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Brilliant essays on Objectivist thought.
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The Ayn Rand Library #5
The Voice of Reason: Essays in Objectivist Thought
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Between 1961, when she gave her first talk at the Ford Hall Forum in Boston, and 1981, when she gave the last talk of her life in New Orleans, Ayn Rand spoke and wrote about topics as varied as education, medicine, Vietnam, and the death of Marilyn Monroe . In The Voice of Reason , these pieces, written in the last decades of Rand's life, are gathered in book form for the first time. With them are five essays by Leonard Peikoff , Rand's longtime associate and literary executor. The work concludes with Peikoff's epilogue, "My Thirty Years With Ayn Rand: An Intellectual Memoir," which answers the question "What was Ayn Rand really like?" Important reading for all thinking individuals, Rand's later writings reflect a life lived on principle, a probing mind, and a passionate intensity. This collection communicates not only Rand's singular worldview, but also the penetrating cultural and political analysis to which it gives rise.
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1,1989
This edition
- Format
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368 pages, Paperback
- Published
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June 30, 1990 by Penguin Publishing Group
- ISBN
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9780452010468
- ASIN
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0452010462
- Language
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English
About the author
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Polemical novels, such as The Fountainhead (1943), of primarily known Russian-American writer Ayn Rand, originally Alisa Rosenbaum, espouse the doctrines of objectivism and political libertarianism.
Fiction of this better author and philosopher developed a system that she named. Educated, she moved to the United States in 1926. After two early initially duds and two Broadway plays, Rand achieved fame. In 1957, she published Atlas Shrugged, her best-selling work.
Rand advocated reason and rejected faith and religion. She supported rational and ethical egoism as opposed to altruism. She condemned the immoral initiation of force and supported laissez-faire capitalism, which she defined as the system, based on recognizing individual rights, including private property. Often associated with the modern movement in the United States, Rand opposed and viewed anarchism. In art, she promoted romantic realism. She sharply criticized most philosophers and their traditions with few exceptions.
Books of Rand sold more than 37 million copies. From literary critics, her fiction received mixed reviews with more negative reviews for her later work. Afterward, she turned to nonfiction to promote her philosophy, published her own periodicals, and released several collections of essays until her death in 1982.
After her death, her ideas interested academics, but philosophers generally ignored or rejected her and argued that her approach and work lack methodological rigor. She influenced some right conservatives. The movement circulates her ideas to the public and in academic settings.
Fiction of this better author and philosopher developed a system that she named. Educated, she moved to the United States in 1926. After two early initially duds and two Broadway plays, Rand achieved fame. In 1957, she published Atlas Shrugged, her best-selling work.
Rand advocated reason and rejected faith and religion. She supported rational and ethical egoism as opposed to altruism. She condemned the immoral initiation of force and supported laissez-faire capitalism, which she defined as the system, based on recognizing individual rights, including private property. Often associated with the modern movement in the United States, Rand opposed and viewed anarchism. In art, she promoted romantic realism. She sharply criticized most philosophers and their traditions with few exceptions.
Books of Rand sold more than 37 million copies. From literary critics, her fiction received mixed reviews with more negative reviews for her later work. Afterward, she turned to nonfiction to promote her philosophy, published her own periodicals, and released several collections of essays until her death in 1982.
After her death, her ideas interested academics, but philosophers generally ignored or rejected her and argued that her approach and work lack methodological rigor. She influenced some right conservatives. The movement circulates her ideas to the public and in academic settings.
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Rating(3.7 / 5.0, 41 votes)
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I think it's like a Cliff's Notes to Atlas Shrugged and the Fountainhead. The playbook for objectivism in three parts Philosophy, Culture, and Politics. The Politics part was the most relevant for me as it doubled up as an economics of Objectivism lesson. The Philosophy part seemed more like a college professor lending his opinions to the class. I felt as if I would fail if I voiced disagreement. Culture was interesting; the best part for me on the complacency of the American public school system; and college education for that matter. Slightly misleading in that this is not entirely Ayn Rand messages; Leonard Peikoff has thrown some of his works into the mix.
If you find yourself wanting to make sure you got the message in John Galt's 100 some page speech, you'll want to pick this up. If you feel you've had enough, or don't quite agree with Objectivist thought, you'll want to pass.
If you find yourself wanting to make sure you got the message in John Galt's 100 some page speech, you'll want to pick this up. If you feel you've had enough, or don't quite agree with Objectivist thought, you'll want to pass.
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Very good compilations of Ayn Rand's thought on multiple topics, quite redundant as I've already several of her non-fiction books. Some essay was much shorter and less well-developed than expected. Some carries personal fallacy of logic, making it less persuasive.
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Everyone and his dog has read Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. The themes in her fiction works are well developed (particularly in Atlas Shrugged) and by the time you lay these tomes down you will have a reasonable understanding of Objectivism; that is there is an objective reality and therefore the epistemology of our knowledge and philosophy should derive from that reality. Through such a thought process one can derive certain conclusions. The Voice of Reason elaborates on this process, applies objectivist principals to today’s issues (the essays were written from 1961-1985 but the problems she addresses are still relevant today, perhaps even more so since our society has unfortunately become more Kantian), and discusses broad philosophical and political trends.
I am a fan of Rand. I applaud how she reinforces that man is an end unto himself. She continually reiterates the evil of altruism (not to be confused with charity). No man should live for another and the selfish joy one derives from his accomplishments, relationships, knowledge and thought are the only morally correct fashion of living.
This collection takes concentration, so if you have a baby crying in the background, I recommend you leave the child in front of a firehouse somewhere – don’t worry it will be fine. The writing is simple but the themes can be complex. You may find yourself having to re-read paragraphs (I know I did, as I am simple boy educated in the government schools). I think now I will read something light, like the Talmud, Ulysses or the Marquis de Sade (without the dirty parts).
I am a fan of Rand. I applaud how she reinforces that man is an end unto himself. She continually reiterates the evil of altruism (not to be confused with charity). No man should live for another and the selfish joy one derives from his accomplishments, relationships, knowledge and thought are the only morally correct fashion of living.
This collection takes concentration, so if you have a baby crying in the background, I recommend you leave the child in front of a firehouse somewhere – don’t worry it will be fine. The writing is simple but the themes can be complex. You may find yourself having to re-read paragraphs (I know I did, as I am simple boy educated in the government schools). I think now I will read something light, like the Talmud, Ulysses or the Marquis de Sade (without the dirty parts).
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Read this long time ago. I remember enjoying it, although I don't remember too much. Unlike her shorter philosophy books such as the Virtue of Selfishness, this book has many references on a general overview of the Objectivist philosophy. I would have gotten more out of this book if I've read Atlas Shrugged and couple of her other well-known books beforehand.
Still a good book. I also liked couple of Peikoff's essays and lecture.
Still a good book. I also liked couple of Peikoff's essays and lecture.
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I was stunned to learn that Ayn Rand "triggered" some progressives on FB - so much that they demanded the OP be taken down-- that I had to return to Ayn's essays which I attempted to slog thru in high school. Gosh, they were tough back then. But at 56, she made so much more sense (and yes. We are on a first name basis). I am now a great fan of Aristotle and Objectivism, and totally see how the GOP/libertarians have highjacked her philosophy to promote their own abusive powers while the left still remains lost. She does come off cold hearted but man, can she drag the Catholic Church over their dead facts. Her 1968 lecture on the Humanae Vitae was a loud scream to read at 3am on a Saturday after the abortion decision. Peikoff's essays were also easy to follow and got me into his 1980's book, The Omnious Parallels.
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This is not worth 4 stars for me because I subscribe to everything Rand says. There are some ideas of hers that I think are spot-on and others that I find to be woefully short-sighted. The reason this is worth 4 stars for me is because it does a great job of teaching exactly what Rand believed, and in doing that it taught me a lot about her personal philosophy of Objectivism.
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