Ayn Rand - The Ayn Rand reader

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AYN RAND is the author of Atlas Shrugged, philosophically the most challenging best-seller of its time. Her first novel, We the Living, was published in 1936, followed by Anthem. With the publication of The Fountainhead in 1943, she achieved a spectacular and enduring success. Rands unique philosophy, Objectivism, has gained a worldwide audience. The fundamentals of her philosophy are set forth in such books as Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, The Virtue of Selfishness, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, and The Romantic Manifesto. Ayn Rand died in 1982.

LEONARD PEIKOFF is universally recognized as the preeminent Rand scholar writing today. He worked closely with her for thirty years and was designated by Rand as her intellectual heir and as heir to her estate. He has taught philosophy at Hunter College, Long Island University, and New York University, and lectures on Rands philosophy throughout the country. Peikoff is the author of Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand, and hosts the national radio talk show Philosophy: Who Needs It?

GARY HULL, who holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Claremont, has taught philosophy at California State University, Fullerton, Whittier College, and is currently an adjunct professor at Duke University. He has lectured on Ayn Rands philosophy throughout the country and teaches an annual seminar on Objectivism for the Ayn Rand Institute.

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First published by Plume, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

First Printing, January, 1999

Copyright The Estate of Ayn Rand, 1999

Introduction copyright Leonard Peikoff, 1999

Preface copyright Gary Hull, 1999

Editors notes copyright Gary Hull and Leonard Peikoff. 1999

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Excerpts from The Fountainhead reprinted with the permission of Simon & Schuster. Copyright 1943 by The Bobbs-Merrill Company; copyright renewed 1970 by Ayn Rand.

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN PUBLICATION DATA

Rand, Ayn.

The Ayn Rand reader / edited by Gary Hull and Leonard Peikoff. p. cm.

eISBN : 978-1-101-13725-3

I. Hull, Gary. II. Peikoff, Leonard. III. Title.

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INTRODUCTION

by Leonard Peikoff

AYN RANDS body of work, including posthumous collections, now extends to twenty-two volumes. Her best-known and most philosophical novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, number respectively 727 and 1,168 pages (in hardcover). This abundance of material poses a problem for many time-pressed readers. They do not know where to plunge in or how to select a representative sample. The present book is designed to meet these needs.

The readers I have in mind probably read relatively little fiction or philosophy. But they have noticed that AR is known virtually everywhereand that everyone seems to have an impassioned opinion about her. They have heard her books being extolled and denounced with equal intensityoften in quite unexpected quarters. Naturally enough, they are intrigued by the controversy.

Here is a chance for such individuals to explore her works briefly and reach a judgment of their own.

Although I hope it will be of value to previous readers of AR, this anthology is intended as an entre for those who know little or nothing about her. Each of her four novels and every branch of philosophy are represented within its pages, even if only in brief excerpts. Whoever finishes the book, therefore, can say in all conscience that he knows the essence of ARand that he knows it by means of actually having read her.

ARs philosophic ideas permeate each of her novels. In broad tendency, however, her early novels are devoted to social-political issues; The Fountainhead to ethical issues; and Atlas Shrugged, her magnum opus, to the fundamental branches of philosophy. This progression is the key to the present books organization (see the Editors Preface below).

Although the material has been organized in a definite structure, browsers who wish merely to dip in at random can profit from doing so. Those who wish to explore further will find that the selections are not only representative; they have been picked deliberately from a wide range of primary sources, and thereby suggest a fairly complete range of options for future reading.

As a mini-orientation for new readers, let me offer here a thumb-nail sketch of ARs Objectivist philosophy.

Metaphysics: The universe exists objectively, independent of consciousness. Its fundamental law is the law of identity, A is A.

Epistemology: Reason is mans only means of knowledge, both of facts and of values. Reason is the faculty of identifying and integrating, in conceptual form, the material provided by mans senses.

Ethics: The only scientific ethics is the ethics of rational self-interest, which holds that Mans Life is the standard of moral value and that rationality is the primary virtue. Each man, therefore, should live by his own mind and for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor others to himself.

Politics: The only social system consistent with the requirements of Mans Life is laissez-faire capitalism, the complete separation of state and economics. The proper function of government is to protect each individuals inalienable rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness.