Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand (Ayn Rand Library) - Softcover

Peikoff, Leonard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0452011019 ISBN 13: 9780452011014

Publisher: Meridian, 1993

Synopsis

THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION—The definitive statement of Ayn Rand’s philosophy as interpreted by her best student and chosen heir.
 
This brilliantly conceived and organized book is Dr. Leonard Peikoff’s classic text on the abstract principles and practical applications of Objectivism, based on his lecture series “The Philosophy of Objectivism.” Ayn Rand said of these lectures: “Until or unless I write a comprehensive treatise on my philosophy, Dr. Peikoff’s course is the only authorized presentation of the entire theoretical structure of Objectivism—that is, the only one that I know of my knowledge to be fully accurate.”
 
In Objectivism, Peikoff covers every philosophic topic that Rand regarded as important—from certainty to money, from logic to art, from measurement to sex. Drawn from Rand’s published works as well as in-depth conversations between her and Peikoff, these chapters illuminate Objectivism—and its creator—with startling clarity. With Objectivism, the millions of readers who have been transformed by Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead will discover the full philosophical system underlying Ayn Rand’s work.

About this title

About the Author

Leonard Peikoff is the preeminent Ayn Rand scholar writing today. He worked closely with Rand in New York City for thirty years and was designated by her as heir to her estate. He has taught philosophy at several places, including Hunter College and New York University. Dr. Peikoff is the author of The DIM Hypothesis: Why the Lights of the West Are Going Out and The Cause of Hitler’s Germany. He grew up in Western Canada and now lives in Southern California. He also hosted the national radio talk show "Philosophy: Who Needs It."

From Library Journal

Peikoff, Rand's heir and authorized evangelist, tries to present the definitive apologetic for her individualist gospel. Libraries could certainly use a book explaining a writer whose works still sell half a million copies a year. But Rand's success is rooted in the unsubtle but dramatic Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged , not in tracts like Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal . And this book mostly summarizes those tracts. There are sophisticated defenses like those in Robert Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia ( LJ 1/15/75) for some Rand doctrines, but Peikoff, as official expositor, is bound to the received word. Odd claims like, "monopolies achieved under capitalism . . . depend on merit and do no harm" abound. In pursuit of Randian orthodoxy, he must denounce leftists, but he goes further and holds that "historically, from the Sherman Act to Herbert Hoover to the Bush Administration, it is the conservatives, not the leftists, who have always been the major destroyers of the United States."-- Leslie Armour, Univ. of Ottawa
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Meridian
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0452011019
• ISBN 13: 9780452011014
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 493