A Companion To Ayn Rand by Allan Gotthelf

This expansive Companion provides vital orientation and context for scholars and educated readers grappling with Ayn Rand's varied and controversial corpus. Rand's work has been often ignored and sometimes disdained in the academy, yet she continues to fascinate readers with her dramatic novels; wide-ranging essays; and articulation of Objectivism, her philosophy of reason, egoism, and laissez-faire Capitalism. After an informative introduction and a brief biography of the Russian emigree who went on to celebrate and defent her vision of the American way of life, each chapter of this Companion focuses on a different aspect of the philosophy she developed, or on a selection of her writings. Several chapters tackle her views on ethics and the metaphysical and epistemological foundations of her philosophy. Others examine Rand's thoughts on political theory, her approach to literature (as both theorist and author), and her acute analysis of contemporary events. Taken together, the chapters provide insight into Rand's distinctive worldview, offering a holistic approach to her body of work in relation to the fields she influenced. This publication provides a thorough, scholarly grounding in Rand's varied and highly original work, offering the most wide-ranging and up-to-date survey available. Allan Gotthelf (1942-2013) was Anthem Foundation Distinguished Fellow at Rutgers University, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at The College of New Jersey, Secretary of the Ayn Rand Society and the primary editor of its Philosophical Studies series. Between 2003 and 2012 he was Visiting Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh. Gregory Salmieri teaches at Rutgers University, is a philosophy fellow at the Anthem Foundations, and has held teaching and research positions at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (2008-2012) and Boston University (2012-2014). He is co-secretary of the Ayn Rand Society.