The Long ConversationA timeline of world philosophy

Philosopher

Ayn Rand

1905–1982

Also known as Alissa Rosenbaum

Russian-born American novelist-philosopher whose Objectivism defended rational egoism, individual rights and capitalism, through novels such as Atlas Shrugged.

Black-and-white photograph of a woman with short dark hair, head resting on her hand
Portrait photograph credited to Talbot, used on the back cover of the first edition of The Fountainhead, 1943.Public domain · See the original

Ayn Rand, born Alissa Rosenbaum in St Petersburg in 1905, came from a middle-class Jewish family. She witnessed the Revolution and civil war, opposed both Communists and Tsarists, and studied history, with some philosophy, at Petrograd State University, reading Nietzsche on her own. In 1925 she left for the United States, never intending to return.

Her novels, rejected by many publishers, became bestsellers by word of mouth, and by 1958 she had a following large enough to found the Objectivist movement. Few professional philosophers have taken her seriously. Nietzsche’s influence is plain in her style, though she differed sharply from him on reason, free will and rights. She died in New York in 1982.

Key ideas

The objective
Rand’s system is named for a third category between the intrinsic, which depends wholly on things outside the mind, and the subjective, which depends wholly on the mind: the objective, which depends on the relation between a rational mind and reality.
Rational egoism
Rationality is the basic virtue, of which integrity, honesty, justice, independence, productiveness and pride are aspects; each recognises some fact one needs for one’s own ultimate value.
No initiation of force
No one may start the use of physical force against others; force is legitimate only in retaliation. Free people respect each other’s rights and trade value for value, by the ‘trader principle’.
Tradition
Western
Region
St Petersburg and New York

Influences

Influenced by

Ayn Rand1905–1982

Influenced

Influenced by

Ayn Rand1905–1982

Influenced

Where these links come from
  • Ayn Rand drew on and argued against Friedrich Nietzsche. Source: Neera K. Badhwar and Roderick T. Long, Ayn Rand, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  • Robert Nozick drew on Ayn Rand. Source: Edward Feser, Robert Nozick, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Key works

  • The Fountainhead, 1943
  • Atlas Shrugged, 1957

Sources

  1. Neera K. Badhwar and Roderick T. Long, Ayn Rand, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy