What is objectivism in 'Atlas shrugged'?

Question

I am thinking of reading Atlas shrugged - Ayn Rand but i don't really understand what objectivism is, i tried reading up on it on wikipedia.org but it's still a bit hazy. And also, without giving away anything big, what is it about. Can any age read the book? What age would you recommend, im 17, is that too young to fully understand it, i like the sound of it from what i've heard.

Answer 1

I have read almost all of Ayn Rand's works. I only have one more collection of essays to finish and I will be done. As to your question it is a good one.

Objectivism in it's most basic form not taking anything as fact that cannot be sensed by your five senses or by way of a machine which your five senses can measure. It takes elements of logic and reason and applies them to how you live life and how you react to what happens around you. I am not a very good philosophy writer but that is the bear elements of it.

As for the book. It is a slow start. The first 50 pages are all back ground but once it starts to move you will have think that you just read a quick 300 page book not a 1000+ page book. You will learn everything there is to know about Objectivism by reading the chapter called "This Is John Galt." But do not just read that. You will be stealing from yourself so much if you do.

The level of detail in the book about the world the characters live in is powerful. You might dream of the world and what happens in it like I did. You will also learn a lot about how the world of politics works today. And maybe you will learn to truly think for yourself.

I can say that before I read that book I was only playing at thinking for myself. It was an eye opening event for me. It changed my life and made me want to think more about things and not just accept the societie's norms.

I hope you enjoy the book and just if it bogs down work through it. In the end you will be a better person for reading it.

Answer 2

Objectivism is the name given to the philosophy Ayn Rand advocates.  It largely is based on a reliance upon reason for devising an ethical system, thus setting it apart from religious beliefs predicated on faith.  Rand believed that people, when confronted with the challenge of living, do their best when they act in their own rational self-interest.  In this way, objectivism is akin to egoism, but Rand was quick to point out that objectivism is chiefly concerned with reason and only secondarily concerned with egoism.

Further, objectivism states that we should rely upon our own abilities to think, see, hear, taste and touch to guide us towards the promotion of our own rational self-interest.  Indeed, according to Rand, society itself should be constructed in such a way that the individual's pursuit of his own self-interest should not be abridged.  This being the case, Rand advocated a laissez-faire society in which government controls are minimized in favor of letting each individual experience the joys of success and pains of failure on their own.

Atlas Shrugged is Rand's largest and most clear work on the subject of objectivism.  There can be no mistaking her point of view after reading this book.  It is long, but it is not difficult to follow, and surely you would manage the task at the age of 17.  As for whether you will fully understand it, I re-read Atlas Shrugged approximately a year ago (and I'm twice your age) and learned things I did not pick up from my first reading of it years ago.  However, that is likely true of most things we read.

Objectivism, as outlined in Atlas Shrugged, demands self-reliance and holds in highest regards the human capacity to provide for his own happiness in this world through reason, not by the (empty) hope that there is some world after this one where people, though miserable here, will find happiness.

Thank you for the question.