Celebrating Ayn Rand On Her Birthday

The "Radical for Capitalism" was Primarily an Advocate of Reason

“I am not primarily an advocate of capitalism, but of egoism; and 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. (For a definition of reason, see Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology.) Reason in epistemology leads to egoism in ethics, which leads to capitalism in politics.”

Rand, Ayn. “Brief Summary”. The Objectivist, September 1971, p. 1. Quoted in Binswanger, Harry, ed. The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism from A to Z. New York: Meridian, 1986, p. 410.

On this day in 1905, Ayn Rand was born in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Volumes have been written about Rand, some accurate, some horrendously inaccurate, some egregiously misleading. My friend and mentor Scott Holleran wrote a stupendous Substack piece celebrating her that is remarkably in depth for its brevity (though, as Scott implies, it is impossible to cover all relevant aspects of her, her work, and her thought briefly).* I will only add what I regard as the four most salient, important, distinguishing aspects of her philosophy (and literature) in the context of today’s culture, saturated with ideas antipodal to hers. Much more can, has, and should be written about all of these aspects of her thought, and I plan to do that in future pieces.

The first is her advocacy of reason, a century-and-a-half after counter-Enlightenment philosophers (with Kant being the most influential example) “limited” and denigrated it. She agreed with Aristotle that the faculty of reason is the distinguishing characteristic that sets man apart from all other species. She went further, not only extolling its transformative power and efficacy but maintaining that it is the human tool of survival. (It is not incidental that she, like Aristotle, thought that philosophy was of vital importance to all humans of normal intelligence—and not the ivory tower parlor game it had become. The consequences of the derogation of philosophy in general—and reason in particular—are visible all around you, and include mass death.)

As she intimated in the piece quoted above, the “supremacy of reason” implies that certain derivative ideas follow—e.g., egoism in ethics; capitalism in politics; and romanticism in aesthetics. She wrote thousands of words explicating those topics, including what she meant (and didn’t mean) by “egoism”, “capitalism”, and “romanticism”. The logical integration of her ideas itself is somewhat rare in an age of Pragmatists denigrating “ideology”.

In aesthetics, she was primarily concerned with human volition (not the determinism of naturalism), which implied the crucial importance of the pursuit of values in human life—and that man is (at least potentially) heroic. This certainly stands out in what is far more of a cynical, nihilist, anti-value culture of anti-heroes (and worse) than it was when she (correctly) excoriated it. Today, there are serious cultural works that are episodic and disconnected, obsessed with human weaknesses and destruction—or mindless comic book movies with heroes and plots but no thought. (This is one of the many false dichotomies she busted.)

Finally, in an age dominated by those who describe selves, friends, and enemies as “antis”—“antiracists”, “antifascists”, “antivaxxers”, etc.—she did not define herself and others by what she or they were against. She focused on the good, on positive values, stressing what she was for or “pro”. The reason and individualism (and capitalism) she extolled, as she pointed out, was the only consistent alternative to racism and fascism. (This is a corollary of the value orientation mentioned in the proceeding paragraph, but it must be stressed, these days.)

As millions know, some of whom agree with her philosophy, some of whom don’t, reading her is a unique, enlightening, empowering reward. And if the long overdue cultural revolution—or next renaissance—ever takes place, it will be primarily due to her influence.

*A subscription to Scott’s Substack publication, Autonomia, is well worth it, especially if you value the topics and themes I write about here.