My wife and I recently saw Atlas Shrugged, Part II. Overall, I thought it was much better than Part I, which I assessed here. The acting was significantly better, and the movie did a better job of conveying the message of Ayn Rand’s book. There are still some problems in translating a 1950s novel into […]
Tag Archives | Ayn Rand
Assessing the Atlas Shrugged Movie
On Friday night, I went to see the new Atlas Shrugged movie, which recounts Part I of Ayn Rand’s classic novel. My wife (who first became a libertarian after reading Rand, though she is not a Randian today), expected to either love the movie or hate it. In the end, we both came away with […]
Debating the Virtue of Selfishness
This Friday at 7 PM, I will be debating philosopher Objectivist philosopher William Thomas of the Atlas Society on the question of whether self-interest can be the basis of political morality. In The Virtue of Selfishness, Ayn Rand famously argued that it can and should be. Although I respect Rand as the greatest modern popularizer […]
Conservatism, Libertarianism, Civil Rights, and “Circumstances”
In a National Review post discussing the civil rights laws of the 1960s, Roger Clegg writes that “Conservatism is superior to libertarianism because it is less ideological and more readily acknowledges that circumstances matter.” Whatever the general validity of this claim, Clegg picked a very poor example to illustrate it. As co-blogger David Bernstein has […]
Debating Ayn Rand’s Philosophy
Cato Unbound has recently completed an interesting debate between several scholars on the strengths and weaknesses of Ayn Rand’s philosophy. All of the contributions are worth reading for those interested in the subject. But I agree most with University of Colorado political philosopher Michael Huemer: What is the best way to defend freedom intellectually? Is […]
Anne Heller’s Ayn Rand Biography
A few weeks ago, I reviewed Jennifer Burns’ important new biography of Ayn Rand. I have now had a chance to read the other recent Rand Biography, Anne Heller’s Ayn Rand and the World She Made. Heller’s book is very good and gives a thorough account of Rand’s life. On the whole, I found it […]
Was Ayn Rand the Most Influential Russian Immigrant to the United States?
I have previously blogged about the massive impact that Ayn Rand had as the leading modern popularizer of libertarianism and the recent controversy over whether she is an asset or liability for free market advocates today. An interesting question (at least to me) is whether Rand was the most influential Russian immigrant to the United […]
Heather Wilhelm Responds to her Critics
Heather Wilhelm has posted a response to critics of her Wall Street Journal column arguing that Ayn Rand is bad for the free market cause. I was one of those critics, even though I have many reservations about Rand myself. Wilhelm’s response concedes that Rand may have had some value for free market advocates, but […]
Is Ayn Rand Bad for Libertarianism?
In this Wall Street Journal article, Heather Wilhelm argues that Ayn Rand is bad for libertarianism because her personal obnoxiousness, emphasis on the “virtue of selfishness,” and celebration of a small entrepreneurial elite tends to alienate potential adherents. I too dislike some aspects of Rand’s personality and disagree with many parts of her philosophy. Nonetheless, […]
Ayn Rand’s Contributions
Following up on Ilya’s post, I though I’d mention a couple of other contributions Rand made. First, and as is most evident in Atlas Shrugged, Rand turns Marxism on its head. While Marxists argue that “capitalists” make their profits on the backs of the working class, Rand illustrates that the working class, as such, makes […]
Assessing Ayn Rand: “An Utterly Intolerant and Dogmatic Person Who Did a Great Deal of Good”
I was very interested to read historian Jennifer Burns’ important new biography of Ayn Rand in part because Rand and I have a great deal in common. We are both Russian Jews from St. Petersburg, both atheists, and – most important – both of us became libertarians in large part because of our experience with […]