Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum, better known as Ayn Rand (1905-1982), was a Russian-American writer and philosopher known for her philosophical creation, objectivism, as well as her two most famous works, The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957). Her staunch defense of free societies, natural rights, individualism and laissez-faire capitalism have allowed her philosophical ideals to remain near the forefront of the modern libertarian movement.
Rand was born into a Russian-Jewish family just outside St. Petersburg. After the conclusion of the Russian Revolution in 1917, universities opened to women and Rand became one of the first women to attend Petrograd State University where she studied classic philosophy. Rand graduated in 1924 and moved to America two years later on a temporary basis that became permanent when she fell in love with New York city.
Over the next few years, Rand married, obtained her US citizenship, and moved to California where she wrote screenplays and eventually, several novels. Rand became very politically engaged starting in the early 1940’s and her first break came a few years later in 1943 when The Fountainhead was published. The novel, although romantic, blended elements of politics and philosophy, touching on ideas like self-sufficiency, social criticisms, and the desire to improve. Its success gained Rand a following, which she used as a platform to maintain a public political voice throughout the 40’s and 50’s.
In 1957 Rand had Atlas Shrugged published and the work became the pinnacle of her career. In it, Rand created what became her ideal philosophical way of living: objectivism. Objectivism promotes rational self-interest, the idea that an individual can greatly improve society simply by making rational decisions that are in their best interest. It became an international bestseller and is still used as a teaching mechanism in academia today, including at Clemson’s Institute For The Study of Capitalism.
After this, Rand’s following continued to grow and she shifted her focus to further spreading her philosophical ideas. She toured the states, giving polarizing lectures about morality, philosophy, and the political events of the day.
Rand died in 1982 but her ideas have continued to outlive her. Her development of objectivism, which she labeled as a “systematic philosophy”, is littered with ideas that promote freedom and individualism. Rand believed reason was one of the only things man could rely on and encouraged individual agency as a solution to efficiency and innovation. She argued that man was inherently good, paving the way for the notion that acting in one’s own best interest is actually a positive.
Rand was also a strong defender of individual rights, claiming that any government forcefulness was a direct violation of an individual’s rights. As a result, Rand fought for limited government and opposed any evidence of statism, often validating her reasoning with the successes of laissez-faire capitalism in the western world.
Sources:
Wikipedia entry