Objectivist movement

Objectivist movement

Philosophy Objectivism Metaphysical objectivism Epistemological realism Rational egoism Individualism Capitalism Romantic realism

Organizations Ayn Rand Institute Atlas Society Nathaniel Branden Institute Objectivist Party Libertarianz

Theorists Ayn Rand Andrew Bernstein · Harry Binswanger Nathaniel Branden · Yaron Brook Allan Gotthelf · Alan Greenspan David Kelley · Tibor R. Machan Leonard Peikoff · George Reisman John Ridpath · Richard Salsman Tara Smith

Literature Bibliography for Ayn Rand and Objectivism The Objectivist Newsletter The Objectivist The Ayn Rand Letter The Objectivist Forum For the New Intellectual Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology The Ayn Rand Lexicon Capitalism Magazine Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal The Early Ayn Rand Journal of Ayn Rand Studies The Objective Standard Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand Philosophy: Who Needs It Return of the Primitive The Romantic Manifesto The Virtue of Selfishness The Voice of Reason

Related topics Libertarianism and Objectivism Objectivism, Ayn Rand, and homosexuality Randian hero Philosophical movement

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The Objectivist movement is a movement to study and advance the philosophy of Objectivism. It was founded by novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand. The movement began informally in the 1950s and consisted of students who were brought together by their mutual interest in Rand’s novel, The Fountainhead. The group, ironically named the Collective (due to their actual advocacy of individualism) consisted, in part, of Nathaniel Branden and Barbara Branden, Alan Greenspan, and Leonard Peikoff. Nathaniel Branden, a young Canadian student who had been greatly inspired by Rand's work, became a close confidant and encouraged Rand to expand her philosophy into a formal movement. From this informal beginning in Rand's living room, the movement expanded into a collection of think tanks, academic organizations, magazines, and journals.

History

The Collective

"The Collective" was Rand's private name^[1] for a group of close confidants, students, and proponents of Rand and Objectivism during the 1950s and '60s. The founding members of the group were Nathaniel Branden, Barbara Branden, Leonard Peikoff, Alan Greenspan, Allan Blumenthal, Harry Kalberman, Elayne Kalberman, Joan Mitchell, and Mary Ann Sures (formerly Rukavina).^[2] This group was the nucleus of a growing movement of Rand admirers whose name was chosen as a joke based on Objectivism's staunch commitment to individualism. It had originally started out as informal gathering of friends (many of them related to one another) who met with Rand on weekends at her apartment on East 36th Street in New York City to discuss philosophy.^[3] Barbara Branden said the group met "because of a common interest in ideas."^[4] Greenspan recalled being drawn to Rand because of a shared belief in "the importance of mathematics and intellectual rigor."^[5] The group met at Rand's apartment at least once a week, and would often discuss and debate into the early morning hours.^[6]About these discussions, Greenspan said, "Talking to Ayn Rand was like starting a game of chess thinking I was good, and suddenly finding myself in checkmate."^[7] Eventually Rand also allowed them to begin reading the manuscript of Atlas Shrugged as she completed it.^[8] As the years went on, the Collective would proceed to play a larger, more formal role, promoting Rand's philosophy through the Nathaniel Branden Institute (NBI). Some Collective members gave lectures at the NBI in cities across the United States and wrote articles for its newsletters, The Objectivist Newsletter (1962-65) and The Objectivist (1966-71).^[9]

In 1968 after a complex series of events, Rand expelled Nathaniel and Barbara Branden from the Collective.^[10] In the subsequent years, the Collective slowly broke apart for numerous reasons.^[11] Leonard Peikoff eventually became Rand's legal heir and the person she described as the best teacher of her ideas, and has been called Rand's "intellectual heir." ^[12] Following Rand's death in 1982 Peikoff founded the Ayn Rand Institute to promote Objectivist philosophy.^[13]

Early development

The first formal presentation of Objectivism began with the Nathaniel Branden Lectures (NBL), shortly after the publication of Rand’s final novel, Atlas Shrugged. Nathaniel Branden was the first member of The Collective, and later, Rand’s "intellectual heir."^[14] In time, Branden and Rand became romantically involved.^[15] After the publication of Atlas Shrugged, Rand was inundated with requests for more information about her philosophy. Not wanting to be a teacher or leader of an organized movement, she allowed Branden to lecture on her behalf.^[14]

The success of NBL prompted Branden to expand his lecture organization into the Nathaniel Branden Institute (NBI). Rand and Branden also co-founded the first publication devoted to the study and application of Objectivism. The Objectivist Newsletter began publication in 1962 and was later expanded into The Objectivist.^[16]

The Nathaniel Branden Institute

The 1960s saw a rapid expansion of the Objectivist movement. Rand was a frequent lecturer at universities across the country. Rand hosted a radio program on Objectivism on the Columbia University station, WKCR. NBI hosted lectures on Objectivism, the history of philosophy, art, and psychology in cities across the country (see the Nathaniel Branden Institute). Campus clubs devoted to studying Rand’s philosophy formed throughout the country, though operated independently of NBI. Rand was a frequent guest on radio and television, as well as an annual lecturer at the Ford Hall Forum.^[17] At the peak of its popularity, NBI was delivering taped lectures in over 80 cities.^[18] By 1968 NBI had arranged for the lease of an entire floor in the Empire State Building (which would have been shared with Barbara Branden's book club and The Objectivist).^[19]

In 1968, Rand publicly broke with Nathaniel and Barbara Branden.^[20] She accused Nathaniel Branden of a "gradual departure from the principles of Objectivism,"^[21] financial exploitation of her related to business loans, and "deliberate deception of several persons."^[22] In a response sent to the mailing list of The Objectivist in 1968, the Brandens denied many of Rand's charges against them.^[23] The result of their conflicting claims was a "schism," as some participants in the Objectivist movement supported the Brandens, while others supported Rand's repudiation of them.^[24]

NBI was closed and its offices vacated, in an environment that Barbara Branden described as "total hysteria" as its former students learned about the matter.^[25] The Brandens continued for a time to sell some of NBI's recorded lectures through a new company,^[26] but otherwise had little involvement with the Objectivist movement until their biographical books about Rand were released.^[27] The Objectivist continued publishing without the Brandens, with Rand as editor and Leonard Peikoff as associate editor. Peikoff also took over Nathaniel Branden's role as the primary lecturer on Objectivism.^[28] Peikoff later described the Brandens' expulsion as the first "of the many schisms that have plagued the Objectivist movement."^[29]

The 1970s

In the 1970s, Rand gave fewer public speeches, concentrating on nonfiction writing and helping the work of her students and associates. In the period from 1969 through 1971, Rand gave four workshops for a dozen professionals in philosophy and a few in math and physics on her book, Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology,^[30] The Objectivist was replaced by The Ayn Rand Letter in 1971. While The Objectivist had published articles by many Objectivists, The Ayn Rand Letter, marketed as a personal newsletter from Ayn Rand, published writing only by her (and occasionally Leonard Peikoff).^[31]

Throughout the decade, Peikoff continued to offer a number of lecture series on various topics related to Objectivism to large audiences, often incorporating new philosophic material that Rand was teaching him.^[32] During the 70s, Rand began working even more closely with Peikoff,^[33] helping edit his book, The Ominous Parallels, for which she wrote the introduction.^[34] In mid-1979, Rand's associate Peter Schwartz began editing and publishing The Intellectual Activist, a publication which Rand recommended to her audience. Another associate of hers during this period was Harry Binswanger, whom she advised on his mini-encyclopedia of Objectivism, The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism from A to Z.^[35] Upon the close of The Objectivist Calendar, a short publication listing upcoming events within the Objectivist movement, Binswanger began editing and publishing The Objectivist Forum, a bimonthly journal on Objectivism which had Rand's support and for which she served as "philosophic consultant."^[36]

Upon Rand's death, on March 6, 1982, Peikoff was designated as heir to her estate, and he controls the copyrights to her books and writing (barring the public domain Anthem). Shortly after Rand’s death, Peikoff’s first book, The Ominous Parallels, was published. In 1983 Peikoff gave a series of lectures titled Understanding Objectivism,^[37], for the purpose of improving the methodology used in studying Objectivism, as a corrective to what he describes as the "Rationalist" and the "Empiricist" methods of thought.

The Ayn Rand Institute

In 1985, Leonard Peikoff and Ed Snider founded the Ayn Rand Institute (ARI), the first organization devoted to the study and advocacy of Objectivism since the closure of NBI in 1968.^[38] The institute began by sponsoring essay contests on Rand’s novels and distributing op-eds analyzing world events from an Objectivist perspective.^[39] In 1987 the institute began teaching aspiring Objectivist academics.^[40]

The Peikoff-Kelley split

In 1989 there was another split within the Objectivist movement, this time explicitly philosophical. David Kelley, a philosopher and lecturer then affiliated with the ARI, was criticized by Peter Schwartz for lecturing under the auspices of Laissez-Faire Books (LFB), a libertarian book store.^[41] Schwartz argued that this type of activity violated the Objectivist moral principle of sanction, both because LFB was an explicitly libertarian organization and because it promoted books which Schwartz interpreted as unjustly hostile and defamatory towards Ayn Rand and Objectivism.^[42] Kelley responded, in a paper titled "A Question of Sanction", by disputing Schwartz’s interpretation of the sanction principle in particular and moral principles in general.^[43] Subsequently, Peikoff wrote a response to Kelley’s paper, endorsing Schwartz’s view and arguing that Kelley’s argument in that essay contradicted fundamental principles of Objectivism.^[44] Peikoff announced that he would no longer allow ARI or the Estate of Ayn Rand to co-operate with Kelley.^{[citation needed]}

Kelley responded to the Peikoff-Schwartz critique in his monograph, Truth and Toleration, later updated as The Contested Legacy of Ayn Rand.^[45] He responded to his ostracism by founding the Institute for Objectivist Studies (later called The Objectivist Center, then The Atlas Society) with the help of Ed Snider. Kelley was joined by Objectivist scholars George Walsh and Jim Lennox, as well as one-time Rand friends, Joan and Allan Blumenthal.^[46] However, the later association of Kelley's group with Nathaniel Branden caused the Blumenthals, along with Lennox, to withdraw.

The Atlas Society and the Ayn Rand Institute

Kelley’s Institute for Objectivist Studies (IOS) was founded in 1991, when it began to publish material on Objectivism and host conferences for Rand scholars. In the early 1990s they held a symposium on Chris Sciabarra's book, Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical.^[47] In the mid 1990s, IOS invited Nathaniel and Barbara Branden to participate in the institute’s activities, effectively bringing them back into the Objectivist movement. The Brandens have continued to participate in TAS events since that time.

In 1994, the Ayn Rand Institute (ARI) expanded its educational programs into the Objectivist Graduate Center (OGC), which held classes led by Leonard Peikoff and Harry Binswanger. The OGC expanded into the Objectivist Academic Center (OAC) in 2000, offering undergraduate and graduate courses on Objectivism, writing, history, the history of philosophy, and the history of science.^[48] Several OAC classes are now accredited.^[49] In 1991, Peikoff's book Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand was published. It was the first systematic presentation of Rand's philosophy to appear in print. 1996 saw a series of lectures on Objectivism by ARI intellectuals at Harvard.^[50] ARI increased its notoriety by staging a protest against President Clinton’s volunteerism initiative in 1997.^[51] ARI gathered more attention for its activism on behalf of the family of Elian Gonzalez. 1998 saw the release of Academy Award nominated documentary, Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life. In 1999 the United States Postal Service released an Ayn Rand stamp.^[52]

In 2000, Yaron Brook succeeded Michael Berliner as head of the ARI.^[53] The 2000s have seen the most rapid growth of the Objectivist movement since its birth in the late 1950s. Op-eds put out by ARI are published by hundreds of newspapers annually, and ARI intellectuals are frequent guests on radio networks such as Air America and TV networks such as Fox News and CNBC. ARI speakers give scores of lectures on college campuses each year, which are sponsored by the hundreds of Objectivist campus clubs around the country.^[50] There are many community groups dedicated to the study of Objectivism, as well as several on-line forums and social networks for fans of Rand's novels and philosophy (see links).

As of 2007, ARI has distributed over 700,000 free copies of Ayn Rand’s novels to high schools around the country.^[54] In 2005 ARI opened a branch in Canada, which distributes free books to Canadian schools. Independently of ARI's free books program, Rand's books sell over 500,000 copies per year. Total sales of her books since publication is over 24 million copies.^[55]

ARI intellectuals are frequently interiewed for their controversial positions, particularly on Islam and the war on terror. In 2006, ARI sponsored a conference on the war on terror. In addition to Objectivist speakers, mid-east scholars Daniel Pipes, Robert Spencer, and Flemming Rose gave lectures. The event was capped by Yaron Brook’s Ford Hall Forum lecture (Brook is only the third Objectivist to be invited to the Ford Hall Forum, after Ayn Rand and Leonard Peikoff).^[56]

The 2000s also saw a change for the Atlas Society (TAS). David Kelley stepped down as executive director and was replaced by ex-Cato scholar Ed Hudgins. The institute relocated to Washington D.C. and launched a new magazine, The New Individualist. TAS has recently attracted media attention following its participation in the 2007 Conservative Political Action Conference - CPAC.

Student activism

Objectivism has remained popular on college campuses, with dozens of student groups dedicated to promoting and studying the philosophy of Objectivism^[57] spread across the U.S., Australia, Canada, Guatemala,^[58] Israel, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Norway.^[59] These clubs often present speakers on controversial topics such as abortion, religion, and foreign policy, often allying with conservative (and sometimes liberal) organizations to organize their events. For example, the New York University Objectivism Club hosted a joint panel on the Muhammad cartoons that received nationwide coverage for NYU's censorship of the cartoons.^[60] There are several dozen speakers sponsored by the Ayn Rand Institute^[61] and other organizations who give nationwide tours each year speaking about Objectivism.

The Ayn Rand Institute has spent more than $5M on educational programs advancing Objectivism, including scholarships and clubs. These clubs often obtain educational materials and speakers from the ARI. There are also several conferences organized by various organizations, which draw several hundred attendees each summer and feature philosophy courses and presentations of new publications and research. A student-run magazine, The Undercurrent, is published for colleges around the United States.^[62]

Objectivism in academia

Despite the fact that several members of the Collective were philosophy graduate students at NYU,^[33] Objectivism did not begin to make serious inroads into academic philosophy until the early 1980s, and did not gather significant academic attention until the 2000s.^[63] Rand herself had much disdain for modern academia, citing the poor state of American universities, particularly the humanities, as the source of much of the country's problems.^[64] Until recently, Objectivism has grown independently of academia, supplying free books to high schools and universities, sponsoring essay contests for students and support programs for teachers and professors interested in studying and teaching Rand's ideas.^[65]

Some limited academic attention was given to Objectivism in the 1970s. In 1971, William F. O'Neill published With Charity Toward None: An Analysis of Ayn Rand's Philosophy, in which he provides an academic discussion of Objectivism. Although he finds many flaws in Rand's thinking, he expresses admiration for her efforts, and particularly her ability to motivate readers to think about philosophical issues.^[66] There was occasional discussion of Rand in scholarly journals throughout the rest of the decade.^[67]

Thirteen years later, the second book-length academic study of Objectivism appeared. It was a collection of essays called The Philosophic Thought of Ayn Rand, edited by Douglas Den Uyl and Douglas Rasmussen.^[68] It was also the first book about Rand's thought to be published after her death. Den Uyl and Rasmussen made a specific effort to bring more serious scholarly attention to Objectivism by maintaining high scholarly standards for the essays in their book.^[69]

In 1987, noted Aristotle scholar and Rand student Allan Gotthelf founded the Ayn Rand Society, which is affiliated with the American Philosophical Association. Non-Objectivist participants have included Jaegwon Kim and Susan Haack.^[70]

In 1995, Chris Matthew Sciabarra published Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical, an academic study of Rand's ideas and intellectual history.^[71] Rand bibliographer Mimi Reisel Gladstein called Sciabarra's work "a significant milestone in Rand studies."^[72] Three years later, Sciabarra declared a "renaissance" in the scholarship about Rand, noting that his book was only "one of fifteen book titles dealing with Rand that have been published since 1995, along with countless articles and other references to her work."^[73] However, he also noted that not all of the material carried "deep scholarly interest."^[74]

In the early 2000s, Objectivist John McCaskey founded the Anthem Foundation for Objectivist Scholarship, which sponsors the work of established Objectivist professors.^[75] As of 2007 there are 13 fellowships for the study of Objectivism in universities in the U.S., including at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Texas, Austin.^[65] In 2006, the Anthem Foundation in conjunction with the University of Pittsburgh hosted a conference on the philosophy of science called "Concepts and Objectivity: Knowledge, Science, and Values." Participants included Objectivists Onkar Ghate, Allan Gotthelf, James G. Lennox, Harry Binswanger, and Tara Smith, as well as noted analytic philosophers David Sosa, A.P. Martinich, and Peter Railton.^[76]

In 2006, Cambridge University Press published Tara Smith’s book, Ayn Rand’s Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist.^[77] This book, along with the previously mentioned "Concepts and Objectivity" conference, has been cited by some Objectivists as the biggest inroad into mainstream academic philosophy to date. That same year also saw several seminars on Objectivism at Brown University given by Yaron Brook.^[50]

Since 1999 The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies, edited by Stephen Cox, Chris Matthew Sciabarra, and R.W. Bradford (until his death in 2005), has been published semi-annually as a "non-partisan," scholarly forum for the discussion of Rand's work and its application to many fields.^[78] None of its editors is an Objectivist, and although there is no official boycott of the journal by scholars affiliated with the Ayn Rand Institute, they typically have not participated in its exchanges.^[79]

Accusations of cultism

Some critics have accused Rand of being a cult-like figure and the Objectivist movement of being a cult. The term 'Randroid' (a portmanteau of 'Rand' and 'android') is used to evoke the image of "the Galt-imitating robots produced by the cult."^[80] Suggestions of cult-like behavior by Objectivists began as the movement gained media coverage in the 1960s, with articles appearing that referred to the "Cult of Ayn Rand" and compared Rand to various religious leaders.^[81] In 1968, psychologist Albert Ellis published a book arguing that Objectivism is a religion.^[82] Rand did not respond to these specific descriptions and arguments, but said at the time that she did not want "blind followers"^[83] or even an organized Objectivist movement.^[84]

In 1972, libertarian author Murray Rothbard began privately circulating an essay on "The Sociology of the Ayn Rand Cult," in which he wrote:

If the glaring inner contradictions of the Leninist cults make them intriguing objects of study, still more so is the Ayn Rand cult... [f]or not only was the Rand cult explicitly atheist, anti-religious, and an extoller of Reason; it also promoted slavish dependence on the guru in the name of independence; adoration and obedience to the leader in the name of every person's individuality; and blind emotion and faith in the guru in the name of Reason.^[85]

Rothbard also wrote that "the guiding spirit of the Randian movement was not individual liberty ... but rather personal power for Ayn Rand and her leading disciples."^[85]

In the 1990s, Michael Shermer argued that the Objectivist movement displayed many of the characteristics of religious cults, including the veneration and inerrancy of the leader; hidden agendas; financial and/or sexual exploitation; and the beliefs that the movement provides absolute truth and absolute morality. Shermer specifically cited the philosophical content of Objectivism as bearing responsibility for what he saw as cult-like behavior:

[A]s soon as a group sets itself up to be the final moral arbiter of other people's actions, especially when its members believe they have discovered absolute standards of right and wrong, it is the beginning of the end of tolerance, and thus reason and rationality. It is this characteristic more than any other that makes a cult, a religion, a nation, or any other group, dangerous to individual freedom. Its absolutism was the biggest flaw in Ayn Rand's Objectivism, the unlikeliest cult in history.^[86]

Jim Peron responded to Shermer, Rothbard and others with an analysis of Objectivism that argues similarities to cults are superficial at best and charges of cultism directed at Objectivists are ad hominem attacks. He says that Objectivism lacks layers of initiation, a hierarchy, obligation, cost or physical coercion. Peron writes:

I cannot see how a disembodied philosophy can be a cult. I say Objectivism was disembodied because there was no Objectivist organization to join. The Nathaniel Branden Institute gave lectures but had no membership. You could subscribe to a newsletter but you couldn't join. Objectivism was, and is, structureless. And without a structure there cannot be cult. Cults spend a great deal of time recruiting members and persuading them to join a structure. A structure, or organization, is not optional. It is an essential trait of a cult. If the structure doesn't exist then there is no cult... The vast majority of self-proclaimed Objectivists are people who read Rand's works and agreed with her. Most have never attended an Objectivist meeting nor subscribed to any Objectivist newsletter. All they did was buy Rand's books and like them.^[87]

In 1999, Jeff Walker published The Ayn Rand Cult, in which he argued at length that Objectivism is a cult. In one passage, Walker compared Objectivism to the Dianetics practices of Scientology, which is considered by many to be a cult. Both, argues Walker, are totalist sets of beliefs that advocate "an ethics for the masses based on survival as a rational being." Walker continues, "Dianetics used reasoning somewhat similar to Rand's about the brain as a machine. ... Both have a higher mind reprogramming the rest of the mind." Walker further notes that both philosophies claim to be based on science and logic.^[88] Walker's book has drawn criticism from Rand scholars. Chris Matthew Sciabarra criticized Walker’s objectivity and scholarship.^[89] Mimi Reisel Gladstein wrote that Walker's thesis is "questionable and often depends on innuendo, rather than logic."^[90] R. W. Bradford called it "merely annoying" for scholars.^[91]

In 2001, Rand's long-time associate Mary Ann Sures remarked on the accusations against Rand as a cult leader:

Some critics have tried to turn her certainty into a desire on her part to be an authority in the bad sense, and they accuse her of be­ing dogmatic, of demand­ing unques­tion­ing agreement and blind loyalty. They have tried, but none successfully, to make her into the leader of a cult, and followers of her phi­los­o­phy into cultists who accept without think­ing everyth­ing she says. This is a most unjust accusa­tion; it’s real­ly perverse. Unques­tion­ing agreement is precise­ly what Ayn Rand did not want. She wanted you to think and act independently, not to accept conclusions because she said so, but because you reached them by us­ing your mind in an independent and firsthand manner.^[92]

The claims of cultism have continued in more recent years. In 2004, Thomas Szasz wrote in support of Rothbard's 1972 essay,^[93] and in 2006, Albert Ellis published an updated edition of his 1968 book.^[94]

Wider influence

There are a number of writers who cannot be classified as "Objectivist," but who still exhibit a significant influence of Objectivism in their own work. Prominent among these is John Hospers, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of Southern California, who credited Rand's political ideas (see Libertarianism, Nash, 1971) as helping to shape his own, while in other areas sharp difference remained. Another is Murray N. Rothbard, who, like Rand, advocated volition, Aristotle and natural rights,^[95] but who also advocated anarchism, anathema to Rand. Also in this category are: journalist Edith Efron, The Apocalyptics: Cancer and the Big Lie (Simon and Schuster, 1984), The News Twisters (Manor Books, 1973); scientist Petr Beckmann, The Health Hazards of Not Going Nuclear (Golem Press, 1976); and, Charles Murray, Losing Ground: American Social Policy 1950-1980 (Basic Books, 1984) and What It Means to Be a Libertarian: A Personal Interpretation (Broadway Books, 1996). All of these writers, except Charles Murray, had been personally acquainted with Rand at one time.

Related articles

• Bibliography for Ayn Rand and Objectivism
• Libertarianism and Objectivism

Notes

Works cited

• Baker, James T. (1987). Ayn Rand. Boston, Massachusetts: Twayne Publishers. ISBN 0-8057-7497-1. OCLC 14933003. 
• Branden, Barbara (1986). The Passion of Ayn Rand. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company. ISBN 0-385-19171-5. OCLC 12614728. 
• Branden, Nathaniel (1998). My Years with Ayn Rand. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. ISBN 0-7879-4513-7. OCLC 39391081. 
• Britting, Jeff (2004). Ayn Rand. Overlook Illustrated Lives. New York: Overlook Duckworth. ISBN 1-58567-406-0. OCLC 56413971. 
• Doherty, Brian (2007). Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement. New York: Public Affairs. ISBN 1-58648-350-1. OCLC 76141517. 
• Gladstein, Mimi Reisel (1999). The New Ayn Rand Companion. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-30321-5. OCLC 40359365. 
• Greenspan, Alan (2007). The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World. New York: Penguin Press. ISBN 1-59420-131-5. OCLC 122973403. 
• Hessen, Robert (1999), "Objectivist, 1962-1976", in Lora, Ronald; Henry, William Longton (eds.), The Conservative Press in Twentieth-Century America, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, pp. 349–356, ISBN 0-313-21390-9, OCLC 40481045. 
• Kelley, David (2000). The Contested Legacy of Ayn Rand: Truth and Toleration in Objectivism (paperback ed.). Transaction Publishers. ISBN 0-7658-0863-3. OCLC 44727861. 
• Paxton, Michael (1998). Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life (The Companion Book). Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith. ISBN 0-87905-845-5. OCLC 38048196. 
• Peikoff, Leonard (May 18, 1989). "Fact and Value". The Intellectual Activist 5 (1): 1–6. http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=objectivism_fv. 
• Rand, Ayn (May 1968a). "To Whom It May Concern". The Objectivist 7 (5): 449–456. 
• Rand, Ayn (June 1968b). "A Statement of Policy (Part I)". The Objectivist 7 (6). 
• Sciabarra, Chris Matthew (1995). Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical. University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 0-271-01440-7. OCLC 31133644. 
• Sciabarra, Chris Matthew (Fall 1998). "A Renaissance in Rand Scholarship" (PDF). Reason Papers 23: 132–159. http://www.reasonpapers.com/pdf/23/rp_23_16.pdf. 
• Walker, Jeff (1999). The Ayn Rand Cult. La Salle, Illinois: Open Court Publishing. ISBN 0-8126-9390-6. OCLC 39914039. 

External links

• Ayn Rand Institute
• Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights
• Capitalism
• Ayn Rand Society
• The Center for the Advancement of Capitalism
• ObjectivismOnline.Net
• The Atlas Society
• Nathaniel Branden's site
• Leonard Peikoff's site
• Barbara Branden's site