Objectivism is a philosophy^[1][2] developed by Ayn Rand in the 20th century that encompasses positions on metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, politics, and aesthetics.^[3] For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ... Ayn Rand (IPA: , February 2 [O.S. January 20] 1905 – March 6, 1982), born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum (Russian: ), was a Russian-born American novelist and philosopher. ... The 20th century brought with it upheavals that produced a series of conflicting developments within philosophy over the basis of knowledge and the validity of various absolutes. ... Plato (Left) and Aristotle (right), by Raphael (Stanza della Segnatura, Rome) Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the ultimate nature of reality, being, and the world. ... Theory of knowledge redirects here: for other uses, see theory of knowledge (disambiguation) According to Plato, knowledge is a subset of that which is both true and believed Epistemology or theory of knowledge is the branch of philosophy that studies the nature, methods, limitations, and validity of knowledge and belief. ... For other uses, see Ethics (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Politics (disambiguation). ... Aesthetics is commonly perceived as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste. ...

Objectivism holds that reality exists independent from consciousness; that individual persons are in contact with this reality through sensory perception; that human beings can gain objective knowledge from perception through the process of concept formation; that the proper moral purpose of one's life is the pursuit of one's own happiness or "rational self-interest"; that the only social system consistent with this morality is full respect for individual rights, embodied in pure, consensual laissez-faire capitalism; and that the role of art in human life is to transform man's widest metaphysical ideas, by selective reproduction of reality, into a physical form—a work of art—that one can comprehend and respond to.^[4] This article is about the use of the moral in storytelling. ... For other uses, see Happiness (disambiguation). ... Individualism is a term used to describe a moral, political, or social outlook that stresses human independence and the importance of individual self-reliance and liberty. ... Laissez-faire is short for laissez faire, laissez passer, a French phrase meaning to let things alone, let them pass. First used by the eighteenth century Physiocrats as an injunction against government interference with trade, it is now used as a synonym for strict free market economics. ... For other uses, see Capitalism (disambiguation). ...

Summary

Ayn Rand characterized Objectivism as a philosophy "for living on earth" grounded in reality and aimed at defining man's nature and the nature of the world in which he lives. Rand wrote:

My philosophy, in 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.^[5]

Rand presented her philosophy through her novels The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged, and other works. She elaborated on her ideas in The Objectivist Newsletter, The Objectivist, The Ayn Rand Letter, Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, and other non-fiction books.^[6] For the film, see The Fountainhead (film). ... For the film, see Atlas Shrugged (film). ... The Objectivist Newsletter was an 4-page Objectivist magazine published monthly from January 1962 to December 1965, when it was replaced by The Objectivist. ... The Objectivist was an Objectivist magazine published from January 1966 to September 1971, as the successor to The Objectivist Newsletter. ... Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, published in 1967, was Ayn Rands attempt to summarize the Objectivist theory of concepts, and to submit her solution to the problem of universals. ...

Origins of the name

Objectivism derives its name from its conception of knowledge and values as "objective," neither "intrinsic" nor "subjective." According to Rand, concepts and values are not intrinsic to external reality, nor are they merely subjective (by which Rand means "arbitrary" or "created by [one's] feelings, desires, 'intuitions,' or whims"; like wishful thinking). Rather, valid concepts and values are, as she wrote, "determined by the nature of reality, but to be discovered by man's mind."^[7] For other uses of objectivity, see objectivity (disambiguation). ... Intrinsic is used to describe a characteristic or property of some thing or action which is specific to that thing or action, and which is wholly independent of any other object, action or consequence. ... This article is in need of attention. ... Wishful thinking is the formation of beliefs and making decisions according to what might be pleasing to imagine instead of by appealing to evidence or rationality. ...

Rand chose "Objectivism" as the name of her philosophy because her ideal term to label a philosophy based on the primacy of existence, "Existentialism," had already been adopted to describe the philosophy of Kierkegaard and Nietzsche.^[4] The name is capitalized to distinguish it from other philosophical positions to which the term "objectivism" has sometimes been applied. Existentialism is a philosophical movement that posits that individuals create the meaning and essence of their lives, as opposed to deities or authorities creating it for them. ... Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (IPA: , but usually Anglicized as ;  ) 5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855) was a prolific 19th century Danish philosopher and theologian. ... Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (October 15, 1844 – August 25, 1900) (IPA: ) was a nineteenth-century German philologist and philosopher. ... Objectivism is the philosophy developed by Russian-born American philosopher and author Ayn Rand. ...

Objectivist principles

Metaphysics: Objective reality

Main article: Objectivist metaphysics

Ayn Rand's philosophy is based on three axioms: the Axiom of Existence, the Law of Identity, and the Axiom of Consciousness. Rand defined an axiom as "a statement that identifies the base of knowledge and of any further statement pertaining to that knowledge, a statement necessarily contained in all others whether any particular speaker chooses to identify it or not. An axiom is a proposition that defeats its opponents by the fact that they have to accept it and use it in the process of any attempt to deny it."^[5] As Leonard Peikoff noted, Rand's argumentation "is not a proof that the axioms of existence, consciousness, and identity are true. It is proof that they are axioms, that they are at the base of knowledge and thus inescapable."^[4] All of Objectivism rests on Objectivist metaphysics and Objectivist epistemology: the study of the fundamental nature of reality, and of the nature and proper method of acquiring knowledge. ... In logic, the law of identity states that A = A. Any reflexive relation upholds the law of identity; when discussing equality, the fact that A is A is a tautology. ...

Objectivism states that "Existence exists" (the Axiom of Existence) and "Existence is Identity." To be is to be "an entity of a specific nature made of specific attributes."^[5] That which has no attributes does not and cannot exist. Hence, the Law of Identity, A is A: a thing is what it is. Whereas "existence exists" pertains to existence itself (whether something exists or not), the law of identity pertains to the nature of an object as being necessarily distinct from other objects (whether something exists as this or that). As Rand wrote, "A leaf cannot be all red and green at the same time, it cannot freeze and burn at the same time. A is A."^[5] In logic, the law of identity states that A = A. Any reflexive relation upholds the law of identity; when discussing equality, the fact that A is A is a tautology. ... A is A represents the Law of Identity. ...

Rand held that when one is able to perceive something that exists, then one's "Consciousness exists" (the Axiom of Consciousness), consciousness "being the faculty of perceiving that which exists."^[4] Objectivism maintains that what exists does not exist because one thinks it exists; it simply exists, regardless of anyone's awareness, knowledge or opinion. For Rand, "to be conscious is to be conscious of something," so that an objective reality independent of consciousness has to exist first for consciousness to become possible, and there is no possibility of a consciousness that is conscious of nothing outside itself. Thus consciousness cannot be the only thing that exists. "It cannot be aware only of itself — there is not 'itself' until it is aware of something."^[8] Objectivism holds that the mind cannot create reality, but rather, it is a means of discovering reality.^[9]

Objectivist philosophy regards the Law of Causality, which states that things act in accordance with their natures, as "the law of identity applied to action."^[5] Rand rejected the popular notion that the causal link relates action to action. According to Rand, an "action" is not an entity, rather, it is entities that act, and every action is the action of an entity. The way entities interact is caused by the specific nature (or "identity") of those entities; if they were different there would be a different result.^[4] This article is about the concept of an entity. ...

Epistemology: Reason

Main article: Objectivist epistemology

The starting point of Objectivist epistemology is the principle, presented by Rand as a direct consequence of the metaphysical axiom that "Existence is Identity," that Knowledge is Identification. Objectivist epistemology^[9] defines how one can translate perception, i.e., awareness acquired through the senses, into valid concepts that identify the facts of reality. Objectivisms epistemology, like the other branches of Objectivism, was present in some form ever since the publication of Atlas Shrugged. ... Theory of knowledge redirects here: for other uses, see theory of knowledge (disambiguation) According to Plato, knowledge is a subset of that which is both true and believed Epistemology or theory of knowledge is the branch of philosophy that studies the nature, methods, limitations, and validity of knowledge and belief. ...

Objectivism states that only by the method of reason man can gain knowledge (identification of the facts of reality) and rejects philosophical skepticism. Objectivism also rejects faith and "feeling" as means of attaining knowledge. Although Rand acknowledged the importance of emotion in humans, she maintained that emotion was a consequence of the conscious or subconscious ideas one already holds, not a means of achieving awareness of reality. Philosophical scepticism (UK spelling, scepticism) is both a philosophical school of thought and a method that crosses disciplines and cultures. ... For other uses, see Faith (disambiguation). ...

Rand was neither a classical empiricist (like Hume or the logical positivists) nor a classical rationalist (like Plato, Descartes, or Frege). She disagreed with the empiricists mainly in that she considered perception to be simply sensation extended over time, limiting the scope of perception to automatic, pre-cognitive awareness. Thus, she categorized so-called "perceptual illusions" as errors in cognitive interpretation due to complexity of perceptual data. She held that objective identification of the values of attributes of existents is obtained by measurement, broadly defined as procedures whose perceptual component, the comparison of the attribute's value to a standard, is so simple that an error in the resulting identification is not possible given a focused mind. Therefore, according to Rand, knowledge obtained by measurement (the fact that an entity has the measured attribute, and the value of this attribute relative to the standard) is "contextually certain." Hume is the name of several people: Most likely it refers to: David Hume, (1711-76) 18th-century Scottish philosopher It can also refer to: Alexander Hamilton Hume (1797-1873) Australian explorer Allan Octavian Hume, English ornithologist Basil Cardinal Hume, former Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster Brit Hume, journalist best known... Logical positivism (later referred to as logical empiricism) holds that philosophy should aspire to the same sort of rigor as science. ... For other uses, see Plato (disambiguation). ... René Descartes René Descartes (IPA: , March 31, 1596 – February 11, 1650), also known as Cartesius, worked as a philosopher and mathematician. ... Friedrich Ludwig Gottlob Frege Friedrich Ludwig Gottlob Frege (November 8, 1848 - July 26, 1925) was a German mathematician, logician, and philosopher who is regarded as a founder of both modern mathematical logic and analytic philosophy. ... In psychology and the cognitive sciences, perception is the process of acquiring, interpreting, selecting, and organizing sensory information. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Sensation and perception psychology. ... Measurement is the estimation of the magnitude of some attribute of an object, such as its length or weight, relative to a unit of measurement. ...

Ayn Rand's most distinctive contribution in epistemology is her theory that concepts are properly formed by measurement omission. Objectivism distinguishes valid concepts from poorly formed concepts, such as "anti-concepts."^[10] While we can know that something exists by perception, we can only identify what exists by measurement and logic, which are necessary to turn percepts into valid concepts. Procedural logic (defined by Rand as "the art of non-contradictory identification") specifies that a valid concept is formed by omitting the variable measurements of the values of corresponding attributes of a set of instances or units, but keeping the list of shared attributes - a template with measurements omitted - as the criterion of membership in the conceptual class. When the fact that a unit has all the attributes on this list has been verified by measurement, then that unit is known with contextual certainty to be a unit of the given concept.^[9] Measurement is the estimation of the magnitude of some attribute of an object, such as its length or weight, relative to a unit of measurement. ... For other uses, see Concept (disambiguation). ...

Because a concept is only known to be valid within the range of the measurements by which it was validated, it is an error to assume that a concept is valid outside this range, which is its (contextual) scope. It is also an error to assume that a proposition is known to be valid outside the scope of its concepts, or that the conclusion of a syllogism is known to be valid outside the scope of its premises. Rand ascribed scope violation errors in logic to epistemological intrinsicism.^[9][4]

Rand did not consider the analytic-synthetic distinction, including the view that there are "truths in virtue of meaning," or that "necessary truths" and mathematical truths are best understood as "truths in virtue of meaning," to have merit. She similarly denied the existence of a priori knowledge. Rand also considered her ideas distinct from foundationalism, naive realism about perception like Aristotle, or representationalism (i.e., an indirect realist who believes in a "veil of ideas") like Descartes or Locke. The terms a priori and a posteriori are used in philosophy to distinguish between two different types of propositional knowledge. ... ... In philosophy naïve realism is used to describe the belief that physical objects continue to exist when they are no longer perceived. ... For other uses, see Aristotle (disambiguation). ... Representationalism, or the representational theory of perception, is a philosophical doctrine that in any act of perception, the immediate (direct) object of perception is a sense-datum that represents an external object, which is the mediate (indirect) object of perception. ... René Descartes René Descartes (IPA: , March 31, 1596 – February 11, 1650), also known as Cartesius, worked as a philosopher and mathematician. ... Locke is a common Western surname of English origin: John Locke, an English Enlightenment philosopher. ...

Objectivist epistemology, like most other philosophical branches of Objectivism, was first presented by Rand in Atlas Shrugged.^[5] It is more fully developed in Rand's 1967 Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology.^[9] Rand considered her epistemology and its basis in reason so central to her philosophy that she remarked, "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." For the film, see Atlas Shrugged (film). ... Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, published in 1967, was Ayn Rands attempt to summarize the Objectivist theory of concepts, and to submit her solution to the problem of universals. ... For other uses, see Reason (disambiguation). ...

Ethics: Rational self-interest

Main article: Objectivist ethics

Ayn Rand identified ethics as principles needed in all contexts, whether one is alone or with others. She summarized (see Summary above) that man properly lives "with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life." According to Objectivist epistemology, states of mind, such as happiness, are not primary; they are the consequence of specific facts of existence. Therefore man needs an objective standard, grounded in the facts of reality, to achieve happiness. The human faculty of happiness is a biologically evolved measuring instrument (a "barometer"^[11]) that measures how well one is doing in the pursuit of life. Therefore the standard by which one can judge whether or not some action will lead to greater or lesser happiness is, whether or not it promotes one's life. But, as Rand writes, The Objectivist ethics is a subset of the Objectivist philosophy formulated by Ayn Rand. ...

"To live, man must hold three things as the supreme and ruling values of his life: Reason, Purpose, Self-Esteem."^[5] For other uses, see Reason (disambiguation). ... Purpose in its most general sense is the anticipated aim which guides action. ... In psychology, self-esteem or self-worth is a persons self-image at an emotional level; circumventing reason and logic. ...

The ethics of Objectivism is based on the observation that one's own choices and actions are instrumental in maintaining and enhancing one's life, and therefore one's happiness. Rand wrote:

"Man has been called a rational being, but rationality is a matter of choice — and the alternative his nature offers him is: rational being or suicidal animal. Man has to be man — by choice; he has to hold his life as a value — by choice; he has to learn to sustain it — by choice; he has to discover the values it requires and practice his virtues — by choice.

"A code of values accepted by choice is a code of morality."^[5]

There is a difference, therefore, between rational self-interest as pursuit of one's own life and happiness in reality, and what Ayn Rand called "selfishness without a self" - a range-of-the-moment pseudo-"selfish" whim-worship or "hedonism." A whim-worshipper or "hedonist," according to Rand, is not motivated by a desire to live his own human life, but by a wish to live on a sub-human level. Instead of using "that which promotes my (human) life" as his standard of value, he mistakes "that which I (mindlessly happen to) value" for a standard of value, in contradiction of the fact that, existentially, he is a human and therefore rational organism. The "I value" in whim-worship or hedonism can be replaced with "we value," "he values," "they value," or "God values," and still it would remain a dissociated-from-reality ethics-killer. Rand repudiated the equation of rational selfishness with hedonistic or whim-worshipping "selfishness-without-a-self." She held that the former is good, and the latter evil, and that there is a fundamental difference between them.^[11] A corollary to Rand's endorsement of self-interest is her rejection of the ethical doctrine of altruism — which she defined in the sense of August Comte's altruism (he coined the term), as a moral obligation to live for the sake of others. Look up I, i in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Altruism is an ethical doctrine that holds that individuals have an ethical obligation to help, serve, or benefit others. ... Auguste Comte Auguste Comte (full name Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte) (January 17 (recorded January 19), 1798 _ September 5, 1857) was a positivist thinker and a founder of the discipline of sociology. ...

Rand defined a value as "that which one acts to gain and/or keep." The rational individual's choice of values to pursue is guided by his need, if he chooses to live, to act so as to maintain and promote his own life. Rand did not hold that values proper to human life are "intrinsic" in the sense of being independent of one's choices, or that there are values that an individual must pursue by command or imperative ("reason accepts no commandments"). Neither did Rand consider proper values "subjective," to be pursued just because one has chosen, perhaps arbitrarily, to pursue them. Rather, Rand held that valid values are "objective," in the sense of being identifiable as serving to preserve and enhance one's life. Some values are specific to the nature of each individual, but there are also universal human values, including the preservation of one's own individual rights, which Rand defined as "conditions of existence required by man's nature for his proper survival."^[5]

Objectivism holds that morality is a "code of values accepted by choice." According to Leonard Peikoff, Rand held that "man needs [morality] for one reason only: he needs it in order to survive. Moral laws, in this view, are principles that define how to nourish and sustain human life; they are no more than this and no less."^[4] Objectivism does not claim that there is a moral requirement to choose to value one's life. As Allan Gotthelf points out, for Rand, "Morality rests on a fundamental, pre-moral choice:"^[12] the moral agent's choice to live rather than die, so that the moral "ought" is always contextual and agent-relative. To be moral is to choose that which promotes one's life in one's actual context. There are no "categorical imperatives" (as in Kantianism) that an individual would be obliged to carry out regardless of consequences for his life. The categorical imperative is the central philosophical concept of the moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant, and of modern deontological ethics. ... Kantianism is the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher born in Königsberg, Germany (now Kaliningrad, Russia). ...

Politics: Individual rights and capitalism

Objectivist politics begins with meta-politics: the question of whether, and if so why, a rational agent needs a set of principles - a politics - for living with others in society. The starting point for Rand's meta-politics is the observation, which she calls "the Trader Principle," that one can preserve and enhance one's life more effectively by interacting voluntarily, by way of cooperation and trade, with other individuals. The rational individual needs a politics to tell him how to preserve his individual rights while interacting with, and benefiting from cooperation and trade with, other individuals in society.^[5]

The first principle derived in Objectivist politics is harmony of interests: Objectivism rejects the possibility of a long-term conflict of interest between two rational individuals under normal circumstances, though it may happen in emergencies, broadly defined as situations outside the scope of the trader principle (see the section on "Logic and errors of logic" in the article on Objectivist epistemology for discussion of contextual scope.) Rand then derives the principle of "non-aggression", or "non-initiation of force." It follows from these that it is a founding principle of all legitimate social institutions, and the only proper function of government, to assure that social rights, "moral principles that define and sanction the individual's freedom of action in a social context," correspond exactly to individual rights, "conditions of existence required by man's nature for his proper survival."^[5] For this reason, there is in the Objectivist view no such thing as a "collective right" that would go beyond what is required to maintain the individual rights of individuals. Objectivisms epistemology, like the other branches of Objectivism, was present in some form ever since the publication of Atlas Shrugged. ... Individual rights represent the moral rights of individuals in society prior to government. ...

Although Objectivist literature does not use the term "natural rights," the rights it recognizes are based directly on the nature of human beings as described in Objectivist epistemology and Objectivist ethics. Since human beings must make choices in order to survive as human beings, the basic requirement of a human life is the freedom to make, and act on, one's own independent rational judgment, according to one's self-interest. Objectivisms epistemology, like the other branches of Objectivism, was present in some form ever since the publication of Atlas Shrugged. ... The Objectivist ethics is a subset of the Objectivist philosophy formulated by Ayn Rand. ...

Thus, according to Rand, the fundamental right of human beings is the right to (live one's own) life. By this phrase Objectivism means the right to act in furtherance of one's own life — not the right to have one's life protected, or to have one's survival guaranteed, by the involuntary effort of other human beings. Indeed, on the Objectivist account, one of the corollaries of the right to life is the right to property which, according to Objectivism, represents the product of one's own effort; on this view, one person's right to life cannot entail the right to dispose of another's private property, under any circumstances. Under Objectivism, one has the right to transfer one's own property to whomever one wants for whatever reason, but such a transfer is only ethical if it is made under the terms of a trade freely consented to by both parties, in the absence of any form of coercion, each with the expectation that the trade will benefit them. Objectivism holds that human beings have the right to manipulate nature in any way they see fit, as long as it does not infringe on the rights of others. From this, the right to property arises. For other uses, see Coercion (disambiguation). ... // Use of the term The concept of property or ownership has no single or universally accepted definition. ...

On the Objectivist account, the rights of other human beings are not of direct moral import to the agent who respects them; they acquire their moral purchase through an intermediate step. An Objectivist respects the rights of other human beings out of the recognition of the value to himself or herself of living in a world in which the freedom of action of other rational (or potentially rational) human beings is respected. One's respect for the rights of others is founded on the value, to oneself, of other persons as actual or potential partners in cooperation and trade.

For these reasons Ayn Rand defends capitalism as the ideal form of human society. Objectivism reserves the name "capitalism" for full laissez-faire capitalism — i.e., a society in which individual rights are consistently respected and in which all property is (therefore) privately owned. Any system short of this is regarded by Objectivists as a "mixed economy" consisting of certain aspects of capitalism and its opposite (usually called socialism or statism),^[5] with pure socialism at the opposite extreme. For other uses, see Capitalism (disambiguation). ... Laissez-faire is short for laissez faire, laissez passer, a French phrase meaning to let things alone, let them pass. First used by the eighteenth century Physiocrats as an injunction against government interference with trade, it is now used as a synonym for strict free market economics. ... Religious socialism Key Issues People and organizations Related subjects Socialism refers to a broad array of ideologies and political movements with the goal of a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to control by the community. ... Statism (or Etatism) is a term that is used to describe: Specific instances of state intervention in personal, social or economic matters. ...

Far from regarding capitalism as a dog-eat-dog pattern of social organization, Objectivism regards it as a beneficent system in which the innovations of the most creative benefit everyone else in the society. Indeed, Objectivism values creative achievement itself and regards capitalism as the only kind of society in which it can flourish.

A society is, by Objectivist standards, moral to the extent that individuals are free to pursue their goals. This freedom requires that human relationships of all forms be voluntary (which, in the Objectivist view, means that they must not involve the use of physical force), mutual consent being the defining characteristic of a free society. Thus the proper role of institutions of governance is limited to using force in retaliation against those who initiate its use — i.e., against criminals and foreign aggressors. Economically, people are free to produce and exchange as they see fit, with as complete a separation of state and economics as of state and church. Constantines Conversion, depicting the conversion of Emperor Constantine the Great to Christianity, by Peter Paul Rubens. ...

Aesthetics: Romantic realism

The Objectivist theory of art flows from its epistemology, by way of "psycho-epistemology" (Rand's term for an individual's characteristic mode of functioning in acquiring knowledge). Art, according to Objectivism, serves a human cognitive need: it allows human beings to grasp concepts as though they were percepts. This article is about the philosophical concept of Art. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ...

Objectivism defines "art" as a "selective re-creation of reality according to an artist's metaphysical value-judgments"—that is, according to what the artist believes to be ultimately true and important about the nature of reality and humanity. In this respect Objectivism regards art as a way of presenting abstractions concretely, in perceptual form.

The human need for art, on this view, stems from the need for cognitive economy. A concept is already a sort of mental shorthand standing for a large number of concretes, allowing a human being to think indirectly or implicitly of many more such concretes than can be held explicitly in mind. But a human being cannot hold indefinitely many concepts explicitly in mind either—and yet, on the Objectivist view, needs a comprehensive conceptual framework in order to provide guidance in life.

Art offers a way out of this dilemma by providing a perceptual, easily grasped means of communicating and thinking about a wide range of abstractions.

Objectivism regards art as an effective way to communicate a moral or ethical ideal. Objectivism does not, however, regard art as propagandistic: even though art involves moral values and ideals, its purpose is not to educate, only to show or project.

Moreover, art need not be, and often is not, the outcome of a full-blown, explicit philosophy. Usually it stems from an artist's sense of life (which is preconceptual and largely emotional).

Rand held that Romanticism was the highest school of literary art, noting that Romanticism was "based on the recognition of the principle that man possesses the faculty of volition."

What the Romanticists brought to art was the primacy of values… Values are the source of emotions: a great deal of emotional intensity was projected in the work of the Romanticists and in the reactions of their audiences, as well as a great deal of color, imagination, originality, excitement, and all the other consequences of a value-oriented view of life.^[13]

The term "romanticism", however, is often affiliated with emotionalism, to which Objectivism is completely opposed. Historically, many romantic artists were philosophically subjectivists or socialists. Most Objectivists who are also artists subscribe to what they call Romantic Realism, which is how Ayn Rand labeled her own work. // What is it? Emotionalism has been mentioned in many books, movies, and plays. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Socialism is any economic system in which the means of production are owned and controlled collectively or a political philosophy advocating such a system. ... Romantic Realism is an aesthetic term that usually refers to art that deals with the themes of volition and value while also acknowledging objective reality and the importance of technique. ... Ayn Rand (IPA: , February 2 [O.S. January 20] 1905 – March 6, 1982), born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum (Russian: ), was a Russian-born American novelist and philosopher. ...

Ayn Rand on the history of philosophy

In the title essay of her early work For the New Intellectual, Rand levels serious criticisms of canonical historical philosophers, especially Plato, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, G. W. F. Hegel, Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Herbert Spencer. In her later book, Philosophy: Who Needs It, she repeats and enlarges upon her criticisms of Kant, and she also accuses Harvard political theorist John Rawls of gross philosophical errors. Rand has since been accused of misinterpreting the works of many of these philosophers.^[14] For other uses, see Plato (disambiguation). ... For other persons named David Hume, see David Hume (disambiguation). ... Kant redirects here. ... Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (August 27, 1770 - November 14, 1831) was a German philosopher born in Stuttgart, Württemberg, in present-day southwest Germany. ... Karl Heinrich Marx (May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883) was a 19th century philosopher, political economist, and revolutionary. ... Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (October 15, 1844 – August 25, 1900) (IPA: ) was a nineteenth-century German philologist and philosopher. ... For other persons named Herbert Spencer, see Herbert Spencer (disambiguation). ... John Rawls (February 21, 1921 – November 24, 2002) was an American philosopher, a professor of political philosophy at Harvard University and author of A Theory of Justice (1971), Political Liberalism, Justice as Fairness: A Restatement, and The Law of Peoples. ...

Interpretation of Immanuel Kant

German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724 - 1804), whose philosophical influence Rand heavily criticised.

In Rand's words, Image File history File links Immanuel_Kant_(painted_portrait). ... Image File history File links Immanuel_Kant_(painted_portrait). ... Kant redirects here. ...

Although Rand disagreed strongly with Kant on almost every philosophical issue, their divergence is greatest in metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics. In regard to Kant's essential philosophy, his metaphysics and epistemology, she had this to say: Plato (Left) and Aristotle (right), by Raphael (Stanza della Segnatura, Rome) Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the ultimate nature of reality, being, and the world. ... Theory of knowledge redirects here: for other uses, see theory of knowledge (disambiguation) According to Plato, knowledge is a subset of that which is both true and believed Epistemology or theory of knowledge is the branch of philosophy that studies the nature, methods, limitations, and validity of knowledge and belief. ... For other uses, see Ethics (disambiguation). ...

The "phenomenal" world, said Kant, is not real: reality, as perceived by man's mind, is a distortion. The distorting mechanism is man's conceptual faculty: man's basic concepts (such as time, space, existence) are not derived from experience or reality, but come from an automatic system of filters in his consciousness (labeled "categories" and "forms of perception") which impose their own design on his perception of the external world and make him incapable of perceiving it in any manner other than the one in which he does perceive it. This proves, said Kant, that man's concepts are only a delusion, but a collective delusion which no one has the power to escape. Thus reason and science are "limited," said Kant; they are valid only so long as they deal with this world, with a permanent, pre-determined collective delusion (and thus the criterion of reason's validity was switched from the objective to the collective), but they are impotent to deal with the fundamental, metaphysical issues of existence, which belong to the "noumenal" world. The "noumenal" world is unknowable; it is the world of "real" reality, "superior" truth and "things in themselves" or "things as they are"—which means: things as they are not perceived by man.

Even apart from the fact that Kant's theory of the "categories" as the source of man's concepts was a preposterous invention, his argument amounted to a negation, not only of man's consciousness, but of any consciousness, of consciousness as such. His argument, in essence, ran as follows: man is limited to a consciousness of a specific nature, which perceives by specific means and no others, therefore, his consciousness is not valid; man is blind, because he has eyes—deaf, because he has ears—deluded, because he has a mind—and the things he perceives do not exist, because he perceives them.^[16]

In ethics, Rand criticized Kant for claiming that an action only has moral worth if it is done out of duty, a concept which, according to Rand, was an outgrowth of mysticism and the tradition of selflessness and which had no basis in reality. She wrote:

"As to Kant's version of morality, it was appropriate to the kind of zombies that would inhabit that kind of [Kantian] universe: it consisted of total, abject selflessness. An action is moral, said Kant, only if one has no desire to perform it, but performs it out of a sense of duty and derives no benefit from it of any sort, neither material nor spiritual; a benefit destroys the moral value of an action. (Thus, if one has no desire to be evil, one cannot be good; if one has, one can.)"^[17]

Cultural impact

The Fountainhead Cafe, a coffee shop in New York City inspired by Objectivism. The sign reads "Eat Objectively, Live Rich".

Ayn Rand's ideas are often supported with great passion or derided with great disgust, with little in between. Some of this comes from Rand challenging fundamental tenets of the Judeo-Christian tradition, and some may be due to her own all-or-nothing, take-it-or-leave-it approach to her work. She warned her readers that, "If you agree with some tenets of Objectivism, but disagree with others, do not call yourself an Objectivist; give proper authorship for the parts you agree with — and then indulge any flights of fancy you wish, on your own." Image File history File links Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution‎ (480 × 640 pixels, file size: 51 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) The content of this image was reviewed by Astrojunta and afterwards uploaded by FlickrLickr. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution‎ (480 × 640 pixels, file size: 51 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) The content of this image was reviewed by Astrojunta and afterwards uploaded by FlickrLickr. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Jacob wrestling an angel, by Gustave Doré (1832-1883), a shared Judeo-Christian story. ...

Rand was very critical of the state of the academic fields of literature and philosophy, once threatening legal action against an academic who was preparing a critical study of her work.^[18] In return, Objectivism has been largely ignored or harshly criticized by academics. (For detailed summaries of some of the criticisms see bibliography of work on Objectivism.) Objectivism has been called "fiercely anti-academic,"^[18] a collection of "non-mainstream philosophical works," and more of an ideological movement than a well-grounded philosophy.^[19] Ayn Rand and Objectivism have been the subject of a wealth of literature, both in favor of Objectivist ideals and against it. ...

In recent years Rand's works are more likely to be encountered in the classroom than in decades past.^[18] Since 1999, several monographs were published and a refereed Journal of Ayn Rand Studies began.^[20] In 2006 the University of Pittsburgh held a conference focusing on Objectivism.^[21] In addition, two Objectivist philosophers (Tara Smith and James Lennox) hold tenured positions at two of the fifteen leading American philosophy departments.^[22] Objectivist programs and fellowships have been supported at the University of Pittsburgh, University of Texas at Austin and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Ayn Rand Society, dedicated to fostering the scholarly study of Objectivism, is affiliated with the American Philosophical Association's Eastern Division.^[23] The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related, doctoral/research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. ... Medicament assisted rehabilitation conference in Oslo An academic conference is a conference for researchers (not always academics) to present and discuss their work. ... Tara Smith is a full professor of philosophy [1] at the University of Texas at Austin and author of books on rights, ethics and values. ... Look up tenure in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related, doctoral/research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. ... University of Texas redirects here. ... The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public, coeducational, research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. ... The American Philosophical Association is the main professional organization for philosophers in the United States. ...

Rand is not found in many of the comprehensive academic reference texts, including The Oxford Companion to Philosophy or The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, each over a thousand pages long, nor is there an entry for her on the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. A lengthy article on Rand appears in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,^[24] and she has a brief entry in the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy which features the following passage: The Oxford Companion to Philosophy is a reference work in Philosophy ed. ... The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy is a dictionary of philosophical terms published by Cambridge University Press and edited by Robert Audi. ... The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (hereafter SEP) is a free online encyclopedia of philosophy run and maintained by Stanford University. ... The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy is an online encyclopedia on philosophical topics and philosophers founded by James Fieser in 1995. ... The Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a major encyclopedia of philosophy that was first published by Routledge in 1998. ...

The influence of Rand’s ideas was strongest among college students in the USA but attracted little attention from academic philosophers. [....] Rand’s political theory is of little interest. Its 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

Allan Gotthelf responded unfavorably to this entry and came to her defense.^[25] He and other scholars have argued for a more academic study of Objectivism, viewing Rand's philosophy as a unique and intellectually interesting defense of liberalism that is worth debating.^[26] Allan Gotthelf (born Brooklyn NY, 1942) is emeritus professor of philosophy at The College of New Jersey and visiting professor of history and philosophy of science at the University of Pittsburgh, where he holds the Universitys Fellowship for the Study of Objectivism (since 2003). ...

Despite the relative lack of academic attention paid to Objectivism, particularly early on, Ayn Rand's books remain popular, selling over 400,000 copies per year.^[27]

Criticisms of Objectivism

For detailed summaries of specific responses to Objectivism discussed below, see bibliography of work on Objectivism. Ayn Rand and Objectivism have been the subject of a wealth of literature, both in favor of Objectivist ideals and against it. ...

Louis P. Pojman writes that some of Objectivism's central claims are demonstrably false.^[28] Robert Nozick, a prominent libertarian philosopher, largely agreed with Rand's political conclusions but disagreed with her reasoning.^[29] Robert Nozick (November 16, 1938 – January 23, 2002) was an American philosopher and Pellegrino University Professor at Harvard University. ...

According to Jenny Hayle, Rand's "philosophical movement, Objectivism was often to be called a cult...."^[30]. Murray Rothbard^[31], Jeff Walker^[32] and Michael Shermer ^[33][34] argue that Objectivism's claim "that there are objective truths and realities, particularly in the moral realm dealing with values"^[34] contributes to manifestations of cultism that they found within the Objectivist movement (see Objectivist movement for details.) Walker compares it with organizations that have been considered cults, such as Scientology^[32]. Shermer, who considers Objectivism "perfectly sound ... the best thing going,"^[34] wrote that "...Peikoff and his Ayn Rand Institute did precisely what a cult would do by squelching criticism."^[35]. However, answering a fan letter in which she saw signs of incipient cultism, Rand wrote, "A blind follower is precisely what my philosophy condemns and what I reject. Objectivism is not a mystic cult."^[36] Murray Newton Rothbard (March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an influential American economist, historian and natural law theorist belonging to the Austrian School of Economics who helped define modern libertarianism. ... Michael Shermer Michael Shermer (born September 8, 1954 in Glendale, California) is a science writer, historian of science, founder of The Skeptics Society, and editor of its magazine Skeptic, which is largely devoted to investigating and debunking pseudoscientific and supernatural claims. ... The Objectivist movement was a movement to popularize Ayn Rands Objectivist philosophy that began with the founding of the Nathaniel Branden Institute in 1960. ... Doctrine Practices Concepts People Public outreach Organization Controversy Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by American pulp fiction author L. Ron Hubbard in 1952 as an outgrowth of his earlier self-help system, Dianetics. ... Leonard Peikoff circa 1970 Leonard Peikoff (born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1933) is an Objectivist philosopher. ... The Ayn Rand Institute: The Center for the Advancement of Objectivism (ARI) was established in 1985, three years after Ayn Rands death, by Leonard Peikoff, Rands legal and intellectual heir. ...

Psychologists Albert Ellis and Nathaniel Branden argue that there are potentially significant psychological hazards in attempting to follow the philosophy of Ayn Rand.^[37][38] This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Nathaniel Branden (b. ...

Monographs

Leonard Peikoff is Ayn Rand's designated intellectual heir, and his book, Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand (E. P. Dutton), is a comprehensive survey of Ayn Rand's philosophy. Objectivism is central to Ronald Merrill's introductory monograph The Ideas of Ayn Rand (Open Court.) Monographs on specific aspects of Objectivism include Viable Values (Rowman & Littlefield) and Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics: the Virtuous Egoist (Cambridge University Press) by Tara Smith, The Evidence of the Senses (Louisiana State University Press) by David Kelley, and The Biological Basis of Teleological Concepts (The Ayn Rand Institute Press) by Harry Binswanger. Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand, (ISBN 0-452-01101-9) is a book by Dr. Leonard Peikoff, which he claims is the first comprehensive statement of the philosophy of Objectivism. ... E. P. Dutton is an American book publishing company founded as a book retailer in Boston, Massachusetts in 1852 by Edward Payson Dutton. ... Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc. ... The headquarters of the Cambridge University Press, in Trumpington Street, Cambridge. ... Tara Smith is a full professor of philosophy [1] at the University of Texas at Austin and author of books on rights, ethics and values. ... Founded in 1935, the Louisiana State University Press is a nonprofit book publisher dedicated to the publication of scholarly, general interest, and regional books. ... David Kelley For the producer of the same name, see David E. Kelley. ... The Ayn Rand Institute: The Center for the Advancement of Objectivism (ARI) was established in 1985, three years after Ayn Rands death, by Leonard Peikoff, Rands legal and intellectual heir. ... Harry Binswanger (born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1944) is a philosopher and writer. ...

References