Ayn Rand death anniversary: Interesting facts about the founder of Objectivism

A staunch believer in romantic realism in art, Ayn Rand criticised most philosophical traditions save those propounded by Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and classical liberals.

A self-proclaimed novelist and philosopher, Ayn Rand, who passed away on March 6, 1982, had once written, “Every novelist is a philosopher, because one cannot present a picture of human existence without a philosophical framework.” Known for her best-selling novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, she also devised a philosophical system, she called Objectivism.

The author would later turn to non-fiction to promote her philosophy and even release several collections of essays until her death in 1982.

A staunch believer in romantic realism in art, she criticised most philosophical traditions save those propounded by Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and classical liberals.

The philosophical system called Objectivism that she developed was first expressed in the book The Fountainhead and later in Atlas Shrugged. The thought says that reality exists independently of consciousness and that the pursuit of one’s own happiness is the proper moral purpose of one’s life, among other things. The philosophy also believes that the role of art in human life is to transform metaphysical ideas into a physical form, through work of art.

Interestingly, her 1943 novel, The Fountainhead was adapted for the big screen starring Gary Cooper. However, the film was a box office failure.

Here are a few of the most well-known works written by Ayn Rand:

The Fountainhead: The first major literary success by Rand, the novel follows Howard Roark, an individualistic young architect who designs modern building and refusing to accept innovation. Twelve publishers rejected the manuscript before Bobbs-Merril Company published the novel. According to Rand, Roark, “struggles for the integrity of his creative work against every form of social opposition”.

Atlas Shrugged: The 1957 novel, which is also the author’s final work incorporates elements of science fiction, mystery and romance. The novel showcases a dystopian US where businesses suffer due to archaic laws and regulations. The novel explores several themes, all of which would later go on to contribute to Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism.

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We the Living: The debut novel by the Russian American novelist Ayn Rand, it was Rand’s first statement against communism and was written in 1934. However, the book was finally published in 1936 by Macmillan Publishing. The story is set in Soviet Russia, from which Rand had fled to America ten years earlier.

Anthem: A dystopian novella by the author, the work traces a time in the future when the world has entered another Dark Age, with concept of individuality eliminated. A man rebels, but when he is discovered, flees into the wilderness with his beloved, planning to establish a new society.

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