Ayn Rand not only defended the concept of objectivism in her book, “Atlas Shrugged,” but she lived out that philosophy with rare passion and boldness.
There are many things to admire about Ayn Rand’s accomplishments. She came to New York alone in 1925 as an impoverished immigrant. Over time she became an admired author, achieved notable celebrity status, and went on to build a profitable intellectual empire. His influence remains extraordinary to this day and his books are still in print. One of his novels, “The Fountainhead”, became a popular movie. (Rand wrote the script, at his insistence.) His masterpiece, “Atlas Shrugged”, was released as a modern film (Part 1), almost thirty years after his death.
But it is his philosophy, Objectivism, that was (and still is) Rand’s most powerful influence on society. Again, there are things to admire about objectivism. A partial but dedicated understanding of noble values was the foundation of Rand’s thinking. Since the time of Plato, the family triad of timeless values has been generally recognized as truth, beauty, and goodness. Rand extolled truth and praised uncompromising integrity. And she lived by that code; she was true to her beliefs. Rand also embraced beauty, advocating challenging benchmarks of excellence … “The only sin is doing the wrong thing.” Moving on to the third classical principle, that of kindness or caring, Ayn Rand set aside this metavalue. She was a cruel and callous narcissist who damaged many lives. And here lies the weak point of Objectivist philosophy.
Shortly after Ayn Rand’s death in 1982 at the age of 77, one of her separated associates, psychologist Nathaniel Branden, called Ayn’s publicist for thirty years. He asked her how she felt about the loss of Ayn Rand. The publicist replied: “I don’t feel much about anything. The love I felt for Ayn faded a long time ago. I can no longer feel anything about her achievements. I am too angry at her cruelty and the harm she has suffered. She caused so many people. who cared for her. “
Truth and beauty (or integrity and excellence) are fundamental to material success. However, kindness is perhaps the most important metavalue of all. It is also the most challenging, because you cannot practice kindness in a vacuum. Kindness involves developing loving and respectful relationships with other people. Kindness is much more than a technique for being nice and getting along with others. Kindness fosters quality of care in a self-actualizing personality. Kindness modifies the urge to excel, resulting in a healthy tension between self-interest and service to others. Without caring for and respecting all human beings, any political, industrial or religious philosophy or movement eventually becomes corrupted and becomes a lethal danger to humanity. A dedicated Nazi or terrorist could demonstrate fidelity to their cause, or perceived truth, and establish excellence in their performance and yet casually inflict untold harm on innocent people.
Ayn Rand was a devoted atheist, but this cannot excuse selfish callousness. Abraham Maslow was also a professed atheist, yet he held that the metavalues of truth, beauty, and goodness were inseparable. He came to profess that these metavalues are realities, potential active agents, not just furniture for the mind. Maslow stated that metavalues are virtual living realities in the self-actualizing personality. He was a defender of the science of values, refusing to cede the study of truth, beauty, and goodness solely to religion and philosophy.
Still, objectivism is a philosophy that embraces the preeminence of the individual. This is to be praised and respected. Another important tenant of objectivism is the declaration that the human will is the determinant of the experience of the inner life. We cannot control what may happen to us in the situational fields in which we live, but we are fully responsible for our attitudes towards these situations. Although Ayn Rand lived the values of self-respect and personal responsibility, she stopped there. She believed that science has all the answers and spiritual insight is a fantasy. But, as Viktor Frankl said, “we cannot be a law to ourselves.” Furthermore, we cannot truly respect ourselves any more than we respect other people.
Ayn Rand is to be admired for her bravery, but not for her cruelty. I have admitted that objectivism presents some tenants of importance and power. However, as a philosophy, its power becomes dangerous because it tries to be a two-legged stool. We need the three metavalues: truth, beauty, and goodness. The eternal triad protects us from a narcissistic illusion of infallible power. Because when power leads us to arrogance, the truth reminds us of our limitations. When power reduces our worries and directs us toward selfishness, beauty reminds us that we need the rich and nurturing diversity of our human brothers and sisters. And, perhaps most importantly, when power corrupts and damages, goodness cleanses and heals. Because truth, beauty and goodness are the touchstones that guide humanity towards love and service.
And love, the “desire to do good to others”, is the most powerful force in the universe.
