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The Ayn Rand Library #1

Philosophy Who Needs It

ayn rand leonard peikoff

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Who Needs It?'' by Ayn Rand. Introduction by Leonard Peikoff. 1982. First edition, first printing.

276 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1,1982
Series
The Ayn Rand Library

This edition

Format
276 pages, Hardcover
Published
January 1, 1982 by Bobbs-Merrill
ISBN
9780672527258
ASIN
0672527251
Language
English

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About the author

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ayn rand

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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.

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Rating(4.1 / 5.0, 100 votes)
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Profile Image for Kimberly .
Hayasaka14
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
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Ayn Rand is completely misunderstood in the popular culture- she was not a heartless selfish individualist without a care for her fellow man. Ayn Rand was a principled philosopher in the tradition of Aristotle- who realized that human beings are ends in themselves and can only flourish by being free to act according to the dictates of reason and conscience. Ayn Rand isn't opposed to love, to friendship, to organized groups of people with a common purpose. She was opposed to coercion in all forms, and as such Ayn Rand was an optimist and a champion of human dignity. Unlike most modern intellectuals, Ayn Rand realized that pure capitalism is good and natural and right. We are men, not ants- and free market capitalism, not socialism or communism, is part of our nature. Let human reason flourish, let markets flourish, and humanity will flourish. I'm not saying I agree with everything she said- I'm just saying that her world is not some kind of dark, dog-eat-dog, man-against-man hell. In fact, her world is one of human flourishing and human dignity where men are free to participate in their own creation- to become persons of character, worthy of love, confident in their own human goodness.
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H1K4G3
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
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Uma série de palestras sobre a filosofia dessa famosa autora americana. O Objetivismo como ela chama seu pensamento filosófico e que foi e está sendo usado como base filosófica do modelo capitalista. O livro tem altos e baixos e algumas vezes é um pouco repetitivo como não poderia deixar de ser quando se reúnem artigos publicados em diversas épocas e em diversos meios. As críticas tanto à direita conservadora quanto à esquerda radical são o ponto alto mostrando como elas se encontram como lados de uma mesma moeda. O livro é um libelo por vezes iluminista por vezes utilitarista do modelo democrático e do estado de direito. Estou lendo outro livro dela agora que está me parecendo mais estruturado. Não se consegue concordar com tudo que Ms Rand fala mas suas críticas são tão contundentes que merecem ser ouvidas. Seu estilo trafega entre Roberto Campos, Merquior e Nelson Rodrigues, só quem lê-la vai entender o que eu digo.
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Cbxtheking
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
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I'm on an Ayn Rand kick right now. I started off with "The Virtue of Selfishness", then went to "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal", and now I just finished this. I really liked the two previous books, but this one was so-so for me. The first article/chapter in this book by the same name, was very good. A lot of the other chapters, though, were about how much Ayn hated Immanuel Kant. It kind of got repetitive after a while, like many other reviewers have said. I also felt that this book's articles weren't as good as the one's in "Virtue" and "Capitalism", as they discussed the same basic principles/ideas for the most part.

So, I would suggest that you read "Virtue" and "Capitalism" before you read this; as they are superior in my opinion, and explain Rand's philosophy and ideas far better than this. Now I'm off to start "For the New Intellectual."
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Shochraos
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
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Everyone lives by a philosophy, whether it is chosen or one by default. This book explains why reason is important and its collection of essays is a good primer on Objectivism. To some degree, the first time I read this book I did not understand the author's meaning of some of her terms. If anyone reads this and doesn't understand any of the terms or concepts, I would recommend looking them up in the Ayn Rand Lexicon, either the book or the website. This book is must read for anyone interested in understanding themselves or why people do what they do.
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sassssssf
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
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An excellent primer on Rand’s philosophy of objectivism and the inherent evils of collectivism and altruism.
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Tsrorst
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
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Her ideas are convincing and this is the first time I am coming across the Objectivist school of thought. Though I do not posses a natural inclination to many of her ideas, I must appreciate the easy flow of ideas (ignoring veracity).
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snadu
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
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What could I say to sell Ayn Rand that would do her any justice? This book along with Virtue of Selfishness are the two most eye opening pieces I have ever read. The explanations of the law of identity and the current course of man kind are well covered in this book. Ayn discusses other philosophers such as Kant and points out where he does harm, or at least in her view. A good read and again I see it all as eye opening in the "taking the red pill" sense of the word.
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