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Ayn Rand (pronounced /ˈaɪn ˈrænd/; born Alisa Zinov'yevna
Rosenbaum; February 2 O.S. January 2 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.
Ayn
Rand interview by Mike Wallace Interview 1959 part
1
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 ethical egoism while rejecting the ethic of
altruism. 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."
Early life
Rand was born Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum (Russian: Алиса
Зиновьевна
Розенбаум)
in 1905, to an upper 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 during the Russian Civil War. 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
She enrolled at Petrograd State University, where she studied in
the department of social pedagogy, majoring in history. At the 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 other non-Communist students, Rand was purged from the
university shortly before graduating. However, after complaints
from a group of visiting foreign scientists, some of the purged
students were allowed 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 Leningrad.
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, either
from a Finnish name or from the Hebrew word עין
(ayin, meaning "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 were 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
See also: Night of January 16th, We the Living, and Anthem (novella)
In the late 1920s, Rand worked on a number of writing projects,
including movie scenarios, short stories, and a novel called The
Little Street. The hero of The Little Street was described as having
"the true, innate psychology of a Superman" and was to
be based on an idealized portrait of child killer William Edward
Hickman. Rand scholars have interpreted her notes for this book
as evidence of her early admiration of the ideas of Friedrich Nietzsche.
The novel was never completed and none of the other projects were
produced or published during Rand's lifetime.
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. She also developed a friendship with
libertarian writer Isabel Paterson. Rand questioned the well-informed
Paterson about American history and politics long into the night
during their numerous meetings, and gave Paterson ideas for her
only nonfiction book, The God of the Machine.
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. While completing the
novel, Rand began taking the prescription amphetamine Benzedrine
to fight fatigue. Her use of the drug enabled her to work long hours
to meet her deadline for delivering the finished novel to Bobbs-Merrill,
but when the book was done she was so exhausted that her doctor
ordered two weeks rest. Her continued use of it for several decades
also may have contributed to volatile mood swings observed by her
associates in later years.
The Fountainhead eventually became a worldwide success, bringing
Rand fame and financial security. In 1943, Rand sold the rights
for a film version to Warner Brothers, and she returned to Hollywood
to write the screenplay. 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 nonfiction, 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 nonfiction treatment of
her philosophy, although the planned book was never completed.
While working in Hollywood, Rand extended her involvement with free-market
and anti-Communist activism. She and her husband purchased a house
designed by modernist Richard Neutra and an adjoining ranch. There,
Rand entertained figures such as Hazlitt, Morrie Ryskind, Albert
Mannheimer and Leonard Read. A visit by Paterson to meet with Rand's
California associates led to a final falling out between the two
when Paterson made comments that Rand saw as rude to valued political
allies, and also revealed that she had refused to do a review of
The Fountainhead in the newspaper for which she worked. Despite
their break, Rand continued to promote Paterson's The God of the
Machine.
While in California, Rand also became involved with the Motion Picture
Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, a Hollywood anti-Communist
group, and wrote articles on the group's behalf.
In 1947, during the Second Red Scare, Rand testified as a "friendly
witness" before the United States House Un-American Activities
Committee. Her testimony described 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
conditions in the Soviet Union, portraying life there 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".
After several delays, 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
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. Rand
described the theme of the novel as "the role of the mind in
man's existence—and, as a corollary, the demonstration of a new
moral philosophy: the morality of rational self-interest."
It advocates the core tenets of Rand's philosophy of Objectivism
and expresses her concept of human achievement. The plot involves
a dystopian United States in which the most creative industrialists,
scientists and artists 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 it 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 role 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. However,
Rand's "charismatic personality" began "to tip Objectivism
into quasi-religious territory." In Jennifer Burns' Goddess
of the Market, one Nathaniel Branden Institute student remembers
that during this time, members were subjected by Rand to an increasingly
rigid intellectual atmosphere and "puritanism", noting:
"There was more than just a right kind of politics and a right
kind of moral code. There was also a right kind of music, a right
kind of art, a right kind of interior design, a right kind of dancing.
There were wrong books which we should not buy, and right ones which
we should ... And on everything, absolutely everything, one was
constantly being judged, just as one was expected to be judging
everything around him ... It was the perfect breeding ground for
insecurity, fear, and paranoia."
Despite such developments, throughout the 1960s and 1970s Rand developed
and promoted her Objectivist philosophy through her nonfiction 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. She also
began delivering annual lectures at the Ford Hall Forum, responding
afterwards in her famously spirited form to questions from the audience.
A twin gravestone bearing the name "Frank O'Connor" on
the left, and "Ayn Rand O'Connor" on the right
Grave marker for Rand and her husband
In 1964 Nathaniel Branden began an affair with the young actress
Patrecia Scott, whom he later married. Nathaniel and Barbara Branden
kept the affair hidden from Rand. When she learned of it in 1968,
though her romantic relationship with Branden had already ended,
Rand terminated her relationship with both Brandens, which led to
the closure of NBI. Rand published an article in The Objectivist
repudiating Nathaniel Branden for dishonesty and other "irrational
behavior in his private life."
Death
A heavy smoker, 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 article: Objectivism (Ayn Rand)
Rand developed an integrated philosophical system 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 was strongly opposed to 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. Ronald E. Merrill and David Ramsay
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, and 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, her ethics, and her discovery in politics that evil—the
violation of rights—consists of the initiation of force."
Contemporary reception
When they were first published, Rand's novels were derided by some
critics as long and melodramatic. They 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. Overall 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 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 most of them as either
not understanding her message or as being from unimportant publications.
Some 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 Rand scholar Mimi
Reisel Gladstein later wrote that "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."
Rand's nonfiction received far fewer reviews than her novels had.
The tenor of the criticism for her first nonfiction book, For the
New Intellectual, was similar to that for Atlas Shrugged, with philosopher
Sidney Hook likening her approach to "the way philosophy is
written in the Soviet Union" and author Gore Vidal calling
her viewpoint "nearly perfect in its immorality". Her
subsequent books got progressively less attention from reviewers.
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. One of these was "On
the Randian Argument" by Harvard University professor Robert
Nozick, who argued that her meta-ethical argument is unsound and
fails to solve the is–ought problem posed by David Hume.1 Some responses
to Nozick by other academic philosophers were also published in
The Personalist.1 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.1
Legacy
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
See also: Objectivist movement
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.1 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.
Popular interest
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.1 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 nonfiction list.1 The
validity of such lists has been disputed.1 Freestar Media/Zogby
polls conducted in 2007 found that around eight percent of American
adults have read Atlas Shrugged.1 Although Rand's influence has
been greatest in the United States, there has been international
interest in her work.112
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.2 Other authors and artists, such as Steve Ditko,2 Terry Goodkind,2
and Neil Peart,2 have also cited her as an influence.
Rand and her works have been referred to in a variety of media.
References to her have appeared on television shows including animated
sitcoms, live-action comedies, dramas, and game shows.2 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."2
Her image appears on a U.S. postage stamp designed by artist Nick
Gaetano.2 The BioShock video game series includes elements inspired
by Rand's ideas.2
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.2 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.33 Attempts
have been made to produce a film adaptation of Atlas Shrugged, but
none have been successful.3
Attacks in popular culture
Nick Gillespie, editor in chief of Reason Magazine, has remarked
that "Rand's is a tortured immortality, one in which she's
as likely to be a punch line as a protagonist" ... with "jibes
at Rand as cold and inhuman, running through the popular culture."3
In the Futurama episode "I Second That Emotion" futuristic
mutants flush Rand's works down the toilet,3 in the South Park episode
"Chicken Lover" Officer Barbrady decides to return back
to illiteracy after reading "this piece of shit" Atlas
Shrugged,3 and in the 2009 episode of The Simpsons "Four Great
Women and a Manicure" Lisa Simpson asks her Mother if Ayn Rand's
The Fountainhead is the "Bible of right-wing losers?."3
Outside the world of animation, a March 11, 2009, episode of The
Colbert Report, featured host Stephen Colbert giving his "The
Word" segment on what he deems the "Rand Illusion".
During the six minute skit he sarcastically applauds the growing
popularity of Ayn Rand's work Atlas Shrugged, while tongue-in-cheekly
stating that he wants to "go Galt" and live on an island
with the CEOs, hedge fund managers, House Republicans and TV pundits.3
In the spoof self-help book/memoir Asshole: How I Got Rich and Happy
by Not Giving a Shit About You, American writer Martin Kihn claims
to have found inspiration in the philosopher Ayn Rand, whom he decrees
"The asshole's philosopher", while pontificating that
"any aspiring asshole could learn a lot from The Fountainhead
or The Virtue of Selfishness."3
Political influence
See also: Libertarianism and Objectivism
In a large outdoor crowd, a man holds up a poster with the words
"I am John Galt" in all capital letters
A protester at an April 2009 Tea Party rally carries a sign referring
to John Galt, the hero of Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged
Although she rejected the labels "conservative" and "libertarian",
Rand has had continuing influence on right-wing politics, especially
libertarianism.3 In a history of the libertarian movement, journalist
Brian Doherty described her as "the most influential libertarian
of the twentieth century to the public at large."4 The political
figures who cite Rand as an influence are most often conservative
or libertarian, often members of the United States Republican Party.4
U.S. Congressmen Bob Barr,4 Ron Paul,4 and Paul Ryan4 have acknowledged
her influence on their lives, as has Associate Justice of the Supreme
Court of the United States Clarence Thomas.4 Former U.S. President
Ronald Reagan described himself as an "admirer" of Rand
in private correspondence in the 1960s,4 and John Hospers, the first
presidential nominee of the U.S. Libertarian Party, had a personal
acquaintance with Rand in the early 1960s.4
The financial crisis of 2007–2010 spurred renewed interest in her
works, especially Atlas Shrugged, which some saw as foreshadowing
the crisis.4 Conservative talk show hosts, such as Glenn Beck,4
Neal Boortz5 and Rush Limbaugh5 recommended the novel to their audiences,
and opinion articles compared real-world events with the plot of
the novel.5 Signs mentioning Rand and her fictional hero John Galt
appeared at Tea Party protests.5 During this period there was also
increased criticism of her ideas, especially from the left, with
critics blaming her support of selfishness and free markets for
the economic crisis, particularly through her influence on Alan
Greenspan.5
Academia
Since Rand's death in 1982, interest in her work has gradually increased.555
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.5 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.5
Some academic philosophers have criticized Rand for what they consider
her lack of rigor and limited understanding of philosophical subject
matter. Chris Sciabarra has called into question the motives of
some of Rand's critics because of what he calls the unusual hostility
of their criticisms.6 Sciabarra writes, "The left was infuriated
by her anti-communist, procapitalist politics, whereas the right
was disgusted with her atheism and civil libertarianism."
Academics with an interest in Rand, such as Gladstein, Sciabarra,
Allan Gotthelf, Edwin A. Locke, Robert Mayhew, and Tara Smith, have
taught 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.6
In 1987 Gotthelf helped found the Ayn Rand Society, which is affiliated
with the American Philosophical Association and has been active
in sponsoring seminars about Rand and her ideas.6 Smith has written
several academic books and papers on Rand's ideas, including Ayn
Rand's Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist, a volume on Rand's
ethical theory published by Cambridge University Press. Rand's ideas
have also been made subjects of study at Clemson and Duke universities.6
Scholars of English and American literature have largely ignored
her work, although attention to her literary work has increased
since the 1990s.6 In the Literary Encyclopedia entry for Rand written
in 2001, John Lewis declared that "Rand wrote the most intellectually
challenging fiction of her generation".6 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.6
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."6
In 1990 David Kelley founded the Institute for Objectivist Studies,6
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.6 In 2001 historian John McCaskey organized
the Anthem Foundation for Objectivist Scholarship, which provides
grants for scholarly work on Objectivism in academia.7 The foundation
has supported research at the University of Texas at Austin,7 the
University of Pittsburgh, Duke University and other schools. |