Her Personal Philosophy

This was the motto that Ayn Rand lived by.

Ayn Rand has been described by her longtime associate Leonard Peikoff as, "...indomitable, strong, very intelligent, very passionate. She could be extremely warm , she could get really angry. You always knew what she was thinking."
Certainly, she made her thoughts and ideals very clear to the outside world, whether or not they were in agreement with her. She espoused a type of 'naive realism', and she argued that the conciousness is always concious of something. Her world was black and white, right and wrong. She regarded happiness as her highest value and sole moral purpose. To justify her hedonism (note: Objectivism is NOT hedonism) she said, "Reason is humanity's sole standard."

She summarized her philosophy in this way:
1. Metaphysics: Objective Reality - Reality exists as an objective absolute- facts are facts, independent of feelings, wishes, hopes or fears.
2. Epistemology: Reason - Reason is man's only means of perceiving reality, his only source of knowledge, his only guide to action, and his basic means of survival.
3. Ethics: Self Interest - Every man is an end in himself, not the means to the ends of others. He must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself for others nor sacrificing others to himself. The pursuit of his own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life.
4. Politics: Laissez-faire Capitalism - the ideal political-economic system is laissez-faire capitalism. It is a system where men deal with one another...as traders, by free, voluntary exchange for mutual benefit. The government acts only as policeman that protects man's rights; it uses physical force only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use...there should be...a complete separation of state and economics, in the same way and for the same reasons as the separation of state and church.

Finally, there was a code of Objectivist ethics by which she lived and advocated that others do the same.
* The primary virtues of Objectivist ethics are rationality, independence, integrity, honesty, justice, productiveness, trade, and pride.
*The Objective moral code can be summed up in the term rational self-interest, or rational selfishness.
*Man has a right to a moral existence, but he must define his values and interests himself. This is not a license to follow any emotional desire or whim, but a calll to conciousness.
*No man should sacrifice himself to others nor others to himself.

Inside the Philosophy of Objectivism "My personal life is a postscript to my novels; it consists of the sentence: 'And I mean it'". - Ayn Rand
	"Dagny, how did you do it? How did you manage to remain unmangled?" "By holding on to just one rule." "Which?" "To place nothing-nothing-above the verdict of my own mind." "You've taken some terrible beatings...maybe worse than I did...worse than any of us....What held you through it?" "The knowledge that my life is the highest of values, too high to give up without a fight." (Atlas Shrugged)
"To thine own self be true." This was the motto that Ayn Rand lived by. Ayn Rand has been described by her longtime associate Leonard Peikoff as, "...indomitable, strong, very intelligent, very passionate. She could be extremely warm , she could get really angry. You always knew what she was thinking." Certainly, she made her thoughts and ideals very clear to the outside world, whether or not they were in agreement with her. She espoused a type of 'naive realism', and she argued that the conciousness is always concious of something. Her world was black and white, right and wrong. She regarded happiness as her highest value and sole moral purpose. To justify her hedonism (note: Objectivism is NOT hedonism) she said, "Reason is humanity's sole standard." She summarized her philosophy in this way: 1. Metaphysics: Objective Reality - Reality exists as an objective absolute- facts are facts, independent of feelings, wishes, hopes or fears. 2. Epistemology: Reason - Reason is man's only means of perceiving reality, his only source of knowledge, his only guide to action, and his basic means of survival. 3. Ethics: Self Interest - Every man is an end in himself, not the means to the ends of others. He must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself for others nor sacrificing others to himself. The pursuit of his own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life. 4. Politics: Laissez-faire Capitalism - the ideal political-economic system is laissez-faire capitalism. It is a system where men deal with one another...as traders, by free, voluntary exchange for mutual benefit. The government acts only as policeman that protects man's rights; it uses physical force only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use...there should be...a complete separation of state and economics, in the same way and for the same reasons as the separation of state and church. Finally, there was a code of Objectivist ethics by which she lived and advocated that others do the same. * The primary virtues of Objectivist ethics are rationality, independence, integrity, honesty, justice, productiveness, trade, and pride. The Objective moral code can be summed up in the term rational self-interest, or rational selfishness. Man has a right to a moral existence, but he must define his values and interests himself. This is not a license to follow any emotional desire or whim, but a calll to conciousness. *No man should sacrifice himself to others nor others to himself.
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