Ayn Rand

controversial authors of the twentieth century. She defines her self as, "I am not

primaraly an advovate of capitalism, but of egoism; 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. This--the supremacy of reason--was, is and will be the primary concern of my work, and the essence of Objectivism.

Ayn Rand was born in Russia in 1905 and moved to America when

she was 21. Defying the death warrant of the Soviet Union, she came to America

as a temporary visitor in 1926 but remained for the rest of her life. Later, she

would also defy the cultural and political views of contemporary America in such

best-selling novels as Atlas Shrugged. Her unique philosophy, Objectivism,

challenged the cultural tradition of 2,500 years. She attained a worldwide fame

and a readership numbering in the millions. Yet, Ayn Rand achieved these results

as a literary outsider. Her reputation spread through relentless word of mouth

among readers who found, and continue to find, a uniquely inspiring philosophy of

Rand's philosophy is presented in detail in Atlas Shrugged, Introduction to

This sentence has a powerful meaning in the story. Equality 7-2521 is not

objectivism in lenghty works designed to glorify characters who fulfill her ideals.

collectivism (Cain p. 2). In the novels Rand dramatizes her philosophy of

have prasied her work calling her a thoughtful spokesperson for laissez-faire

states that to be something, a thing is what it is, wich later leads to the fundamental priciple of all action, the law of causality. Causality states that all things are determined to nature, not by chance. Peikoff basically states that Objectivism, Rand's philosophy, and its concepts are derived from and do refer to the facts of reality (Peikoff p. 2).

wish to think like themselves (Fallows p. 72).This is perhaps the only real good