Over thirty million copies of English-language editions of Ayn Rands books have been sold since the 1940s, with many more in dozens of other languages, and sales have not slowed down [1]. This articles sub-title captures the heart of why her workespecially her fictionhas enduring appeal, despite academia and the popular press being generally...
Over thirty million copies of English-language editions of Ayn Rands books have been sold since the 1940s, with many more in dozens of other languages, and sales have not slowed down [1]. This articles sub-title captures the heart of why her workespecially her fictionhas enduring appeal, despite academia and the popular press being generally hostile even to the mention of her name. The quotation appears in the last part of The Fountainhead, Rands 1943 novel that put her on the cultural map. A young man recently graduated from college rides his bicycle through the hills of Pennsylvania, wondering whether life is worth living and whether he should pursue his dream of being a composer. He longs to see others achievements as tangible products of their quest for happiness, if only to see that its possible. Suddenly, he is confronted with a newly finished summer home community that seems to spring organically from the sides of the hills. He notices a man perched on a boulder who serenely gazes over the beautiful homes in the valley below. After finding out that the manHoward Roarkis the architect responsible for the scene before them, he thanks Roark and confidently rides off into his future armed with the courage to face a lifetime.
Many readers have been inspired by these words, amazed at the story unfolding before their eyes. Its unusual to encounter literature that embodies such benevolent, life-affirming values. This is an extraordinary kind of Heros Journey. Filled not only with heroes meeting challenges with the assistance of friends against ones foes, it also contains the message that philosophy mattersfor everyone. How well or poorly your life goes depends on whether you hold the right ideas or not. The Fountainheadas well as Rands 1957 magnum opus, Atlas Shruggedpaints a world where happiness and joy are attainable through using ones mind to pursue ones passion with integrity and to face and overcome obstacles with reality-oriented determination. Its a universe where achievement is possible; self-esteem is earned through productive work; and voluntary interactions foster intensely rewarding personal, social, and professional relationships. And its a reality that any person can choose to help create every day of ones life.
___
"Rand's work contains the message that philosophy mattersfor everyone. How well or poorly your life goes depends on whether you hold the right ideas or not." ___
Journeying through the rest of Rands corpusher fiction as well as her non-fiction philosophy, which she named Objectivismis challenging and rewarding. The essentials of Objectivism are: reality exists, we can know reality objectively through our senses and the use of reason, ones own happiness is ones highest moral purpose (egoism), limited government is justified only for the protection of individual rights, people should be free to trade the fruits of their work (capitalism), and the purpose of art is to project and experience in concrete form ones vision of life. Many people have been engaged and inspired by these ideas, ideally using them as springboards for further thought about whats true and how best to live. There are also many who reject Rands ideas, though few of those have bothered to read her work carefully (or at all) before passing judgment on it.
A small sample of vitriol hurled at Rands work in popular media includes: complete lack of charity; execrable claptrap and a personality as compelling as a sledge hammer; crackpot . . . an historical anachronism and a wretched novelist; an absurd philosophy and a total crock. [2] Both supporters and detractors of her work have also noted the derision that many philosophers have for it, dismissing her work contemptuously on the basis of hearsay or laugh[ing] out of the room anyone bringing up her name [3]. Add to the vitriol some of the oft-repeated myths about Rands views:
(1) She is Conservative and high priestess of the acute Right on the American political spectrum. [4]
(2) She takes Nietzschean individualism to an extreme. [5]
(3) In upholding selfishness, individuals should never care about anyone else, even regarding them as totally expendable tools to be manipulated. At best, charity or benevolence is a minor virtue. [6]
(4) She was an unabashed apologist for dog-eat-dog capitalism, allowing the rich to cozy up to government in plutocratic fashion. [7]
The ad hominem attacks above are best brushed aside into the dustbin of history. Mischaracterizations can be dispelled by examining Rands work for what it says. First, Rands views dont fit neatly into either the political Right or Left. She was a radical for individual rights who rejected the false dichotomy between personal and economic freedom, and rejected being labeled Conservative or Libertarian. A portion of the Rightnamely, some Libertarians and Tea Party membershave supported parts of Rands theory. However, a staunch anti-religion naturalist, she angers many on the Right by defending rights to abortion, free speech, and drugs regardless of her own stance on the moral worth of those activities. She angers the Left even more by opposing welfare-state redistribution and defending rights to private property and keeping ones income. [8]
___
"Rands defense of capitalism is grounded in her view of egoism. We each need to create the material and spiritual values needed to live as humans. We gain immeasurably through exchanging values voluntarily with others." ___
Regarding the second myth, Rand read some of Friedrich Nietzsches works when she was in college. She undeniably shares with him a polemical writing style and acknowledges that she admires his sense of mans potential for greatness. This is stated at the same time, though, as Rand expresses her profound disagreement with what she sees as Nietzsches mysticism, irrationalism, subordination of reason to the will-to-power, and malevolent view of the world. [9] Her greatest intellectual debt is owed instead to Aristotlemetaphysical and epistemological realist and defender of reason and virtue ethicswho she regarded as the greatest of all philosophers. [10]
The third myth vanishes when we examine Rands version of egoism. An egoist is one who regards oneself as the ultimatenot the onlybeneficiary of ones actions. Heroes in all of Rands novels risk their lives for the sake of valuesincluding other peoplethey hold dear. She defends ones choice to assist strangers in emergency and everyday contexts out of good will toward other living beings, so long as doing so is not a sacrificial duty that jeopardizes ones well-being. Rand even dubs as psychopaths those who are totally indifferent to anything living. [11] How does this square with egoism? It begins with a proper conception of the self. We are human beingsnot animalswith a reasoning mind to be integrated with ones emotions. Goals worth pursuing for ones long-term survival can be achieved only in certain ways, namely, by exercising virtues such as rationality, productiveness, pride, independence, integrity, honesty, and justice. These virtues demand the best of our selves, precluding the initiation of force against other persons or attempts to gain benefits from them through deceit or fraud. [12]
The fourth myth has been the most persistent, for defending capitalism on moral grounds requires fighting against millennia of prejudice against money-making. Think, for example, of the Biblical proverb of how its easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to gain entrance to Heaven or how Shylock is scorned for making money on loans in Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice. Rands defense of capitalism is grounded in her view of egoism. We each need to create the material and spiritual values needed to live as humans. We gain immeasurably through exchanging values voluntarily with others. Rand calls this the trader principle. Those who seek to gain resources through coercive meansthe ones Rand depicts as villains in her novelsare either private criminals or political cronies who violate individual rights. Genuine businessmen dont seek political favors or otherwise subvert the rule of law. When free to trade voluntarily, they innovate, produce job opportunities, and increase living standards. In short, they create wealth by applying their minds to the task of living, leading to win-win outcomes. [13]
___
"President Donald Trump is an alleged Ayn Rand acolyte", but being a fan of Rands work is not the same as understanding her views, applying them properly, or living up to them consistently in ones own life." ___
It should be apparent by now why so many people find Rands work appealing. Her views, thoughlike any otherscan and should be scrutinized, critiqued, and developed where needed. Philosophers who have taken her work seriously disagree about how to understand some of Rands key ideas. For example, there are rival interpretations of what she means by the claim that our ultimate aim is life, or survival as man qua man, and whether this is equivalent to eudaimonism, the view that flourishing (which centrally involves virtue) is our ultimate aim. [14] Some eudaimonists argue that virtue, not life, is the ultimate value and that it might conflict with egoism, which would create problems for Rands ethical theory. More than anything, though, Rands philosophical system is under-developed in some ways. She herself refers to her non-fiction collections as outlines, previews, and introductions to material that she had intended to write book-length treatments of (though she didnt end up doing so). [15]
Having addressed some of the most significant misunderstandings of Objectivism, we can ask: What accounts for the persistent hostility and misrepresentation? The reasons are several. Some people might assume that such depictions accurately represent Rands views, and then they repeat those falsehoods. Such individuals can instead withhold comment until dispelling their ignorance of the source rather than rely on someone elses judgments about it.
Others read Rands work and disagree partially or entirely with her views. This is unsurprising, given that she challenges many sacred cows, including religion, altruism, determinism, collectivism, and subjectivism. While a relative few in this category engage in fair and honest discussion about her ideas [16], many either misunderstand Rand and end up mischaracterizing her views or willfully misrepresent them to dissuade others from taking her seriously. Its unfortunately easier to demonize ones opponents than to argue with them.
For others, their rejection of Rand is based less on the content of her views than on her sense of life. Its fashionable, especially among academics and public intellectuals, to be jaded, cynical, and ironic. Rands workwith its hallmarks of benevolence and heroismthankfully exhibits none of these. It instead offers a spirit of youthful optimism that provides resilience needed to achieve a good life and endure with grace lifes unavoidable challenges. In addition, professional philosophers are put off by Rands dearth of footnotes and bibliographical apparatus as well as her non-analytic, polemical style that attacks others views with little exposition of them.
___
"Whether one agrees with Rands provocative views or not, its valuable for philosophers to take them seriously and study them carefully. Her theory provides a systematic alternative to other schools of thought and challenges the academys conventional wisdom to keep us on our intellectual toes" ___
Yet others, who claim to be fans or supporters of Rands work, accidentally contribute to perpetuating falsehoods about her views. One need only look to a list of some prominent politicians and entrepreneurs to see this phenomenon. For example, President Donald Trump is an alleged Ayn Rand acolyte, accused of stack[ing] his cabinet with fellow Objectivists, such as Rex Tillerson and Michael Pompeo. In addition, Travis Kalanicks ignominious fall from the heights of Uber CEO-hood has been described as the latest Icarus-like plunge of a prominent Rand follower, and Andrew Pudzer, an avid Ayn Rand reader, withdrew from his nomination as Secretary of Labor due to allegations of worker mistreatment at his fast-food chains [17]. These individuals may have been inspired by reading Rands works to follow their lifes path. However, one is hard-pressed to call any of them Objectivists, since they either reject key tenets of Rands theory by being religious or have chosen to act in some ways antithetical to it by cutting crony deals or performing other vicious deeds. Being a fan of Rands work is not the same as understanding her views, applying them properly, or living up to them consistently in ones own life. There are plenty of good people living their lives in a principled waywhether as CEOs, teachers, or mechanicswho have been inspired by Rands ideas. Their moral decency doesnt make headline news, though.
Whether one agrees with Rands provocative views or not, its valuable for philosophers to take them seriously and study them carefully. Her theory provides a systematic alternative to other schools of thought and challenges the academys conventional wisdom to keep us on our intellectual toes. She reframes traditional philosophical questions in ways that cut through what she considers to be false dichotomies: mind/body, reason/emotion, moral/practical, duty/utility, intrinsic/subjective, nature/nurture. This leaves conceptual space to offer and defend a third way on a range of significant philosophical issues.
Rand offers Objectivism as a philosophy for living, not just contemplating, not just existing and getting by. We have minds equipped to deal with the world, a world where we can be efficacious. So long as there are individuals committed to their own happiness, voluntary cooperation, reaching for the best within themselves, and creating the social and political institutions needed for achieving these values in a free and responsible way, Rands work will continue to speak to countless numbers of people in all walks of life. But dont take myor anyone elsesword for it. Exercise the virtue of independence and read Rands work for yourself. Youll see firsthand what the enduring appeal is all about.
***
[1] Allan Gotthelf and Gregory Salmieri, eds., A Companion to Ayn Rand (Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell, 2016), p. 15 n. 1.
[2] Bruce Cook, Ayn Rand: A Voice in the Wilderness, Catholic World, vol. 201 (May 1965), p. 121; John Kobler, The Curious Cult of Ayn Rand, The Saturday Evening Post (November 11, 1961), p. 99; Dora Jane Hamblin, The Cult of Angry Ayn Rand, Life (April 7, 1967), p. 92; Geoffrey James, Top 10 Reasons Ayn Rand Was Dead Wrong, CBS News Moneywatch (September 16, 2010), accessed online at: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/top-10-reasons-ayn-rand-was-dead-wrong/.
[3] Neera Badhwar and Roderick Long, Ayn Rand, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (September 19, 2016), accessed online at: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ayn-rand/; James Stewart, As a Guru, Ayn Rand May Have Limits. Ask Travis Kalanick, The New York Times (July 13, 2017), accessed online at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/13/business/ayn-rand-business-politics-uber-kalanick.html.
[4] Barbara Grizzuti Harrison, Psyching Out Ayn Rand, Ms. (September 1978), p. 24. See also, e.g., Jonathan Chait, Wealthcare: Ayn Rand and the Invincible Cult of Selfishness on the American Right, New Republic (September 14, 2009), accessed online at: https://newrepublic.com/article/69239/wealthcare-0; Jennifer Burns, Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), p. 4.
[5] Stewart, As a Guru, Ayn Rand May Have Limits. See also, e.g., Gene Bell-Villada, On Nabakov, Ayn Rand, and the Libertarian Mind (Newcastle on Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2013), chap. 5.
[6] See James, Top 10 Reasons Ayn Rand Was Dead Wrong, Skikha Dalmia, Where Ayn Rand Went Wrong, Forbes (November 4, 2009), accessed online at: https://www.forbes.com/2009/11/03/where-ayn-rand-went-wrong-opinions-columnists-shikha-dalmia.html, and Michael Huemer, Why I Am Not an Objectivist, accessed online at: http://www.owl232.net/rand.htm, for the former view, and Badhwar and Long, Ayn Rand, for the latter.
[7] Gerald Jonas, Reviewed This Week (four sci-fi novels), The New York Times (August 30, 1998), accessed online at: http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/08/30/reviews/980830.30scifit.html. See also, e.g., James, Top 10 Reasons Ayn Rand Was Dead Wrong and James Hohmann, The Daily 202: Ayn Rand Acolyte Donald Trump Stacks His Cabinet with Fellow Objectivists, The Washington Post (December 13, 2016), accessed online at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2016/12/13/daily-202-ayn-rand-acolyte-donald-trump-stacks-his-cabinet-with-fellow-objectivists/584f5cdfe9b69b36fcfeaf3b/?utm_term=.d56b46b8c78c.
[8] Rands public policy views are scattered over dozens of essays, but a general synthesis can be found in John David Lewis and Gregory Salmieri, A Philosopher on Her Times, in Gotthelf and Salmieri, A Companion to Ayn Rand, pp. 351-402.
[9] Ayn Rand, Introduction, in her The Fountainhead, 25th anniversary ed. (New York: New American Library, 1968), p. x.
[10] Ayn Rand, The Objectivist Ethics, in her The Virtue of Selfishness (New York: Signet, 1964), p. 14.
[11] Ayn Rand, The Ethics of Emergencies, in Rand, The Virtue of Selfishness, pp. 43-44.
[12] Rand, The Objectivist Ethics, pp. 22-32.
[13] See Rand, The Objectivist Ethics, pp. 32-34, and Ayn Rand, What Is Capitalism? and Americas Persecuted Minority: Big Business, in her Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal (New York: Signet, 1966), pp. 11-34 and 44-62.
[14] See, e.g., Allan Gotthelf, The Morality of Life, in Gotthelf and Salmieri, A Companion to Ayn Rand, pp. 73-104; Gregory Salmieri, Egoism and Altruism, in Gotthelf and Salmieri, A Companion to Ayn Rand, pp. 130-56; Neera Badhwar, Well-Being: Happiness in a Worthwhile Life (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014); Lester Hunt, Flourishing Egoism, Social Philosophy and Policy, vol. 16, no. 1 (1999), pp. 72-95; and Roderick Long, Reason and Value: Aristotle versus Ayn Rand (Poughkeepsie, NY: Objectivist Center, 2000).
[15] The task of developing Objectivist-inspired work that interprets and fleshes out lacunae in Rands system falls to others. See, e.g., Tara Smith, Ayn Rands Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006); Tara Smith, Judicial Review in an Objective Legal System (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2015); and Allan Gotthelf and James Lennox, eds., Concepts and Their Role in Knowledge: Reflections on Objectivist Epistemology (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2013). All of these works engage with the wider philosophical literature in ways that Rand did not.
[16] One such exception is an excellent piece by John Piper; see his The Ethics of Ayn Rand: Appreciation and Critique, Desiring God (June 1, 1979; revised October 9, 2007), accessed online at: http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-ethics-of-ayn-rand. A Christian who thinks that Rand is mistaken about rejecting theism, Piper nonetheless offers a careful, nuanced articulation of her ethical egoism. Would that all critics were to take such care with the views of their interlocutors.
[17] Hohmann, The Daily 202: Ayn Rand Acolyte Donald Trump Stacks His Cabinet with Fellow Objectivists; Stewart, As A Guru, Ayn Rand May Have Limits.
Read the original post:
The Courage to Face a Lifetime: On the Enduring Value of Ayn Rand's Philosophy - IAI News