What Makes Ayn Rand’s Philosophy Unique?

What makes Ayn Rand’s philosophy unique? Broadly speaking: the content of her philosophy, Objectivism, and (connected to this) her conviction that philosophy is crucially important.

Let’s first look at the latter.

To most modern philosophers philosophy is disconnected from life—nothing more than an analysis of language, or speculation about the unknowable, or an intellectual game—which is why most people think philosophy is “just a lot of theory” (i.e., a waste of time).

To Ayn Rand, by contrast, philosophy is a matter of life and death. On her view, philosophy studies the fundamental nature of existence, of man and of man’s relationship to existence. “A philosophy,” such as Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism, is a systematic, integrated view of existence—what used to be called “a philosophy of life.” Far from being a useless game, philosophy, to Ayn Rand, is the determining factor in an individual’s character and happiness and in every aspect of a culture, including history, politics, education. Philosophic ideas are important because one’s life is important, and philosophy is a practical necessity for living. As Ayn Rand wrote:

In order to live, man must act; in order to act, he must make choices; in order to make choices, he must define a code of values; in order to define a code of values, he must know what he is and where he is—i.e., he must know his own nature (including his means of knowledge) and the nature of the universe in which he acts—i.e., he needs metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, which means: philosophy. He cannot escape from this need; his only alternative is whether the philosophy guiding him is to be chosen by his mind or by chance.

Something else that makes Ayn Rand’s approach different: she holds that there are answers to philosophic questions, even the most abstract questions, such as “what is the relationship of concepts in our minds to the particular objects we perceive?” Most philosophers think that answers are impossible—that at best we can debate about whether one opinion is better or worse than some other—and because of that, they see any claim to certainty as tantamount to dogmatism; they fail to distinguish between answers derived from evidence and answers based on religious faith.

Now here, briefly, is what is unique about Ayn Rand’s philosophy; it is not just her approach to philosophy.

The nature of reality: Objectivism holds that things are what they are, independent of anyone’s knowledge or wishes. Objectivism rejects both the view that reality is some supernatural realm inaccessible to reason or that everyone has his own subjective reality.

Knowledge: Objectivism holds that reason is man’s only means of knowledge and tool of survival and that certainty is attainable. Objectivism thus rejects both the view that there is some non-rational means of knowledge (e.g., faith or intuition), and the view that knowledge is impossible and truth is relative to the individual or culture.

Human nature: Objectivism holds that individuals have free will, are autonomous and independent: by using reason, they can determine their own beliefs and values and thus control their own lives (“Man is a being of self-made soul”). Objectivism rejects the view that an individual’s thoughts and actions are the inevitable result of factors (e.g., heredity or environment) beyond his control.

Ethical standards: Objectivism holds that ethics is objective and factual; the standard of moral value is that which furthers the survival of man as a rational being. Objectivism rejects the view that ethics is a matter of opinion, that right and wrong are determined by social convention, ethnicity, personal preference or religious commandment.

Morality: Objectivism holds that every individual is an end in himself—which means that each individual should be selfish, should live by his own mind and for his own happiness, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself. Objectivism rejects the view that an individual’s moral worth is determined by his altruistic service to society, the needy, the nation or some deity.

Politics: Objectivism holds that capitalism is the only moral social system and that the only proper purpose of government is the protection of an individual’s right to this life, liberty, property and pursuit of happiness. Objectivism rejects the collectivist view that government exists to further the “common good,” the will of the majority or any particular group (e.g., the working class); and, unlike libertarianism, it rejects the view that government is evil by nature.

Ayn Rand’s positions on reality, knowledge, ethics and politics integrate into Objectivism, which she called “a philosophy for living on earth.”