The Atlas Society Presents: Reading Group Curricula

Six-Session Syllabus: An Introduction to Objectivism

Below I have selected essential articles by Ayn Rand and the experts at The Atlas Society. By working
through discussions of these readings over six (numbered) sessions, your group can get a clear idea of
what Objectivism is and what it stands for. The readings make for good reading and for a lively
discussion: they are direct and provocative.

For more details and extensions of the ideas, check out the recommended further reading selections,
and investigate our other curricula for arranging discussions and engaging in self-study.

If you have questions, use our “ask a question” service online or send me an email.

William R Thomas

Director of Programs, The Atlas Society

[email protected]
 1. “Freedom, Achievement, Individualism, Reason: Objectivism” by William R Thomas
http://www.atlassociety.org/freedom-achievement-individualism-reason-objectivism

The idea of liberty depends on a specific philosophical foundation. This essay shows why this is the
case and gives an overview of the key ideas of Objectivism as it traces Rand's philosophy back to the
foundations.

Study and discussion questions for “Freedom, Achievement, Individualism, Reason:

1. Why does capitalism depend on a society that values achievement?

2. Is individualism opposed to cooperative efforts among people

3. How would an ethic of service to society support or impede the spread of individual
freedom?

4. What other arguments for freedom are you aware of? How do they compare to the
Objectivist argument?

“Philosophy: Who Needs It" in Philosophy: Who Needs It? (Signet paperback edition), pp. 1-11.

Unless you are one of those rare people who are simply drawn to philosophy, you may wonder why
you should bother with it. Ayn Rand's answer is that the philosophic beliefs you embrace are of life-
and-death importance. Read this essay to see why a systematic philosophy fills a vital human need.

Study and discussion questions for “Philosophy: Who Needs It”

1. What is philosophy?

2. What are the main branches of philosophy?

3. What issues does philosophy address?

4. How fundamental are those issues?

5. Why do humans need this kind of knowledge?

6. Consider a problem you recently faced: how could philosophy help you understand it
or deal with it?
 2. "Faith and Force: Destroyers of the Modern World" in Philosophy: Who Needs It?
(Signet paperback edition), pp. 58-76.

Human success and progress have proceeded from the dominance of reason and freedom in a
culture. But these have been opposed by the union of "mysticism, collectivism, [and] altruism."
In this talk, given at several universities in 1960, Ayn Rand argues that capitalism is the social
system of reason and freedom, and that both these aspects of capitalism have been
misrepresented and suppressed throughout the 20th century in the name of the ethics of
altruism. Rand catalogs the cultural ills she sees attending to this situation, including
irrationalism and nihilism, and calls for a "moral revolution… the most radical form of
rebellion."

Study and discussion questions for “Faith and Force”

1. Have you read, heard of, or met any intellectuals with ideas like the "modern
relativists" Rand describes on page 59 or the "neo-mystics" Rand describes on page 64?

2. What is mysticism, in Rand's view?

3. What is collectivism? Where has it been put it into practice?

4. What is altruism?

5. In what sense does Rand call the (atheistic) communists and socialists "mystics?"

6. What period of history does Rand describe as the most rational and most free?

7. Why are reason and freedom corollaries?

8. Why are faith and force corollaries?

9. Nowadays, what political system(s) depend on altruism, and what are opposed to it?

10. Why does altruism require mysticism?

11. What is revolutionary about Rand's "moral revolution?"

Further reading:

“Is Religion Compatible with Objectivism?” by David Kelley

“The Party of Modernity” by David Kelley

This essay presents Rand's theory of good and evil, of virtue and vice. Rand begins at the
beginning, asking what ethics is and why we need it. She then shows why she regards "man's
life" as the objective standard in ethics, the measure of right and wrong, and why she rejects the
traditional view that altruism, or one's service to others, is the measure of goodness. She
outlines her view of each individual person as a rational being who can and should live and
achieve happiness through his own effort and the use of his own mind. She concludes with a
discussion of the cardinal virtues of Objectivism—rationality, productiveness, and pride—and
argues that proper mode of dealing with others is by trade.

Study and discussion questions for “The Objectivist Ethics”

1. What is morality, according to Ayn Rand?

2. Why do humans need ethics?

3. What are values?

4. Why do living organisms need values?

5. What is unique about human beings, compared with other organisms?

6. What is the difference between concepts and percepts?

7. Is human action automatic and infallible?

8. What does Ayn Rand mean by "focus?"

9. Why does there have to be an ethical standard?

10. What is the purpose the ethical standard serves?

11.What is the meaning of "man's survival qua man?"

12. What kind of selfishness does Rand advocate?

13. What does the virtue of Rationality consist in? Does it relate to any other virtues?

14.What does the virtue of Productiveness consist in? How does this fit with life in a
modern, industrial society?

15. What is Pride, according to Rand? Does it depend on an objective basis, or on

16. What is the principle of trade?

17. Why is trade an important idea in Objectivism? What kinds of interactions involve
trade, and what kinds do not?
 18. Is the Objectivist morality idealistic? How so?

19. Is the Objectivist morality practical? How so?

Further reading:

“I Don't Have To” by David Kelley

“What Really Matters” by William R Thomas

Unrugged Individualism: the Selfish Basis of Benevolence by David Kelley

Today we live in era of that some call the triumph of capitalism. But, as this essay shows,
political thinkers and economists hardly know the meaning of capitalism. Rand explains what
capitalism is, why it made the Industrial Revolution possible, and how it came to be vilified and
almost universally misunderstood in the 20th Century. "The moral justification of capitalism lies
in the fact that it is the only system consonant with man's rational nature, that it protects man's
survival qua man, and that its ruling principle is: justice." Rand explains what conditions
capitalism requires and maintains, and she conducts a seering attack on an interpretation of
capitalism that was widespread in her time and remains common today.

1. In this essay, the cultural conditions Ayn Rand writes of are those of the 1960s. How
well does her analysis of a sick culture in a technological boom apply today?
2. What is the source of technology, industry, and material wealth, according to Ayn Rand?

3. Is business basically good in character or basically evil, according to Rand?

4. The Encyclopedia Britannica article that Ayn Rand analyzes has a theory as to why
capitalism was successful at raising the standard of living. What is that theory, and what
is wrong with it?

5. If you have studied economics or social science, have you ever heard theories like those
Rand discusses (you might have come across them in different words).

6. Ayn Rand argues that it is a mistake to view the economy as a pie to be redistributed.
Why?

7. What is the correct relation between society and the individual according to Rand?

8. What is the "common good" according to Rand? How is this idea regularly misused?
How can it be dangerous to common people?

9. What kind of political system does capitalism require?

10. How must people deal with each other under capitalism?

11. Why is physical force inimical to capitalism and to trade?

12. What is the relation between capitalism and freedom, and between capitalism and
individual rights?

13. Why does Ayn Rand say that objective values are impossible without freedom to
trade?

14. Is a stick of lipstick better or worse than a rocket ship, according to Ayn Rand?
Who decides, and on what basis?
 15. What kind of economic and political system did Russia have when it was the
Soviet Union?

16. What were the effects of that system on the wealth and health of the population
of Soviet Russia?

17. Today capitalism is still widely attacked in books and government and even in
street protests. What is the reason for these attacks, according to Rand?

18. Is capitalism compatible with a morality based on altruism?

19. What kinds of moral ideas that you are familiar with are based on altruism?

20. What are common reasons you hear today for restricting business or attacking
capitalism? How do they relate to Rand's arguments in this essay?

Further Reading:

“Crony Capitalism versus 'Making' Money” by Walter Donway

“The Fourth Revolution” by David Kelley

"If one wishes to advocate a free society—that is, capitalism—one must realize that its
indispensable foundation is the principle of individual rights. If one wishes to uphold individual
rights, one must realize that capitalism is the only system that can uphold and protect them." So
does Ayn Rand begin this clear, point-by-point explication of the nature and moral significance
of individual rights, the rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" enshrined in the
American Declaration of Independence. It is the key to understanding the Objectivism's politics
and the meaning of liberty.

1. What are rights?

2. What is the difference between ethics and politics?

3. What is the relationship between rights and freedom?

4. What is the relationship between force and reason?

5. Why does man need to have his rights protected?

6. What is the most fundamental right?

7. What does "the pursuit of happiness" mean?

8. What conflicts are there among the various individual rights?

9. What is the relationship between rights and democracy?

10.How does freedom of speech relate to the right to own property?

11.What social system upholds individual rights?

12.Are "economic rights" like the right to housing or medical care really rights according to Ayn
Rand? How do they compare to individual rights?

Further Reading:

“Is There a Right to Health Care?” by David Kelley

The Logical Structure of Objectivism, Chapter 7: Freedom and Government, by David Kelley
and William R Thomas
6. "The Psycho-Epistemology of Art" in The Romantic Manifesto, (Signet paperback
edition), pp. 15-24.

Ayn Rand was a fiction writer, and here she takes on the basic issue of aesthetic theory: what art
is and why we need it. Rand defines art as "a selective recreation of reality," and connects our
need for it to the human faculty of reason, particularly the abstractness of our ideas.

1. What is Ayn Rand's full definition of "art?"

2. How does Ayn Rand's concept of art compare with how the word "art" is commonly
used today?

3. Is something art just because an artist says it is?

4. What is perception?

5. What is an abstraction?

6. How does abstraction relate to concepts?

7. How does art relate to the perceptual level of consciousness?

8. How does art capture ideas and values?

9. Does art have a didactic function?

Further reading:

“Why Art Became Ugly” by Stephen Hicks