Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand (February 2 1905–March 6 1982; first name pronounced (IPA) {{IPA|/aɪn/}} (rhymes with 'mine')), born Alissa "Alice" Zinovievna Rosenbaum, was best known for her philosophy of Objectivism and her novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. Her philosophy and her fiction both emphasize, above all, her concepts of individualism, rational egoism ("rational self-interest"), and capitalism. Believing government has a legitimate but relatively minimal role in a free society, she was not an anarchist, but a minarchist. Her novels were based upon the archetype of the Randian hero, a man whose ability and independence causes conflict with the masses, but who perseveres nevertheless to achieve his values. Rand viewed this hero as the ideal and made it the express goal of her literature to showcase such heroes. She believed:

References

In addition to Rand's own works (listed above), the following references discuss Rand's life and/or literary work. References that discuss her philosophy can be found in the bibliography of work on Objectivism.

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• {{Book reference | Author=Baker, James T. | Title=Ayn Rand | Publisher=Boston: Twayne | Year=1987 | ID=ISBN 0-8057-7497-1}}
• {{Book reference | Author=Branden, Barbara | Title=The Passion of Ayn Rand | Publisher=Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company | Year=1986 | ID=ISBN 0-385-19171-5}}
• {{Book reference | Author=Branden, Nathaniel | Title=My Years with Ayn Rand | Publisher=San Francisco: Jossey Bass | Year=1998 | ID=ISBN 0-7879-4513-7}}
• {{Book reference | Author=Branden, Nathaniel and Branden, Barbara | Title=Who Is Ayn Rand? | Publisher=New York: Random House | Year=1962 | ID= }}
• {{Book reference | Author=Britting, Jeff | Title=Ayn Rand | Publisher=New York: Overlook Duckworth | Year=2005 | ID=ISBN 1-58567-406-0}}
• {{Book reference | Author=Gladstein, Mimi Reisel | Title=The New Ayn Rand Companion | Publisher=Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press | Year=1999 | ID=ISBN 0-313-30321-5}}
• {{Book reference | Author=Gladstein, Mimi Reisel and Sciabarra, Chris Matthew (editors) | Title=Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand | Publisher=University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press | Year=1999 | ID=ISBN 0-271-01830-5}}
• {{Book reference | Author=Hamel, Virginia L.L. | Title=In Defense of Ayn Rand | Publisher=Brookline, Massachusetts: New Beacon | Year=1990 | ID= }}
• {{Book reference | Author=Mayhew, Robert | Title=Ayn Rand and Song of Russia | Publisher=Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield | Year=2004 | ID=ISBN 0-8108-5276-4}}
• {{Journal reference issue | Author=Peikoff, Leonard | Title=My Thirty Years with Ayn Rand: An Intellectual Memoir | Journal=The Objectivist Forum | Volume=8 | Issue=3 | Year=1987 | Pages=1-16}}
• {{Book reference | Author=Rothbard, Murray N. | Title=The Sociology of the Ayn Rand Cult | Publisher=Port Townsend, Washington: Liberty | Year=1987 | ID=}}
• {{Book reference | Author=Sures, Mary Ann and Sures, Charles | Title=Facets of Ayn Rand | Publisher=Los Angeles: Ayn Rand Institute Press | Year=2001 | ID=ISBN 0-9625336-5-3}}
• {{Book reference | Author=Sciabarra, Chris Matthew | Title=Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical | Publisher=University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press | Year=1995 | ID=ISBN 0-271-01440-7}}
• {{Journal reference issue | Author=Sciabarra, Chris Matthew | Title=The Rand Transcript | Journal=The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies | Volume=1 | Issue=1 | Year=1999 | Pages=1-26}}
• {{Journal reference issue | Author=Shermer, Michael | Title=The Unlikeliest Cult In History | Journal=Skeptic | Volume=2 | Issue=2 | Year=1993 | Pages=74-81}}
• {{Book reference | Author=Thomas, William (editor) | Title=The Literary Art of Ayn Rand | Publisher=Poughkeepsie, New York: The Objectivist Center | Year=2005 | ID=ISBN 1-577240-70-7}}
• {{Book reference | Author=Valliant, James S. | Title=The Passion of Ayn Rand's Critics | Publisher=Dallas: Durban House | Year=2005 | ID=ISBN 1-930654-67-1}}
• {{Book reference | Author=Walker, Jeff | Title=The Ayn Rand Cult | Publisher=Chicago: Open Court | Year=1999 | ID=ISBN 0-8126-9390-6}}