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Ayn Rand
Half-length monochrome portrait photo of Ayn Rand, seated, holding a cigaretteAyn Rand
OccupationPhilosopher, writer
Alma materUniversity of Petrograd
Notable worksThe Fountainhead
Atlas Shrugged
SpouseFrank O'Connor (m. 1929)
Signature

Ayn Rand (pronounced /ˈain ˈrænd/; born Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum; February 2 [O.S. January 20] 1905 – March 6, 1982), was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism. Born and educated in Russia, Rand immigrated to the United States in 1926. She worked as a screenwriter in Hollywood and had a play produced on Broadway in 1935–1936. She first achieved fame in 1943 with her novel The Fountainhead, which in 1957 was followed by her best-known work, the philosophical novel Atlas Shrugged.

Rand's political views, reflected in both her fiction and her theoretical work, emphasize individual rights (including property rights) and laissez-faire capitalism, enforced by a constitutionally-limited government. She was a fierce opponent of all forms of collectivism and statism, including fascism, communism, socialism, and the welfare state, and promoted selfishness using the fanciful term, ethical egoism, while rejecting the ethic of altruism in her book The Virtue of Selfishness. She considered reason to be the only means of acquiring knowledge and the most important aspect of her philosophy, stating, "I am not primarily an advocate of capitalism, but of egoism; and I am not primarily an advocate of egoism, but of reason. If one recognizes the supremacy of reason and applies it consistently, all the rest follows."

Life and work

Early life

Rand was born Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum (Template:Lang-ru) in 1905, into a middle-class family living in Saint Petersburg. She was the eldest of the three daughters (Alisa, Natasha, and Nora) of Zinovy Zakharovich Rosenbaum and Anna Borisovna Rosenbaum, largely non-observant Jews. Her father was educated as a chemist and became a successful pharmacist, eventually owning his own pharmacy and the building in which it was located.

Rand was twelve at the time of the Russian revolution of 1917. Opposed to the Tsar, Rand's sympathies were with Alexander Kerensky. Rand's family life was disrupted by the rise of the Bolshevik party. Her father's pharmacy was confiscated by the Soviets, and the family fled to the Crimea which was initially under the control of the White Army. She later recalled that while in high school she determined that she was an atheist and that she valued reason and intellect. She graduated from high school in the Crimea and briefly held a job teaching Red Army soldiers to read. She found she enjoyed that work very much, the illiterate soldiers being eager to learn and respectful of her. At sixteen, Rand returned with her family to Saint Petersburg.

A black-and-white engraving shows a large building along the bank of a river, with numerous people and carriages nearby
Rand completed a three-year program in the department of social pedagogy at the University of Petrograd.

She enrolled at the University of Petrograd, where she studied in the department of social pedagogy, majoring in history. At university she was introduced to the writings of Aristotle and Plato, who would form two of the greatest influences and counter-influences respectively on her thought. A third figure whose philosophical works she studied heavily was Friedrich Nietzsche. Her formal study of philosophy amounted to only a few courses, and outside of these three philosophers, her study of key figures was limited to excerpts and summaries. Of the writers she read at this time, Victor Hugo, Edmond Rostand, Friedrich Schiller, and Fyodor Dostoevsky became her perennial favorites. Along with a number of other non-Communist students, Rand was purged from the university shortly before completing. However, after complaints from a group of visiting foreign scientists, the Communists relented and allowed many of the expelled students to complete their work and graduate, which Rand did in October 1924. She subsequently studied for a year at the State Technicum for Screen Arts.

In the fall of 1925, she was granted a visa to visit American relatives. She left Russia on January 17, 1926, and arrived in the United States on February 19, entering by ship through New York City. After a brief stay with her relatives in Chicago, she resolved never to return to the Soviet Union, and set out for Hollywood to become a screenwriter. While still in Russia she had decided her professional surname for writing would be Rand, possibly as a Cyrillic contraction of her birth surname, and she adopted the first name Ayn, possibly from a Finnish name, or a Hebrew word "ayn", which means "the eye". Initially, she struggled in Hollywood and took odd jobs to pay her basic living expenses. A chance meeting with famed director Cecil B. DeMille led to a job as an extra in his film, The King of Kings, and to subsequent work as a junior screenwriter. While working on The King of Kings, she intentionally bumped into an aspiring young actor, Frank O'Connor, who caught her eye. The two married on April 15, 1929. Rand became an American citizen in 1931. Taking various jobs during the 1930s to support her writing, Rand worked for a time as the head of the costume department at RKO Studios. She made attempts to bring her parents and sisters to the United States, but they were unable to get permission to emigrate.

Early fiction

A brown book cover with black-and-white drawings and text in Russian. The drawing on the left is a portrait of a woman with dark hair; the drawing on the right is of skyscrapers.
Cover of Rand's first book, a 2,500-word monograph on the Polish femme fatale Pola Negri published in 1925.
See also: Night of January 16th, We the Living, and Anthem (novella)

Rand's first literary success came with the sale of her screenplay Red Pawn to Universal Studios in 1932. Josef Von Sternberg considered it for Marlene Dietrich, but anti-Soviet themes were unpopular at the time, and the project came to nothing. This was followed by the courtroom drama Night of January 16th, first produced in Hollywood in 1934, and then successfully reopened on Broadway in 1935. Each night the "jury" was selected from members of the audience, and one of the two different endings, depending on the jury's "verdict," would then be performed. In 1941, Paramount Pictures produced a movie version of the play. Rand did not participate in the production and was highly critical of the result.

Her first novel, the semi-autobiographical We the Living, was published in 1936 by Macmillan. Set in Communist Russia, it focused on the struggle between the individual and the state. In the foreword to the novel, Rand stated that We the Living "is as near to an autobiography as I will ever write. It is not an autobiography in the literal, but only in the intellectual sense. The plot is invented, the background is not..." Without Rand's knowledge or permission, We the Living was made into a pair of Italian films, Noi vivi and Addio, Kira, in 1942. Rediscovered in the 1960s, these films were re-edited into a new version which was approved by Rand and re-released as We the Living in 1986.

Her novella Anthem was published in England in 1938 and in America seven years later. It presents a vision of a dystopian future world in which collectivism has triumphed to such an extent that even the word "I" has vanished from the language and from humanity's memory.

The Fountainhead and political activism

See also: The Fountainhead and The Fountainhead (film)

During the 1940s, Rand became involved in political activism. Both she and her husband worked full time in volunteer positions for the 1940 Presidential campaign of Republican Wendell Willkie. This work led to Rand's first public speaking experiences, including fielding the sometimes hostile questions from New York City audiences who had just viewed pro-Willkie newsreels, an experience she greatly enjoyed. This activity also brought her into contact with other intellectuals sympathetic to free-market capitalism. She became friends with journalist Henry Hazlitt and his wife, and Hazlitt introduced her to the Austrian School economist Ludwig von Mises. Both men expressed an admiration for Rand, and despite her philosophical differences with them, Rand strongly endorsed the writings of both men throughout her career.

Rand's first major success as a writer came with The Fountainhead in 1943, a romantic and philosophical novel that she wrote over a period of seven years. The novel centers on an uncompromising young architect named Howard Roark, and his struggle against what Rand described as "second-handers" — those who attempt to live through others, placing others above self. It was rejected by twelve publishers before finally being accepted by the Bobbs-Merrill Company on the insistence of editor Archibald Ogden, who threatened to quit if his employer did not publish it. The Fountainhead eventually became a worldwide success, bringing Rand fame and financial security. According to the Ayn Rand Institute, by April 2008 the novel had sold over 6.5 million copies.

In 1943, Rand returned to Hollywood to write the screenplay for a film version of The Fountainhead for Warner Brothers, and the following year she and her husband purchased a home designed by modernist Richard Neutra and an adjoining ranch. There, Rand entertained figures such as Hazlitt, Morrie Ryskind, Janet Gaynor, Gilbert Adrian and Leonard Read. Finishing her work on that screenplay, she was hired by producer Hal Wallis as a screenwriter and script-doctor, and her work for Wallis included the Oscar-nominated Love Letters and You Came Along, along with research for a screenplay based on the development of the atomic bomb. This role gave Rand time to work on other projects, including the publication of her first work of non-fiction, an essay titled "The Only Path to Tomorrow", in the January 1944 edition of Reader's Digest magazine. Rand also outlined and took extensive notes for a non-fiction treatment of her philosophy, although the planned book was never completed.

During this period Rand developed a relationship with libertarian writer Isabel Paterson. The two women became friends and philosophical sparring-partners, and Rand is reported to have questioned the well-informed Paterson about American history and politics long into the night during their numerous meetings. Later, the two women had a falling out after what Rand saw as Paterson's bitter and insensitive comments during one of her Hollywood parties. Paterson's influence on Rand's later political theories has been a matter of ongoing debate, but Paterson biographer Stephen D. Cox credits Rand's public advocacy with keeping her old friend's political work The God of the Machine in print for many years, despite their previous break.

In 1947, during the Second Red Scare, Rand testified as a "friendly witness" before the United States House Un-American Activities Committee. Her testimony regarded the disparity between her personal experiences in the Soviet Union and the portrayal of it in the 1944 film Song of Russia. Rand argued that the film grossly misrepresented the socioeconomic conditions in the Soviet Union and portrayed life in the USSR as being much better and happier than it actually was. When asked about her feelings on the effectiveness of the investigations after the hearings, Rand described the process as "futile".

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

Atlas Shrugged and later years

Objectivist movement
Photo of Ayn RandAyn Rand
Philosophy
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LiteratureCapitalism: The Unknown Ideal
For the New Intellectual
Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology
The New Left
Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand
Philosophy: Who Needs It
The Romantic Manifesto
The Virtue of Selfishness
Objectivist periodicals
The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies
The Fountainhead
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Related topics
See also: Atlas Shrugged and Objectivist movement

After the publication of The Fountainhead, Rand received numerous letters from readers, some of whom it had profoundly influenced. In 1951 Rand moved from Los Angeles to New York City, where she gathered a group of these admirers around her. This group (jokingly designated "The Collective") included future Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, a young psychology student named Nathan Blumenthal (later Nathaniel Branden) and his wife Barbara, and Barbara's cousin Leonard Peikoff. At first the group was an informal gathering of friends who met with Rand on weekends at her apartment to discuss philosophy. Later she began allowing them to read the drafts of her new novel, Atlas Shrugged, as the manuscript pages were written. In 1954 Rand's close relationship with the much younger Nathaniel Branden turned into a romantic affair, with the consent of their spouses.

Atlas Shrugged, published in 1957, was Rand's magnum opus. The theme of the novel is "the role of the mind in man's existence—and, as a corollary, the demonstration of her moral philosophy: the morality of rational self-interest." It advocates the core tenets of Rand's philosophy of Objectivism and expresses her concept of human achievement. The plot involves a dystopian United States in which the most creative industrialists, scientists and artists go on strike and retreat to a mountainous hideaway where they build an independent free economy. The novel's hero and leader of the strike, John Galt, describes the strike as "stopping the motor of the world" by withdrawing the minds of the individuals most contributing to the nation's wealth and achievement. With this fictional strike, Rand intended to illustrate that without the efforts of the rational and productive, the economy would collapse and society would fall apart. The novel includes elements of mystery and science fiction, and contains Rand's most extensive statement of Objectivism in any of her works of fiction, a lengthy monologue delivered by Galt. Atlas Shrugged became an international bestseller. Rand's last work of fiction, it marked a turning point in her life, ending her career as novelist and beginning her tenure as a popular philosopher.

In 1958 Nathaniel Branden established Nathaniel Branden Lectures, later incorporated as the Nathaniel Branden Institute (NBI), to promote Rand's philosophy. Collective members gave lectures for NBI and wrote articles for Objectivist periodicals that she edited. Rand later published some of these articles in book form. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Rand developed and promoted her Objectivist philosophy through her non-fiction works and by giving talks, for example at Yale University, Princeton University, Columbia University, Harvard University and MIT. She received an honorary doctorate from Lewis & Clark College in 1963. For many years, she gave also an annual lecture at the Ford Hall Forum, responding afterwards in her famously spirited form to questions from the audience. In 1964 Nathaniel Branden began an affair with the young actress Patrecia Scott, whom he later married. Nathaniel and Barbara Branden hid the affair from Rand. Though her romantic relationship with Branden had already ended, Rand terminated her relationship with both Brandens in 1968 when she discovered Nathaniel Branden's affair with Patrecia Scott and his and Barbara Branden's role in concealing it, and as a result, NBI closed. She published an article in The Objectivist repudiating Nathaniel Branden for dishonesty and other "irrational behavior in his private life."

Rand underwent surgery for lung cancer in 1974. Several more of her closest associates parted company with her, and during the late 1970s her activities within the Objectivist movement declined, especially after the death of her husband on November 9, 1979. One of her final projects was work on a television adaptation of Atlas Shrugged. She had also planned to write another novel, but did not get far in her notes. Rand died of heart failure on March 6, 1982 at her home in New York City, and was interred in the Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, New York. Rand's funeral was attended by some of her prominent followers, including Alan Greenspan. A six-foot floral arrangement in the shape of a dollar sign was placed near her casket. In her will, Rand named Leonard Peikoff the heir to her estate. With her endorsement of his 1976 lecture series, she had recognized his work as being the best exposition of her philosophy.

Philosophy

Main articles: Objectivism (Ayn Rand) and Objectivist theory of value

Rand saw her views as constituting an integrated philosophical system, which she called "Objectivism." Its essence is "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute." Objectivism has been described pejoratively as "Pseudophilosophy".

Rejecting faith as antithetical to reason, Rand embraced philosophical realism and opposed all forms of mysticism or supernaturalism, including organized religion. Rand also argued for rational egoism (rational self-interest), as the only proper guiding moral principle. The individual "must exist for his own sake," she wrote in 1962, "neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself."

Rand held that the only moral social system is laissez-faire capitalism. Her political views were strongly individualist and hence anti-statist and anti-Communist. Rand detested many liberal and conservative politicians of her time, including prominent anti-Communists. She rejected the libertarian movement, although Jim Powell, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, considers Rand one of the three most important women (along with Rose Wilder Lane and Isabel Paterson) of modern American libertarianism. Rand rejected anarcho-capitalism as "a contradiction in terms", a point on which she has been criticized by self-avowed anarchist Objectivists such as Roy Childs. Philosopher Chandran Kukathas said her "unremitting hostility towards the state and taxation sits inconsistently with a rejection of anarchism, and her attempts to resolve the difficulty are ill-thought out and unsystematic."

She acknowledged Aristotle as a great influence, and found early inspiration in Friedrich Nietzsche, although she rejected what she considered his anti-reason stance. Philosophers Ronald E. Merrill and David Steele point out a difference between her early and later views on the subject of sacrificing others. For example, the first edition of We the Living contained language which has been interpreted as advocating ruthless elitism: "What are your masses but mud to be ground underfoot, fuel to be burned for those who deserve it?"

She remarked that in the history of philosophy she could only recommend "three A's"—Aristotle, Aquinas, and Ayn Rand. Among the philosophers Rand held in particular disdain was Immanuel Kant, whom she referred to as a "monster" and "the most evil man in history". Rand was strongly opposed to the view that reason is unable to know reality "as it is in itself", which she ascribed to Kant. She considered her philosophy to be the "exact opposite" of Kant's on "every fundamental issue". Objectivist philosophers George Walsh and Fred Seddon both argue that Rand misinterpreted Kant. In particular, Walsh argues that both philosophers adhere to many of the same basic positions, and that Rand exaggerated her differences with Kant. Walsh says that for many critics, Rand's writing on Kant is "ignorant and unworthy of discussion".

Rand scholars Douglas Den Uyl and Douglas Rasmussen, while stressing the importance and originality of her thought, describe her style as "literary, hyperbolic and emotional." Similarly, philosopher Jack Wheeler says that despite "the incessant bombast and continuous venting of Randian rage," Rand's ethics is "a most immense achievement, the study of which is vastly more fruitful than any other in contemporary thought." In 1976, she said that her most important contributions to philosophy were her "theory of concepts, ethics, and discovery in politics that evil—the violation of rights—consists of the initiation of force."

Literary reception

Rand's novels, when they were first published, were derided by some critics as long and melodramatic, and became bestsellers largely due to word of mouth. The first reviews Rand received were for her play Night of January 16. Reviews of the Broadway production were mixed, and Rand considered even the positive reviews to be embarrassing because of significant changes made to her script by the producer. Rand herself described her first novel, We the Living, as not being widely reviewed, but Michael S. Berliner says "it was the most reviewed of any of her works," with approximately 125 different reviews being published in more than 200 publications. Many of these reviews were more positive than the reviews she received for her later work. Her 1938 novella Anthem received little attention from reviewers, both for its first publication in England and for several subsequent re-issues.

Rand's first bestseller, The Fountainhead, received far fewer reviews than We the Living, and reviewers' opinions were mixed. There was a positive review in The New York Times that Rand greatly appreciated. The Times reviewer called Rand "a writer of great power" who writes "brilliantly, beautifully and bitterly," and it stated that she had "written a hymn in praise of the individual... you will not be able to read this masterful book without thinking through some of the basic concepts of our time." There were other positive reviews, but Rand dismissed many of them as either not understanding her message or as being from unimportant publications. A number of negative reviews focused on the length of the novel, such as one that called it "a whale of a book" and another that said "anyone who is taken in by it deserves a stern lecture on paper-rationing." Other negative reviews called the characters unsympathetic and Rand's style "offensively pedestrian."

Rand's 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged was widely reviewed, and many of the reviews were strongly negative. In the National Review, conservative author Whittaker Chambers called the book "sophomoric" and "remarkably silly". He described the tone of the book as "shrillness without reprieve" and accused Rand of supporting the same godless system as the Soviets, claiming "From almost any page of Atlas Shrugged, a voice can be heard, from painful necessity, commanding: 'To a gas chamber—go!'" Atlas Shrugged received positive reviews from a few publications, but as Rand scholar Mimi Reisel Gladstein later described them, many reviewers "seemed to vie with each other in a contest to devise the cleverest put-downs," calling it "execrable claptrap" and "a nightmare;" they said it was "written out of hate" and showed "remorseless hectoring and prolixity."

During Rand's lifetime her work received little attention from academic scholars. When With Charity Toward None: An Analysis of Ayn Rand's Philosophy, the first academic book about Rand's philosophy, appeared in 1971, its author William F. O'Neill declared writing about Rand "a treacherous undertaking" that could lead to "guilt by association" for taking her seriously. A few articles about Rand's ideas appeared in academic journals prior to her death in 1982, many of them in The Personalist. Academic consideration of Rand as a literary figure during her life was even more limited. Gladstein was unable to find any scholarly articles about Rand's novels when she began researching her in 1973, and only three such articles appeared during the rest of the 1970s.

Legacy

See also: Objectivist movement
An engraving in all capital letters that reads: "Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their own vision." Ayn Rand
A quote from Rand's book The Fountainhead, on the wall directly across from the entrance to The American Adventure rotunda at Walt Disney World's Epcot Center

Rand's books continue to be widely sold and read, with 25 million copies sold as of 2007, and 800,000 more being sold each year according to the Ayn Rand Institute. She has also influenced notable people in different fields. Examples include philosophers John Hospers, George H. Smith, Allan Gotthelf, Robert Mayhew and Tara Smith, economists Alan Greenspan, George Reisman and Murray Rothbard, psychologist Edwin A. Locke, historian Robert Hessen, and political writer Charles Murray. United States Congressmen Ron Paul and Bob Barr, and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Clarence Thomas have acknowledged her influence on their lives, and former United States President Ronald Reagan described himself as an "admirer" of Rand in private correspondence in the 1960s.

Popular interest and influence

When a 1991 survey by the Library of Congress and the Book-of-the-Month Club asked what the most influential book in the respondent's life was, Rand's Atlas Shrugged was the second most popular choice, after the Bible. Readers polled in 1998 and 1999 by Modern Library placed four of her books on the 100 Best Novels list, with Atlas Shrugged taking the top position, while another, The Virtue of Selfishness, topped the 100 Best Nonfiction list. Books by other authors about Rand and her philosophy also appeared on the non-fiction list. The validity of such lists has been disputed. Freestar Media/Zogby polls conducted in 2007 found that around 8 percent of American adults have read Atlas Shrugged.

Rand has been cited by numerous writers, artists and commentators as an influence on their lives and thought. Rand or characters based on her figure prominently in novels by such authors as William F. Buckley, Mary Gaitskill, Matt Ruff, J. Neil Schulman, and Kay Nolte Smith. Other authors and artists, such as Steve Ditko, Terry Goodkind, and Neil Peart, have also cited her as an influence.

Rand and her works have been referred to in a variety of media. Radio personality Rush Limbaugh makes frequent positive reference to Rand's work on his program. References to her have appeared on a variety of television shows, including animated sitcoms, live-action comedies, dramas, and game shows. The Philosophical Lexicon, a satirical web site maintained by philosophers Daniel Dennett and Asbjørn Steglich-Petersen, defines a 'rand' as: "An angry tirade occasioned by mistaking philosophical disagreement for a personal attack and/or evidence of unspeakable moral corruption." Her image appears on a U.S. postage stamp designed by artist Nick Gaetano. The BioShock video game series includes elements inspired by Rand's ideas.

Two movies have been made about Rand's life. A 1997 documentary film, Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The Passion of Ayn Rand, an independent film about her life, was made in 1999, starring Helen Mirren as Rand and Peter Fonda as her husband. The film was based on the book of the same name by Barbara Branden, and won several awards. Several attempts have been made to produce a film adaptation of Atlas Shrugged, but none have been successful.

Although Rand's influence has been greatest in the United States, there has been international interest in her work. Her books were international best sellers, and continue to sell in large numbers in the 21st century.

Academia

Since Rand's death in 1982, interest in her work has gradually increased. Historian Jennifer Burns has identified "three overlapping waves" of scholarly interest in Rand, the most recent of which is "an explosion of scholarship" in the 2000s. However, few universities currently include Rand or Objectivism as a philosophical specialty or research area, with many literature and philosophy departments dismissing her as a pop culture phenomenon rather than a subject for serious study.

Some academic philosophers have criticized Rand for what they consider her lack of rigor and limited understanding of philosophical subject matter. Many in the Continental tradition think her celebration of self-interest relies on sophistic logic, and as a result have not thought her work worth any serious consideration. Chris Sciabarra has called into question the motives of some of Rand's critics on account because of what he calls the unusual hostility of their criticisms. Sciabarra says, "The left was infuriated by her anti-communist, procapitalist politics, whereas the right was disgusted with her atheism and civil libertarianism."

Writers on Rand such as Sciabarra, Allan Gotthelf, and Tara Smith have made attempts to teach her work in academic institutions. Sciabarra co-edits the Journal of Ayn Rand Studies, a nonpartisan peer-reviewed journal dedicated to the study of Rand's philosophical and literary work. In 1987 Gotthelf helped found the Ayn Rand Society, which is affiliated with the American Philosophical Association and has been active in sponsoring seminars and distributing videotaped lecture courses on Ayn Rand. Smith has published several academic books and papers on Rand's ideas, including Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist. Rand's ideas have also been made subjects of study at Clemson and Duke universities. Scholars of English and American literature have largely ignored her work, although attention to her literary work has increased since the 1990s. In the Literary Encyclopedia entry for Rand written in 2001, John Lewis declared that "Rand wrote the most intellectually challenging fiction of her generation". In a 1999 interview in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Rand scholar Chris Matthew Sciabarra commented, "I know they laugh at Rand," while forecasting a growth of interest in her work in the academic community.

Institutes

In 1985 Leonard Peikoff established the Ayn Rand Institute, which "works to introduce young people to Ayn Rand's novels, to support scholarship and research based on her ideas, and to promote the principles of reason, rational self-interest, individual rights and laissez-faire capitalism to the widest possible audience." In 1990 David Kelley founded the Institute for Objectivist Studies, now known as The Atlas Society. Its focus is on attracting readers of Rand's fiction; the associated Objectivist Center deals with more academic ventures. In 2001 historian John McCaskey organized the Anthem Foundation for Objectivist Scholarship, which provides grants for scholarly work on Objectivism in academia. The foundation has supported research at the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Pittsburgh, Duke University and a number of other schools.

Notes

  1. "Frequently Asked Questions About Ayn Rand: How do you pronounce 'Ayn'?". Ayn Rand Institute. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  2. The following sources identify Rand as a philosopher:
    • Saxon, Wolfgang (March 7, 1982). "Ayn Rand, 'Fountainhead' Author, Dies". The New York Times. p. 36. Ayn Rand, the writer and philosopher of objectivism who espoused 'rational selfishness' and capitalism unbound, died yesterday morning at her home on East 34th Street.
    • Den Uyl, Douglas J. & Rasmussen, Douglas B. "Preface." in Den Uyl & Rasmussen 1986, p. x. "... this book is devoted to an assessment of Ayn Rand the philosopher. All the contributors to this volume agree that she is a philosopher and not a mere popularizer. Moreover, all agree that many of her insights on philosophy and her own philosophic ideas deserve critical attention by professional philosophers, whatever the final merit of those inquiries and theories. It is appropriate, therefore, that all our contributors are themselves professional philosophers."
    • Sciabarra 1995, p. 1. "Ayn Rand is one of the most widely read philosophers of the twentieth century."
    • Kukathas, Chandran (1998). "Rand, Ayn (1905–82)". In Craig, Edward (ed.). Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. New York: Routledge. pp. 55–56. ISBN 0-415-07310-3. Ayn Rand was a Russian-born novelist and philosopher who exerted considerable influence in the conservative and libertarian intellectual movements in the post-war USA.
  3. Rand, Ayn (1944). "The Only Path to Tomorrow". Reader's Digest. 44 (261): 88. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  4. Rand, Ayn (1964). "Racism". The Virtue of Selfishness. New York: Penguin. p. 149. ISBN 0-451-16393-1.
  5. Rand, Ayn (1967). ""Extremism," or The Art of Smearing". Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal. New York: Signet. p. 180. ISBN 0-451-14795-2. OCLC 24916193.
  6. Rand, Ayn (1964). "Introduction". The Virtue of Selfishness. New York: Signet. p. ix. ISBN 0-451-16393-1.
  7. Rand, Ayn (1999). "The Left: Old and New". Return of the Primitive: The Anti-Industrial Revolution. Edited by Peter Schwartz. New York: Meridian. p. 62. ISBN 0-452-01184-1.
  8. Rand, Ayn (1971). "Brief Summary". The Objectivist. 10 (9): 1. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  9. Heller 2009, pp. 3–5; Britting 2004, pp. 2–3
  10. Branden 1986, pp. 35–39
  11. Britting 2004, pp. 14–20
  12. ^ Sciabarra, Chris Matthew (1999). "The Rand Transcript"". The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies. 1 (1): 1–26. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  13. Peikoff 1991, pp. 451–460
  14. Britting 2004, pp. 17–18, 22–24
  15. ^ Sciabarra 1995, p. 12
  16. Britting 2004, pp. 17, 22
  17. Heller 2009, p. 47; Britting 2004, p. 24
  18. Berliner, Michael S., ed. (1999). "Introduction". Russian Writings on Hollywood. Ayn Rand, trans. by Dina Garmong. Los Angeles: Ayn Rand Institute Press. p. 10. ISBN 0-9625336-3-7.
  19. Heller 2009, pp. 50–53; Britting 2004, p. 30
  20. Britting 2004, p. 33
  21. "What is the origin of "Rand"?". Ayn Rand Institute. Retrieved 2009-07-25.
  22. Rand said said the origin of Ayn was Finnish (Rand 1995, p. 40) harv error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFRand1995 (help), but some biographical sources question this, suggesting it may come from a Hebrew nickname. Heller 2009, pp. 55–57 provides a detailed discussion.
  23. Britting 2004, pp. 34–36.
  24. Britting 2004, pp. 35–40; Paxton 1998, pp. 74, 81, 84.
  25. Heller 2009, pp. 96–98; Britting 2004, pp. 43–44, 52
  26. Berliner, Michael S. (1999). "Ayn Rand's first published work found". Archives Annual. 2. Ayn Rand Institute. Originally published in the Institute's Impact newsletter, March 1996.
  27. Britting 2004, pp. 40, 42.
  28. Rand 1971, pp. 3–11 harvnb error: multiple targets (3×): CITEREFRand1971 (help)
  29. Johnson, Donald Leslie (2005). The Fountainheads: Wright, Rand, the FBI and Hollywood. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. pp. 55–56. ISBN 0-7864-1958-X. cf. Rand 1971, pp. 13–14 harvnb error: multiple targets (3×): CITEREFRand1971 (help)
  30. Rand, Ayn (1995) . "Foreword". We The Living (60th Anniversary ed.). New York: Dutton. p. xviii. ISBN 0-525-94054-5.
  31. Paxton 1998, p. 104
  32. Britting 2004, p. 57
  33. Branden 1986, pp. 188–189
  34. Beetz, Kirk (1996). Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction. Osprey, Florida: Beacham Pub. p. 1516. ISBN 0-933833-41-5.
  35. Britting 2004, pp. 61–78
  36. Britting 2004, pp. 58–61
  37. ^ "Sales of Ayn Rand Books Reach 25 million Copies". Ayn Rand Institute. April 7, 2008. Retrieved 2009-07-31.
  38. Britting 2004, pp. 68–80; Branden 1986, pp. 183–198
  39. Reprinted in Rand, Ayn (1991). Schwartz, Peter (ed.). The Ayn Rand Column. Oceanside, California: Second Renaissance Books. pp. 105–108. ISBN 1-56114-099-6.
  40. Rand 1997, pp. 243–310
  41. Cox, Stephen (2004). The Woman and the Dynamo. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction. pp. 218–222, 287–289, 302–314 and 357–359. ISBN 0-7658-0241-4.
  42. Mayhew 2005, pp. 91–93
  43. "Ayn Rand's HUAC Testimony" in Mayhew 2005, pp. 188–189
  44. Mayhew 2005, p. 83
  45. Britting 2004, p. 71
  46. Branden 1986, pp. 256–264, 331–343
  47. Rand 1997, p. 704 "Atlas Shrugged was the climax and completion of the goal I had set for myself at the age of nine. It expressed everything that I wanted of fiction writing."
  48. Rand, Ayn (1961). For the New Intellectual. New York: Random House.
  49. Gladstein 1999, p. 42
  50. Younkins, Edward (2007). "Preface". Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. Aldershot: Ashgate. p. 1. ISBN 0-7546-5549-0. Atlas Shrugged … is the demarcation work and turning point that culminated career as a novelist and propelled her into a career as a popular philosopher.
  51. Branden 1986, pp. 315–316
  52. Gladstein 1999, p. 14
  53. Branden 1986, p. 318
  54. Gladstein 1999, p. 16
  55. Britting 2004, p. 101.
  56. Branden 1986, pp. 344–358
  57. Rand, Ayn (1968). "To Whom It May Concern". The Objectivist. 7 (5). New York: 1–8. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  58. Branden 1986, pp. 386–389
  59. Branden 1986, pp. 392–395
  60. Rand 1997, p. 697
  61. Saxon, Wolfgang (March 7, 1982). "Ayn Rand, 'Fountainhead' Author, Dies". The New York Times. p. 36.
  62. Branden 1986, p. 403
  63. Peikoff 1991, pp. xiii–xv
  64. "About the Author" in Rand 1992, pp. 1170–1171.
  65. Clark, Leslie. "The philosophical art of looking out number one". Sunday Herald. Retrieved 2007-04-30.
  66. Stohr, John, Worse Than You Think: The hidden trauma of the Great Recession and the Politics of Hope, January 20, 2010 New Haven Advocate.
  67. Den Uyl, Douglas J. & Rasmussen, Douglas B. "Ayn Rand's Realism" in Den Uyl & Rasmussen 1986, pp. 3–20
  68. Rand, Ayn (1989). "Introducing Objectivism". The Voice of Reason. Edited by Leonard Peikoff. New York: New American Library. p. 3. ISBN 0-453-00634-5. This article originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times on June 17, 1962.
  69. Toffler, Alivin (1964). "Playboy Interview: Ayn Rand". Playboy. I'm opposed to any compromiser or me-tooer, and Mr. Nixon is probably the champion in this regard. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  70. Dowd, Maureen (September 13, 1982). "Where 'Atlas Shrugged' Is Still Read - Forthrightly". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-08-01. Miss Rand was vehemently anti-Reagan when he challenged Gerald Ford in 1976, and her disciples never saw much sign that she softened toward him over the years.
  71. Powell, Jim (1996). "Rose Wilder Lane, Isabel Paterson, and Ayn Rand: Three Women Who Inspired the Modern Libertarian Movement". The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty. 46 (5). {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  72. Thomas, William R. (2008). "Objectivism against Anarchy". In Machan, Tibor; Long, Roderick (eds.). Anarchism/Minarchism. Aldershot: Ashgate. pp. 39–57. ISBN 0-7546-6066-4. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
  73. Kukathas, Chandran (1998). "Rand, Ayn (1905–82)". In Craig, Edward (ed.). Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. New York: Routledge. pp. 55–56. ISBN 0-415-07310-3.
  74. "About the Author" in Rand 1992, p. 1171.
  75. Sciabarra 1995, p. 100–106
  76. ^ Merrill, Ronald E. (1991). The Ideas of Ayn Rand. La Salle, Illinois: Open Court Publishing. pp. 38–39. ISBN 0-8126-9157-1.
  77. Steele, David Ramsay (1987). "Alice in Wonderland". Free Life: Journal of the Libertarian Alliance. 5 (1).
  78. ^ Rand, Ayn (1971). "Brief Summary". The Objectivist. 10 (9): 4. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  79. ^ Walsh, George V. (2000). "Ayn Rand and the Metaphysics of Kant". The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies. 2 (1): 69–103. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  80. Seddon, Fred (2003). Ayn Rand, Objectivists, and the History of Philosophy. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America. pp. 63–81. ISBN 0-7618-2308-5.
  81. Den Uyl, Douglas; Rasmussen, Douglas (1978). "Nozick On the Randian Argument". The Personalist. 59: 203. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  82. Wheeler, Jack. "Rand and Aristotle." in Den Uyl & Rasmussen 1986, p. 96.
  83. Rand, Ayn (2005). Mayhew, Robert (ed.). Ayn Rand Answers, the Best of Her Q&A. New York: New American Library. p. 166. ISBN 0-451-21665-2.
  84. ^ Gladstein 1999, pp. 117–119.
  85. Paxton 1998, p. 120; Britting 2004, p. 87.
  86. Branden 1986, pp. 122–124
  87. Berliner, Michael S. (2004). "Reviews of We the Living". In Mayhew, Robert (ed.). Essays on Ayn Rand's We the Living. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. pp. 147–151. ISBN 0-7391-0698-8.
  88. Berliner, Michael S. (2005). "Reviews of Anthem". In Mayhew, Robert (ed.). Essays on Ayn Rand's Anthem. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. pp. 55–60. ISBN 0-7391-1031-4.
  89. ^ Berliner, Michael S. (2006). "The Fountainhead Reviews". In Mayhew, Robert (ed.). Essays on Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. pp. 77–82. ISBN 0-7391-1578-2.
  90. Rand 1995, p. 74 harvnb error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFRand1995 (help)
  91. Pruette, Lorine (May 16, 1943). "Battle Against Evil". The New York Times. p. BR7.
  92. ^ Berliner, Michael S. (2009). "The Atlas Shrugged Reviews". In Mayhew, Robert (ed.). Essays on Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. pp. 133–137. ISBN 978-0-7391-2780-3.
  93. Chambers, Whittaker (December 8, 1957). "Big Sister is Watching You". National Review: 594–596.
  94. ^ Sciabarra 1995, p. 1
  95. O'Neill, William F. (1977) . With Charity Toward None: An Analysis of Ayn Rand's Philosophy. New York: Littlefield, Adams & Company. p. 3. ISBN 0-8226-0179-6.
  96. Gladstein 1999, p. 115. The best-known example of an academic article about Rand in the 1970s is Nozick, Robert (1971). "On the Randian Argument". The Personalist. 52: 282–304. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help) Responses to Nozick also appeared, including: Machan, Tibor (1977). "Nozick and Rand on Property Rights". The Personalist. 58: 192–195. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help) and Den Uyl, Douglas; Rasmussen, Douglas (1978). "Nozick On the Randian Argument". The Personalist. 59: 184–205. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  97. Gladstein 2005, pp. 57–58, 63. The articles identified by Gladstein are: Gordon, Philip (1977). "The Extroflective Hero: A Look at Ayn Rand". Journal of Popular Culture. 10 (4): 701–710. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help); McGann, Kevin (1978). "Ayn Rand in the Stockyard of the Spirit". In Peary, Gerald; Shatzkin, Roger (eds) (eds.). The Modern American Novel and the Movies. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing. ISBN 0-8044-2682-1. {{cite book}}: |editor2-first= has generic name (help); Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help); and her own article, Gladstein, Mimi R. (1978). "Ayn Rand and Feminism: An Unlikely Alliance". College English. 39 (6): 25–30. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  98. Ron Paul discusses Ayn Rand. YouTube. September 29, 2007. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
  99. Weigel, David (2008). "Bob Barr Talks". Reason. 40 (6): 30–31. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  100. Thomas, Clarence (2007). My Grandfather's Son: A Memoir. New York: Harper Perennial. pp. 62, 187. ISBN 0-06-056556-X.; and 60 Minutes, "Interview with Clarence Thomas," 30 September 2007.
  101. Reagan, Ronald (2003). Skinner, Kiron K.; Anderson, Annelise; Anderson, Martin (eds.). Reagan: A Life in Letters. New York: Free Press. pp. 281–282. ISBN 0-7432-1966-X. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
  102. Fein, Esther B (November 20, 1991). "Book Notes". The New York Times. p. C26.
  103. "100 Best". New York: Random House. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
  104. "Literature and Millennial Lists". eNotes.com. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
  105. "Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand Read by 8.1%". Freestar Media. October 17, 2007. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
  106. Sciabarra 2004, p. 3
  107. Sciabarra 2004, pp. 8–11
  108. Perry, William E. (2006-05-17). "The Randian Fantasies of Terry Goodkind". The Atlas Society. Retrieved 2009-08-27.
  109. Sciabarra, Chris Matthew (2002). "Rand, Rush, and Rock". The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies. 4 (1): 161–185. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  110. Brook, Yaron (March 15, 2009). "Is Rand Relevant?". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
  111. Sciabarra 2004, pp. 4–5
  112. Dennett, Daniel; Steglich-Petersen, Asbjørn (2008). "The Philosophical Lexicon: R". Retrieved 2009-08-02.
  113. "Ayn Rand U.S. Postage Stamp Ceremony". The Objectivist Center. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
  114. Cowen, Nick (13 January 2010). "BioShock 2 developer interview". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
  115. "Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life - Awards". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
  116. Elber, Lynn (September 13, 1999). "'Ally,' 'Practice' grab top honors at Emmy awards". Ventura County Star. Associated Press. p. A01.
  117. Tourtellotte, Bob (January 24, 2000). "Family dramas top Golden Globe Awards". The Seattle Times. Reuters. p. E1.
  118. Britting, Jeff (2009). "Bringing Atlas Shrugged to Film". In Mayhew, Robert (ed.). Essays on Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. p. 195. ISBN 978-0-7391-2779-7.
  119. Gladstein 2005, p. 66-67
  120. Delbroy, Bibek (2006). "Ayn Rand — The Indian Connection". In Machan, Tibor R. (ed.). Ayn Rand at 100. New Delhi, India: Pragun Publications. pp. 2–4. ISBN 81-89645-57-9.
  121. Cohen, David (December 7, 2001). "A growing concern". The Guardian. London.
  122. Boaz, David (February 2, 2005). "Ayn Rand at 100". Cato Institute. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
  123. Gladstein 2009, pp. 114–122
  124. Salmieri, Gregory; Gotthelf, Allan (2005). "Rand, Ayn (1905-82)". In Shook, John R. (ed.). The Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers. London: Thoemmes Continuum. p. 1995. ISBN 1-84371-037-4. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
  125. McLemee, Scott (September 1999). "The Heirs Of Ayn Rand: Has Objectivism Gone Subjective?". Retrieved 2007-07-20.
  126. Burns 2009, pp. 295–296
  127. Gladstein 2009, pp. 116
  128. Kukathas, Chandran (1998). "Rand, Ayn (1905–82)". In Craig, Edward (ed.). Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. New York: Routledge. pp. 55–56. ISBN 0415073103.
  129. Younkins, Edward W. (2005). Philosophers of Capitalism: Menger, Mises, Rand, and Beyond. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. p. 194. ISBN 0-7391-1076-4.
  130. Sciabarra 1995, pp. 9–14
  131. "Journal of Ayn Rand Studies". Retrieved 2006-03-28.
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  133. Harvey, Benjamin (May 15, 2005). "Ayn Rand at 100: An 'ism' struts its stuff". Columbia News Service. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
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  136. Sharlet, Jeff. ""Ayn Rand Has Finally Caught the Attention of Scholars"". Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved 2006-03-28.
  137. "Charity Navigator Rating - The Ayn Rand Institute". Charity Navigator. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
  138. Burns 2009, p. 281
  139. "Our Mission and Programs". The Atlas Society. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  140. Gladstein 2009, p. 117
  141. "Anthem Foundation Renews Gift for Ayn Rand Research on 50th Anniversary of "Atlas Shrugged"". University of Texas at Austin. October 1, 2007. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
  142. "Fellowships & Other Multi-Year Gifts". Anthem Foundation. Retrieved 2010-02-06.

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Main article: Bibliography for Ayn Rand and Objectivism

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