Who Is Ayn Rand? - Novelist, Philosopher, Icon

Learn more about the controversial writer-philosopher Ayn Rand. Explore her writings and philosophy, and see why her ideas continue to change minds today.

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ABOUT THE AYN RAND INSTITUTE
ARI offers educational experiences, based on Ayn Rand's books and ideas, to a variety of audiences, including students, educators, policymakers and lifelong learners. ARI also engages in research and advocacy efforts, applying Rand's ideas to current issues and seeking to promote her philosophical principles of reason, rational self-interest and laissez-faire capitalism. We invite you to explore how Ayn Rand viewed the world — and to consider the distinctive insights offered by ARI's experts today.

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[TonoFonseca]

I read 'Anthem' in a day last September.  
It is one of the few books that changed my life.  

I started reading 'Atlas Shrugged' over four months ago.  
I am on page 610 of 1084, as of the time I made this comment.  

[richardglady]

Thanks for this introduction. I love “We the Living” and wanted to learn more about its author.

[ryankelly]

Atlas Shrugged gave me new energy and purpose in my life. Ayn Rand's ideas have  greatly influenced me and I am proud to call myself an Objectivist.

If her "ideas" took America by storm back in the 30's how come 70 years later the vast majority of American's who have heard of Rand's ideas don't give a shit about Rand's ideas?
I look forward to your comment Brad.

[georgenelson]

Ayn was not against genuine altruism as her critics say ...she was against forced altruism . She was for personal freedom and freedom of the will without coercion . That is truly what ennobles the individual.

[ciudadanoespanol]

I wish I could have met Ayn Rand. I am a Spaniard, a world man.

[DeepScreenAnalysis]

The cult of personality around her is nauseating

[Jazzper]

The best advocate of reason - no one is better than Ayn Rand!

[thetruered]

Who else is here because of the love of Bioshock and the fact you figured out you share the same ideals as Andrew Ryan... But then found out that Andrew Ryan was a partial anagram of Ayn Rand so now you're here

[tonyclifton]

Social conservatives love her because she presents the very worst aspects of capitalism coupled with an incredible admiration for selfishness and greed. She believes no one is altruistic and the type of egoism she supported bordered on sociopathic.

[mohammedzulk]

“Atlas Shrugged” a playbook for Coronavirus global economic collapse.

[bill]

I would call myself an objectivist, but I haven't earned the title. And, to be honest, I don't know anyone who has.

There is no single philosophy that is invulnerable to criticism, no school of thought which will appeal to all people in all places at all times in all circumstances except, possibly, opportunism. That, as I define it, is the philosophy of doing whatever it takes to get through the day with as little loss and as much gain as seems possible in the given circumstances. Even altruism fits comfortably within its folds.

Rearden broke his marriage vows ... his contract with his wife. His loyalty to Dagny came at the cost of his disloyalty to his wife. He, too, was an opportunist. His wife had the right, based on Hanks oath to that effect, to expect and demand sexual fidelity from him and Rearden broke his oath. I want to root for Rearden, I really do, but he doesn't deserve a cheering section because he can't be trusted.

Correct me if I am wrong.

[sylvesterful]

Who is Jesus Christ? Ayn Rand stated that the goal of her writing was to overturn the entire influence of Judeo-Christian history. Atlas Shrugged [Greek mythology] uses the question, "Who is John Galt?" to suggest he is the new mystery, a mythological ideal who will be revealed in the flesh to be the man of the mind, the man of the world, the new ideal--the anti-Christ. Galt: the prideful man, the humanists, the man of knowledge (of good and evil), is what it takes to save the world. Like Christ, he recruits his disciples who escape to a hidden "heaven" where they await their return to earth, i.e., after the earth has collapsed without them. Galt's speech at the end of the novel is opposite in ethical tone to the Sermon On The Mount. Galt and his two friends represent the trinity serving as different mental/spiritual versions of Hugh Akston's "ten commandments" as delivered at Patrick Henry University. The dollar sign replaces the sign of the cross as the symbol of their God. Galt traces an invisible image of it against the sky at the end of the novel. As he does so, all the saved ones stand behind him in preparation for their return to earth. Anyone who deeply knows both the novel and the Bible could go on without me, tit-for-tat. Obviously, Ayn Rand is a cult. That does not need to be said again. It does, however, still needs to be pointed out in detail. She is not Aristotle-ism, as she claims. Aristotle evolved into Christian Scholasticism, which crystallized his philosophy into the scientific method during the Middle Ages. America is the crowning jewel of this method (wrongly identified as Pragmatism).. Ayn Rand has led to the decline of America, culminating in Donald Trump, a Frankenstein from whom she would run, screaming that she never intended it to become that. To each his own philosophy (or religion)--but so many professed Christians have confused her Objectivism with the scientific method (thanks to the sloppiness of Pragmatism) that it is about time--if time has not already run out for America--to speak up.

[magicbeetle]

Huh, so we a capitalist University alright this isn't gonna end up bad nope

[caterblaster]

She died as she lived: complete and utter failure, in the heart and the mind.

[MrTooEarnestOnline]

Ayn rand is about 4 tip toes away from full on fascism. I know that many conservatives are a fan of ayn rand and I’m respectful of that but still.

[JonathanJollimore-wv]

It's a very might makes right philosophy and if that's your thing OK but strong should rule and the weak should be ignored.

[kgfgaming]

Who wants to become a phycologist reply me!

[helanthros]

Officials this-that,
Everyone comparing you,
To whom? Another?

[ThreeFingerG]

I posit that Aristotle, John Locke, and Ayn Rand are the 3 greatest individuals to ever walk the face of the Earth.