</font></small></sup> 21:23, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

== Categories (Not just the LGBT ones) ==

*20th century philosophers: Writer, not a philosopher
*American novelists: Not an American. If someone wants to replace that with "Russian ...," go ahead.
*American philosophers: Not an American. If someone wants to replace that with "Russian ...," go ahead.
*American screenwriters: Not an American If someone wants to replace that with "Russian ...," go ahead.
*American women: Not an American. If someone wants to replace that with "Russian ...," go ahead.
*Aristotelian philosophers: Writer, not a philosopher
*Atheist philosophers: Writer, not a philosopher
*LGBT rights activists AND LGBT rights opposition: She was neither; saying "Gays are an abomination, but the Government doesn't care" doesn't make you either.
*Moral philosophers: Writer, not a philosopher
*Political philosophers: Writer, not a philosopher ] 03:23, 26 March 2006 (UTC)

:Your actions are premature. For one thing, she was an American citizen, so she qualifies as an American whatever. For another, while her credibility as a competent philospher is certainly questioned by the academic community, she was a philosopher of one sort or another. Remember, even a bad plumber is still a plumber. For these reasons, I am going to revert your entire edit and ask that you gather some consensus here before making such changes in the future. This article has been edit-warred over and spent weeks Protected; we don't want to go back to that. 03:31, 26 March 2006 (UTC)


Although I think the idea of Ayn Rand as a philosopher is ridiculous, some people do think she is a philosopher. The closest "type" of philosophy she mostly talked about is moral philosophy, so that category is suitable. I think "american philosophers", "atheist philosophers", AND "aristotelian philosophers" is over the top - perhaps one or two of those three should be removed. -- ]''']''' 15:51, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

I strongly disagree with the LGBT categories, but since it was a long-worked compromise, I'll wait for a (long) while before asking for its removal again. -- ]''']''' 15:51, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

:Thank you for your patience with this issue. I understand how frustrating it may be. ] 17:20, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

== Sources, Please ==


Many scholars see the Categorical Imperative as being compatible with Objectivism.

Who are the ''many''??? What are your Sources???

== Misleading sentence ==

The statement that the Ayn Rand Institute was named "Ayn Rand" "despite Ayn Rand's wishes that her name be kept separate from her ideas" is horribly misleading. Rand was against the use of her name only insofar as the naming of her philosophy went; for example, she strongly objected to calling Objectivism "Randism" or calling Objectivists "Randists"; but outside of these, I can't find a single source indicating that Rand objected to the use of her name in promoting her philosophy; indeed, she herself used her reputation (from The Fountainhead) to spread her ideas. ] 11:08, 26 March 2006 (UTC)

:I seem to remember that the organization founded to promote her philosophy was named after Nat. Only after his excommunication did the ARI form, right? ] 17:13, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

NBI was formed by Branden (with Rand's endorsement) to spread her ideas; as far as I know (and my knowledge is admittedly little on this point), it was mainly controlled and operated by Branden. After the falling out, Rand formed the Foundation for the New Intellectual to continue spreading her ideas; that foundation was dissolved soon after Rand's death, and was replaced by the Ayn Rand Institute (founded by Leonard Peikoff) in 1985. ] 08:00, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

:Thanks for clarifying this history. It does suggest that she avoided using her own name, since the ARI is posthumous. ] 19:08, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

== Purple Flowers for Ayn ==

I realize that a lot of the people who contribute to this article are fans of Rand's fiction, but this is supposed to be biographical, not hagiographical, and it's supposed to tell about her, not concatenate a series of overwritten essays about how wonderful her stories are.

I'm talking about the recent inflation of an already-large section summarizing ''The Fountainhead'' with the addition of copious flowery language and unalloyed praise. People, the book has an article of its own; all that belongs here is a brief, accurate summary and a link where people can go to find out more. The text I removed would probably be too biased even for the article on the book, and it's definitely out of place in this article about the author. ] 15:41, 26 March 2006 (UTC)

== No leading research university ==

Ok, it seems clear that the academic philosophy community doesn't regard Rand very highly. But the "Leiter report" cited doesn't prove this precisely (]'s report ) - it lists the fields of study popular at lots of prominent philosophy departments, which isn't the same thing. I'm not disputing the fact, just the use of this particular citation. I think the JARS link I just added leads to some better evidence for this claim and I am pursuing it, but if I'm in error about the Leiter citation, please help me understand why. ] 14:34, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

On a related note, the idea that Rand isn't talked about in academia seems a little dated to me. Today, lots of universities include discussion of Rand in philosophy classes. ] 17:44, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

A few universities in America is not "lots of universities". -- ]''']''' 18:02, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

:That's why I said "lots." ] 18:47, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

Call it OR, but in my experience, Rand's name only comes up in college-level philosophy classes when a student brings it up. Rand and her philosophy are then summarily dismissed. Unfair or not, I think this is a fairly accurate summary of the reality. ] 19:06, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

=="Literary" criticism==

I cut down this section, pasted this text here - IMO it is just a list of some pretty subjective opinions about which characters are strong/weak, etc. I think the point works better as a summary rather than an exhaustive list, but I may have been overzealous in cutting ] 17:30, 29 March 2006 (UTC) :"Defenders of Rand point that the sympathetic characters Eddie Willers and Cherryl Taggart are neither especially gifted nor intelligent; Leo Kovalensky suffers enormously due to his inability to cope with the brutality and banality of communism; Andrei Taganov dies after realizing his philosophical errors; Dominique Francon is initially bitterly unhappy because she believes evil is powerful; Hank Rearden is torn by inner emotional conflict brought on by a philosophical contradiction; and Dagny Taggart thinks that she alone is capable of saving the world. Two of her main protagonists, Howard Roark and John Galt, did not begin life wealthy. Though Rand believed that, under capitalism, valuable contributions will routinely be rewarded by wealth, she certainly did not think that wealth made a person virtuous. In fact, she presents many vicious bureaucrats and waspish elitists who use ] to accumulate money and power. Moreover, Hank Rearden is exploited because of his social naïveté. As for the purportedly weak and pathetic villains, Rand's defenders point out that Ellsworth Toohey is represented as being a great strategist and communicator from an early age, and Dr. Robert Stadler is a brilliant scientist."

== Peer review ==

Anyone else think this is ready for ] followed by a "real" run at ]? ] 14:37, 31 March 2006 (UTC)
:Not quite.
:*Somebody with a copy of ''The Passion of Ayn Rand'' has to make the requested citation (Shirmer lists some page numbers).
:*The "cult" section is well-cited, but needs POV balance. Perhaps from the Peikoff essay on "closed" philosophy?
:Have a big atta-boy for all your work on this article.--] 13:13, 1 April 2006 (UTC)
::Thanks for the feedback; it has been fun so far to look into this stuff. I found the Branden citation in the Shermer ref. I added some quotations from the Peikoff essay, will keep looking to see if there's a more direct response to the charges of cultism. Are there other things before Peer Review? ] 16:23, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

== Economic criticism of The Fountainhead ==

I have eliminated the economic criticism of The Fountainhead for four reasons:

1) If it belongs at all, it belongs in the article on The Fountainhead, not in an article on general literary criticism of Rand.

2) Of all of the attacks on Rand's literary worth (of which one can find many), an economic criticism of The Fountainhead on the grounds that Roark is not sufficiently capitalistic is not one of the them.

3) It was highly misleading as written, claiming that he criticized the book on "objectivist grounds." Careful reading of the article indicates that its author is almost certainly a Christian, not an Objectivist.

4) Echoing the second reason, it just isn't a common critique, and is really a fringe viewpoint. I think quotations supporting more common, manistream critiques wouid be better. For example, many people argue that Rand's characters are not fully fleshed out, that they're archetypes, that they're unrealistic, that they're emotionless robots, etc. ] 20:26, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

:I didn't see this before I re-placed the section in question, hence my comment in the edit summary that it was "unexplainably" removed. I have already remedied point 3 (he is indeed a Christian; I changed it to "pro-market"), but I don't think the remaining points have merit.

:It is a somewhat common criticism among libertarians that in her novels, Rand failed to give much weight to the rights of the consumer where she felt broader issues were at stake: witness Roark's demolition of the building for which a client entered into a contract with him to build. This point belongs in this article because it happens in ''Atlas'' as well: witness the deaths of the train passengers, followed by the narrator's reassuring the reader that they (the passangers) had all committed grave crimes against reality.

:That a figure as relatively notable as Skousen makes this point, in my view, prima facie proves its notability, and hence aptness for inclusion. The lack of other criticisms should be addressed by adding them, not by subtracting others. --] 21:04, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

It's out of place, as it stands. There's a section on general literary criticism of Rand, and then an entire section by Skousen discussing only The Fountainhead. If it belongs at all, it belong in the article on The Fountainhead, not here. ] 10:41, 1 April 2006 (UTC)

== Criticism section only two paragraphs long? ==

Come now. There's a lot more criticism than that of Ayn Rand. The criticism doesn't even touch on Rand's dogmatic dichotomy of collectivism and individualism as mutually exclusive concepts-- which is perhaps the most controversial aspect of her "philosophy". And although the criticisms of Objectivism by traditional minarchist Libertarians are alluded to, they are not explained. Not to mention the article repeats the myth of Ayn Rand's early hard-scrabble existence after the Bolsehvik Revolution. Could someone take the time to edit this who is not themselves an "Objectivist" or an Ayn Rand worshipper? In other words, someone who is not a teenager or pseudo-intellectual.

]

:If you think the article could be improved, feel free to improve it. However, be careful to avoid OR and POV. ] 22:07, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

:P.S. I think you weren't logged in properly, because it's using your IP instead of your name and you're not signing correctly, either. ] 22:07, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

:"Could someone take the time to edit this who is not themselves an "Objectivist" or an Ayn Rand worshipper? In other words, someone who is not a teenager or pseudo-intellectual." Hey, how about this instead - you ] and ], and then make a positive contribution to the article? ] 15:38, 3 April 2006 (UTC)
::The dichotomy between individualism and collectivism is not the most controversial aspect of her philosophy. That dichotomy is pretty easy to make and defend. What has been the most problematic is her contention that she can derive it all from "A is A". Most academic philosophers agree that "A is A" does not get you very far unless supplmented with empirical data. It is probably best to think of Rand as a "way of life" philosopher ala Jesus or Buddha or Marx rather than someone who contributed to the western philosophical tradition. Her attempt at a moral defense of capitalism instead of the weak apologias being offered at the time is probably explains her popularity and is her most enduring contribution. Those who continue in her moral defense of capitalism tend to base it on modern evolutionary understanding of human nature and classical liberal criticism of restrictions on freedom, and empirical criticism of central planning rather than attempting something a priori from "A is A". She gave the defenders of liberty a much needed bit of spine with her stirring fiction, which still endures today. Her contributions to academic philosophy have been minimal although her influence and inspiration have been great.--] 16:27, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

Nicky Scarfo was looking for neutral contributors, but your Objectivist apologetics rule you out. ] 18:25, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

Latest revision as of 18:27, 9 December 2024

Skip to table of contents
This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Ayn Rand article.
This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject.
Article policies
Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs· FENS · JSTOR · TWL
Archives: Index, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51Auto-archiving period: 30 days 
The subject of this article is controversial and content may be in dispute. When updating the article, be bold, but not reckless. Feel free to try to improve the article, but don't take it personally if your changes are reversed; instead, come here to the talk page to discuss them. Content must be written from a neutral point of view. Include citations when adding content and consider tagging or removing unsourced information.
Former featured article candidateAyn Rand is a former featured article candidate. Please view the links under Article milestones below to see why the nomination was archived. For older candidates, please check the archive.
Good articleAyn Rand has been listed as one of the Language and literature good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it.
On this day... Article milestones
DateProcessResult
March 20, 2006Featured article candidateNot promoted
April 7, 2006Peer reviewReviewed
April 14, 2006Good article nomineeListed
May 2, 2006Featured article candidateNot promoted
June 4, 2006Good article reassessmentDelisted
September 15, 2009Good article nomineeListed
April 20, 2010Peer reviewReviewed
September 6, 2021Guild of Copy EditorsCopyedited
April 11, 2022Peer reviewReviewed
February 27, 2023Featured article candidateNot promoted
On this day... Facts from this article were featured on Misplaced Pages's Main Page in the "On this day..." column on March 6, 2017, March 6, 2022, and March 6, 2023.
Current status: Former featured article candidate, current good article
This  level-4 vital article is rated GA-class on Misplaced Pages's content assessment scale.
It is of interest to multiple WikiProjects.
WikiProject iconBiography: Arts and Entertainment / Politics and Government
WikiProject iconThis article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Misplaced Pages's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography
Taskforce icon
This article is supported by the arts and entertainment work group (assessed as High-importance).
Taskforce icon
This article is supported by the politics and government work group (assessed as High-importance).
WikiProject iconAtheism Mid‑importance
WikiProject iconThis article is within the scope of WikiProject Atheism, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of atheism on Misplaced Pages. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.AtheismWikipedia:WikiProject AtheismTemplate:WikiProject AtheismAtheism
MidThis article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.
For more information and how you can help, click the link opposite:

If you would like to participate, you can edit this article and visit the project page.

Quick help

Recent activity


To do

Join WikiProject atheism and be bold.

Be consistent

  • Use a "standard" layout for atheism-related articles (see layout style, "The perfect article" and Featured articles).
  • Add Atheism info box to all atheism related talk pages (use {{WikiProject Atheism}} or see info box)
  • Ensure atheism-related articles are members of Atheism by checking whether ] has been added to atheism-related articles – and, where it hasn't, adding it.

Maintenance, etc.

Articles to improve

Create

  • Articles on notable atheists


Expand

Immediate attention

  • State atheism needs a reassessment of its Importance level, as it has little to do with atheism and is instead an article about anti-theist/anti-religious actions of governments.
  • False choice into False dilemma: discuss whether you are for or against this merge here
  • Clarify references in Atheism using footnotes.
  • Secular movement defines it as a being restricted to America in the 21st century.
WikiProject iconConservatism Mid‑importance
WikiProject iconThis article is within the scope of WikiProject Conservatism, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of conservatism on Misplaced Pages. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.ConservatismWikipedia:WikiProject ConservatismTemplate:WikiProject ConservatismConservatism
MidThis article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.
WikiProject iconObjectivism (inactive)
WikiProject iconThis article is within the scope of WikiProject Objectivism, a project which is currently considered to be inactive.ObjectivismWikipedia:WikiProject ObjectivismTemplate:WikiProject ObjectivismObjectivism
WikiProject iconPhilosophy: Philosophers / Aesthetics / Metaphysics / Ethics / Social and political / Contemporary Mid‑importance
WikiProject iconThis article is within the scope of WikiProject Philosophy, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of content related to philosophy on Misplaced Pages. If you would like to support the project, please visit the project page, where you can get more details on how you can help, and where you can join the general discussion about philosophy content on Misplaced Pages.PhilosophyWikipedia:WikiProject PhilosophyTemplate:WikiProject PhilosophyPhilosophy
MidThis article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.
Associated task forces:
Taskforce icon
Philosophers
Taskforce icon
Aesthetics
Taskforce icon
Metaphysics
Taskforce icon
Ethics
Taskforce icon
Social and political philosophy
Taskforce icon
Contemporary philosophy
WikiProject iconPolitics: American / Libertarianism Mid‑importance
WikiProject iconThis article is within the scope of WikiProject Politics, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of politics on Misplaced Pages. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.PoliticsWikipedia:WikiProject PoliticsTemplate:WikiProject Politicspolitics
MidThis article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.
Taskforce icon
This article is supported by American politics task force (assessed as High-importance).
Taskforce icon
This article is supported by WikiProject Libertarianism (assessed as High-importance).
WikiProject iconRussia High‑importance
WikiProject iconThis article is within the scope of WikiProject Russia, a WikiProject dedicated to coverage of Russia on Misplaced Pages.
To participate: Feel free to edit the article attached to this page, join up at the project page, or contribute to the project discussion.RussiaWikipedia:WikiProject RussiaTemplate:WikiProject RussiaRussia
HighThis article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale.
WikiProject iconTheatre Low‑importance
WikiProject iconThis article is part of WikiProject Theatre, a WikiProject dedicated to coverage of theatre on Misplaced Pages.
To participate: Feel free to edit the article attached to this page, join up at the project page, or contribute to the project discussion.TheatreWikipedia:WikiProject TheatreTemplate:WikiProject TheatreTheatre
LowThis article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
WikiProject iconWomen's History Low‑importance
WikiProject iconThis article is within the scope of WikiProject Women's History, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Women's history and related articles on Misplaced Pages. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Women's HistoryWikipedia:WikiProject Women's HistoryTemplate:WikiProject Women's HistoryWomen's History
LowThis article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
WikiProject iconWomen writers Top‑importance
WikiProject iconThis article is within the scope of WikiProject Women writers, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of women writers on Misplaced Pages. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Women writersWikipedia:WikiProject Women writersTemplate:WikiProject Women writersWomen writers
TopThis article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale.
This article was reviewed by London Review of Books on 20 May 2009. (Link to review)
Comments: "...Reads as though it has been worked over far too much, and like any form of writing that is overcooked it alienates the reader by appearing to be closed off in its own private world of obsession and anxiety."
For more information about external reviews of Misplaced Pages articles and about this review in particular, see this page.

Notable mentions sorely missing

Article nneeds to catch up with popculture. Nothing about Obama, or for that matter the responses he received after his disparaging comments. Nothing about the highly unusual for Argentina politician Milei, although he is of course not an Objectivist. Etc. 83.255.180.77 (talk) 22:14, 29 November 2023 (UTC)

Obama commented about Rand briefly in 2012, people responded, and >99.999% of the population has not thought twice about it since that week. That isn't a matter of "catching up"; it is something that wasn't important then and definitely isn't now.
As for Milei, he may be more relevant since we do call out examples of politicians that she has influenced, and he could be the most important of those if the influence is firmly established. Can you point out some reliable secondary sources that establish a meaningful connection? The news articles I've seen say that he claims to have spoken with her ghost, which is not the usual sort of influence we have documented here. --RL0919 (talk) 00:53, 30 November 2023 (UTC)

Rand was a philosopher

The expression "public philosopher" will not be recognized by most people and is useless to readers. Also, it is a preposterous and basically meaningless expression. No one is called a "private philosopher", so why describe someone as a "public philosopher"? Calling Rand a philosopher is good enough. Zarenon (talk) 08:38, 3 December 2023 (UTC)

The term is linked to an article that explains what it means to anyone who is unfamiliar. Rand did what that article describes, and she is mentioned in it as an example. Contrary to your comments here and in edit summaries, the term public philosopher is not "meaningless" or the "opposite" of philosopherpublic is simply a modifier to indicate a specific mode of engagement with philosophy. --RL0919 (talk) 22:00, 3 December 2023 (UTC)
I'm doubtful of PP, as opposed to P. Can you point to other examples? For example, I see Sharyn Clough (born 14 May 1965) is professor of philosophy at Oregon State University. Her teaching and research specialties focus on public philosophy... so here we have someone called a P, even though her research focusses on PP. PP sounds very much like not-as-good-as-a-proper-p William M. Connolley (talk) 09:15, 4 December 2023 (UTC)
A "public philosopher" is just a type of "philosopher" so in theory anyone who is the former could simply be called the latter in a lead, or both. Walter Terence Stace is "public philosopher" as part of his initial description. Jane Addams is "philosopher" in the initial sentence, then "public philosopher" later in the lead. Susan Schneider is "philosopher" in the lead and "public philosopher" in the body. In none of these cases does there appear to be any disparagement intended. There are modifiers for philosopher that would be widely considered disparaging, such as amateur, that have come up in the past. But I don't see how public is in that category.
Anyhow, the modifier was added following a September discussion that is still above on this talk page. You are welcome to read through that for more background. I don't mind if the lead doesn't have any modifier for philosopher, and I don't mind if it does have one as long as that modifier is accurate, neutral, and supported by a decent amount of sources. As I said to User:PatrickJWelsh previously, I thought it was "OK to try out an alternative and see what the reaction is". If the reaction is negative, then we can return to the status quo ante and/or discuss it more. --RL0919 (talk) 21:36, 4 December 2023 (UTC)
The term "public philosopher" is useless and stupid. We are told in the article Public philosopher, that "Public philosophy is a subfield of philosophy that involves engagement with the public". The definition is hopelessly vague and it does not improve the article at all to add that kind of vague language. The article also says that, public philosophy involves "doing philosophy with general audience", which is nonsense. When Rand wrote her novels and her books she wasn't "doing philosophy" with a "general audience"; she was expounding her own ideas. Zarenon (talk) 04:32, 5 December 2023 (UTC)
The fact that this has been repeatedly disputed suggests to me that we should stick with just the perfectly neutral "writer". I would not object to "writer and public intellectual".
Have you reviewed the discussion above?
Cheers, Patrick J. Welsh (talk) 01:36, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
The dispute raised in this section is about the modifier that was added in this edit, not about the use of the term philosopher. As I already quoted myself earlier regarding the addition of a modifier, we tried "an alternative see what the reaction is". This is that reaction. Not a shock to me, since I've seen this topic discussed multiple times in the past. There are literally dozens of reliable sources that refer to her as a philosopher, with or without some modifier, so there is not a good case to deny that core term. But the options for modifiers vary, so there is much more room to dispute any specific modifier. --RL0919 (talk) 04:49, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
I think that someone familiar with Rand would realize that she would have completely rejected the term "public philosopher". Zarenon (talk) 07:32, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
Hi @Zarenon,
The problem with "philosopher", as I see it, is a consequence of the highly polarized views the she inspires. I don't doubt @RL0919 for a second when they promise they could produce many quality sources calling her a philosopher. And usually this would be all we need.
In this case, however, many other quality sources take issue with this descriptor. Some folks consider her to be just about the only person you need to read. Other folks, however, including many working in philosophy departments on research topically overlapping with her own do not consider the quality of her writing to merit mention or engagement—to the point some would consider a suggestion to the contrary disqualifying.
For example, from the article:

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. She was in turn viewed very negatively by many academic philosophers, who dismissed her as an unimportant figure who should not be considered a philosopher or given any serious response.

Since, as is the case, her status as a philosopher is heavily contested by many people who incontestably are philosophers, it should not be stated as a fact in the first sentence of the lead. That is a violation of WP:NPOV.
What is the objection to "public intellectual"? It is neutral and also captures a wider range of her activities. As a second choice, I would also be fine with "non-academic philosopher", suggested above by RL0919.
Cheers, Patrick J. Welsh (talk) 15:41, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
"In this case, however, many other quality sources take issue with this descriptor." But this is not true. In actual (Misplaced Pages-reliable) sources, the numbers are lopsided: many sources that call her a philosopher, and a vastly smaller number that deny it. We hear from secondary sources about what an unspecified number of mostly unidentified academics (who may or may not be "incontestably" philosophers – that is your own spin, not from any source at all) believe: there are people who think she wasn't a philosopher, and presumably make some mention of this in conversation or other informal ways that made secondary source authors aware of their existence. But these people apparently aren't bothering to put their rejection of the label into reliable source content that we can use in an article. Far from "heavily contest" the matter, these people – however many of them there may be, we don't know – have passively conceded the field of discussion about her within reliable sources. If that results in their viewpoints having less weight in this article, then that is their own fault. --RL0919 (talk) 16:27, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
Hi @RL0919
If professional philosophers do not engage with her, that would seem to me to be a natural consequence of her disregard for them. It is crucial to philosophy that practitioners subject their claims to the scrutiny of their peers. All the way back in ancient Greece, Socrates practiced philosophy in the agora, Plato wrote dialogues, Aristotle began his lectures with the consideration of what has been handed down from the wise.
The modern university system, for all of its many faults, institutionalizes and promotes this kind of sometimes oppositional collaboration.
If you publish with non-academic presses and mostly just respond to questions from your fans, you're not practicing philosophy. You are propounding or evangelizing or something of that kind.
Academics, cultural critics, and (in some cases) journalists actually really love it when someone takes a clear, strong position, as Rand does, and resolutely defends it in response to criticism. For instance, look at the professional success of Richard Rorty! Nearly everyone thought he was wrong on almost all of his core positions, but he was widely cited and even well-liked—because he expressed himself with great clarity and responded with care to criticisms of his work.
Rand, for her own reasons, declined to participate in this kind of knowledge-building, quality-assurance process. She opted out. So scholars interested in these topics instead write about, e.g., Robert Nozick or Milton Friedman.
It is possible that she, like Nietzsche, will be elevated posthumously. Maybe this has already happened. Some of the sources listed in the bibliography are obviously legit academic work. I do not see, however, how her own output makes her a philosopher. Although I'm not at all willing to make a research project out of compiling sources rejecting the designation, there definitely are high-quality sources, e.g., The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy begins with a discussion to justify her inclusion and includes lines such as,

Some who do read her work point out that her arguments too often do not support her conclusions. This estimate is shared even by many who find her conclusions and her criticisms of contemporary culture, morality, and politics original and insightful. It is not surprising, then, that she is either mentioned in passing, or not mentioned at all, in the entries that discuss current philosophical thought about virtue ethics, egoism, rights, libertarianism, or markets.

Finally, just as an aside, did you mean to imply in your parenthetical that people who have PhDs in philosophy, have published peer-reviewed work in philosophy, and are employed by accredited institutions of post-secondary education to teach philosophers are not incontestably philosophers? (I am not saying these are necessary criteria that could disqualify Rand or anyone else, just that they are sufficient.) Some of these folk are shoddy philosophers, to be sure, if that is what you mean. But if you mean something different, would you mind saying a little more about what you understand the term to mean? It might help to facilitate our discussion about the article.
Cheers, Patrick J. Welsh (talk) 18:04, 6 December 2023 (UTC)

Ayn Rand was a Poet, not any sort of modified philosopher and the mainstream does not support "philosopher" in any meaningful form. SPECIFICO talk 18:54, 6 December 2023 (UTC)

@PatrickJWelsh: I am not going to argue about your personal view of who qualifies as a "philosopher" and I am not propounding my own. The beliefs of Misplaced Pages editors about who should be called a philosopher is not supposed to guide our decisions about article content (although you might have trouble reconciling that with much of what people say on these talk pages, cf some of the other participants so far). What I am saying is that when, e.g., Skye Cleary writes that, "Many propose that not a philosopher at all", this statement tells us that such people exist in some number, but not specifically who they are or even how many. She also doesn't say that the "philosopher" status of this "many" is incontestable. That is your own term reflecting your own view, not something stated in any source that I have seen. – therefore, as I said just a few sentences back, not something that should guide article content and not something I'm going to directly engage with here. (FWIW, Cleary indicates that her own view is that Rand is a philosopher, "just not a very good one".) Claudia Brühwiler, who argues a case against Rand being a philosopher, ironically highlights the asymmetry in other sources: In her discussion, she names dozen figures who credited Rand with being a philosopher. She names two who denied it. And it is the overall ecosystem of sources that we (should) care most about in deciding what labels to use in our article. --RL0919 (talk) 20:30, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
I asked you the wrong question. Instead: what does Rand think a philosopher is? Does she give a direct definition anywhere? Or is there a scholarly source that reconstructs one from her writings?
This would be a welcome addition to the article. Because I politely take issue with your characterization of my previous post as just "personal opinion". It's a high-level description of a 2,500 year history of the term designating a person committed to a loosely defined set of truth-seeking practices into which Rand does not seem to comfortably fit.
We need a definition stronger than just having more-or-less considered views about the world, how one ought to act, what the government should be doing, et cetera (and also, in many cases, being more than happy to propound these views at length to anyone who will listen). Because that would make just about everyone a philosopher, rendering the term nearly meaningless as a description of anyone.
Perhaps something about her commitment to a systematic procedure?
Cheers, Patrick J. Welsh (talk) 22:10, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
Rand was very concerned with the importance of philosophy – personally, socially, and historically – but not so much with philosophers, except in their functional role of generating philosophical ideas. I can't recall her defining any qualifications or other gatekeeping for who was or could be a philosopher, as long as they were producing relevant ideas. If you just accept existing ideas, however well-considered, I don't think she would call you a philosopher. People who re-transmit the ideas of others were "intellectuals" – hence the title of her first nonfiction book was For the New Intellectual because it was her giving her ideas to those she hoped would circulate them. However, while this could be interesting for the article if secondary sources can be found – the preceding was my own summary from primary sources – I don't think it speaks to the matter we were discussing. We don't generally give subjects – especially ones long dead – determinative control over their own descriptions. She would be appalled to see us revealing her legal name (thoroughly hidden during her lifetime) or describing her as an important influence on libertarianism (a movement she denounced). But sources tell us these things. If sources tell us she was a philosopher, then we can call her that regardless of whether she would have – although she did in fact use the term for herself. --RL0919 (talk) 23:55, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
@RL0919, all right. If you ever do come across a good source on either her stated conception of her own activity as a philosopher or a scholarly reconstruction of some more specific sense in which she is well-described by the term, I would consider adding this to the article. Something along these lines would probably have assuaged my concerns at least well enough have dropped the matter fairly early in our first exchange.
(As it stands, this still feels uncomfortably close to calling someone who has no academic training a "psychologist" on the basis of a sequence of best-selling self-help books and television appearances.)
But I will relent to the sources you've amassed and drop the issue.
Thank you for your patience with this exchange and for your consistent civility.
Cheers, Patrick J. Welsh (talk) 00:30, 7 December 2023 (UTC)
@RL0919 Hello! Would it be worth suggesting that maybe the problem is defining Ayn Rand in the article as a philosopher under "occupation"? To an extent, I believe that both you and @PatrickJWelsh are correct in your points about her. Ayn Rand is publicly considered to be a philosopher by many, but this doesn't necessarily equate to what is considered being a philosopher by occupation, as Patrick points out. The common belief of what constitutes being a philosopher by occupation usually includes a college degree in philosophy of some kind (again said by Patrick), which Ayn Rand is not in possession of. She is a philosopher (individually, but not occupationally) whom communicates her philosophical ideas through what is actually her occupation, which would be her authorship. So, saying that Ayn Rand isn't a philosopher at all is something that I would argue to be incorrect. Saying that Ayn Rand is an occupational philosopher is something that I would argue to be incorrect as well. I hope that makes sense. Stun Locke (talk) 03:34, 9 December 2024 (UTC)
That's actually a pretty good point. I don't think the problem with philosopher-as-occupation is so much about the credentials; it's the fact that, whether you consider her to be a "real" philosopher or not, it's not what she got paid for. Except in the secondary sense that people bought her books, which is covered by "author". --Trovatore (talk) 04:07, 9 December 2024 (UTC)
Hello, Stun Locke. The only place "occupation" is mentioned is in the infobox, so I assume you are talking about that. No, the discussion from last year had nothing to do with occupation, because at that time the Occupation field said "writer"; "philosopher" was added in this edit a couple of months later. I do not particularly care whether her occupation is listed in the infobox as writer, author, philosopher, some mix of these, or not at all. Ideally this would be based on what sources say, but that can be hard because sources about people's lives are more apt to just say "X was a Y" rather than saying "Y was the occupation/profession of X". --RL0919 (talk) 18:26, 9 December 2024 (UTC)

Does a better profile photo exist?

She is barely recognizable in the current one. I've seen plenty more recent photos where she smiles, is dressed differently and the shadows obscure less. It looks like a different person. But I suppose we need one that is free to use for our purposes here.83.255.180.77 (talk) 22:51, 10 December 2023 (UTC)

Yes, we are required to include only "free use" images when such are available. The one we are using is a professional publicity shot used to promote one of her books, which is in the public domain due to quirks of US copyright law. --RL0919 (talk) 00:32, 11 December 2023 (UTC)

Sentence correction edit rejected by WP bot

"Her villains support duty and collectivist moral ideals."

This sentence as published is clearly incorrect and highly misleading.

Based on personal knowledge of Ayn Rand's novels and philosophy it is clear that this sentence should be edited as follows:

"Her villains support duty and *reject* collectivist moral ideals."

Please correct the record. 2603:8001:C200:1637:F492:43CE:6A38:DF3A (talk) 12:12, 30 March 2024 (UTC)

The bot reverted your edit because you inserted it with commentary rather than just making the change. But even if properly formatted, the change you are asking for is wrong. I'm not sure if you are misreading the sentence in the article, or if you have profoundly misunderstood Rand's views. Rand herself was opposed to collectivism, so her villains typically support collectivist morality, which is what the sentence says. Her villains definitely are not portrayed as rejecting collectivism. --RL0919 (talk) 17:12, 30 March 2024 (UTC)
I came back to state that I was in error. My apologies. 2603:8001:C200:1637:D116:EE89:6C1C:ABB0 (talk) 21:51, 1 April 2024 (UTC)

Was Ayn Rand a Soviet Spy?

I find it suspicious that hat she was granted a visa to visit relatives in the United States. Visas to go to America and other free countries were almost never granted to Soviet citizens unless they enjoyed a position of great trust in the Communist party. In the looking-glass world of espionage, people are often the exact opposite of what they appear to be in public. 2603:7000:CF00:1202:898B:3640:2608:EAF8 (talk) 19:51, 1 May 2024 (UTC)

If there are reliable sources to support this theory, please provide details about where they are. If not, relevant information can be found here and here. --RL0919 (talk) 01:22, 2 May 2024 (UTC)

Opposition to ethical hedonism

Ayn Rand opposed ethical hedonism, this should be specified in the lead.

Source: http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/hedonism.html 93.38.68.234 (talk) 19:48, 8 August 2024 (UTC)

Categories: