One of the most important philosopher to come out of the 20th century was a little known individual by the named Ayn Rand. Much like Machiavelli before her. Her ideas have either been celebrated as a holy gospel or vilified and condemned because of their selfish and nihilistic teachings. Because of this polarizing attitude about it her it is hard to gauge a real honest opinion about her and her philosophy of Objectivism. My goal is to look at Ayn Rand and her philosophy for what it is at face value. My aim is not to look at her through rose-colored glass or to see her as the idealogical sensei of a real-life James Bond villain.
To do this we must first look at Ayn Rand in her younger years. The goal is to find out what shaped her views and values in formative years. In doing this we will look at important events in her youth that shaped her and perhaps even philosophers that made her who she is and helped form her philosophy of Objectivism.
Next, we will look at what Objectivism is and what are its core tenants. In doing so we would have to look at the Ayn Rand Institue’s account of what Objectivism is. The Ayn Rand Institue was founded by Ayn Rand’s appointed intellectual heir Leonard Peikoff. Using their version would give us a gauge, however, pulling from additional sources outside the institute will give us a more neutral view of Objectivism.
Next, we will look at some of the novels she wrote during her time. In particularly The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. In The Fountainhead we will be looking at Ayn Rand’s take on what man should be. The Fountainhead can be seen as more of an overview of her beliefs and a crash course on Objectivism. Atlas Shrugged is a very long novel and is a direct answer to questions people had about her views in The Fountainhead. For these answers, we will be looking at John Galt’s speech in the book. Galt’s speech is often cited as the crux of Ayn Rand’s Objectivist philosophy.
Afterward, we will be reviewing the movie adaptions of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged (though the latter being a critical failure divided into two movies). The reviews will not be whether the movies are Oscar worthy or not but more so in the vein of how closely were the screenplays adapted from the original source material.
Lastly, we will be looking at one or two of her nonfiction books. Her nonfiction is not as important as her fiction as they serve more to reinforce her ideas from her novels. However, one nonfiction book of hers we will be looking at is Capitalism: the Unknown Ideal. As this book includes collaborations from the former federal reserve chairman Alan Greenspan and the late Canadian psychotherapist Nathaniel Braden who played a prominent role in promoting Ayn Rand’s philosophy.
The Truck Report 