7.4 /10 1 Votes
Country United States Series Ayn Rand Library Publication date 1991 Subject Objectivism | 3.7/5 Goodreads Language English Publisher Dutton Originally published 1991 Page count 493 (first edition) OCLC 23647748 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Media type Print (Hardcover and Paperback) Similar Leonard Peikoff books, Atheism books, Objectivism books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Objectivism the philosophy of ayn rand by leonard peikoff
Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand is a 1991 book by philosopher Leonard Peikoff, in which Peikoff discusses the ideas of his mentor, Ayn Rand. Peikoff describes it as "the first comprehensive statement" of Rand's philosophy, Objectivism. The book is based on a series of lecture courses that Peikoff first gave in 1976 and that Rand publicly endorsed. Peikoff states that only Rand was qualified to write the definitive statement of her philosophic system, and that the book should be seen as an interpretation "by her best student and chosen heir." The book is volume six of the "Ayn Rand Library" series edited by Peikoff.
Contents
Leonard peikoff o dzieciach i religii
Summary
Peikoff discusses Rand's views on metaphysics and epistemology, which she considered the fundamental branches of philosophy. He also covers Rand's views on ethics, politics and esthetics, which she considered to be derived from those fundamentals. In an epilogue titled "The Duel between Plato and Aristotle", Peikoff discusses Objectivism's philosophy of history.
Reception
Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand was praised by many of Peikoff's fellow Objectivist thinkers as a comprehensive presentation of Rand's philosophy. In a review for the Objectivist magazine The Intellectual Activist, Harry Binswanger said the book provided the first "full, systematic, non-fiction expression" of Objectivism, and said it was filled with "many electrifying ideas, elegant formulations, and majestic overviews." In a treatise defending Rand's ethics, philosopher Tara Smith took Peikoff's book as "an authoritative source of [Rand's] views". Edward W. Younkins said Rand's ideas were "authoritatively described and systematically explained" by Peikoff. According to non-Objectivist Rand scholar Mimi Reisel Gladstein, "The reader who wants a comprehensive view of orthodox Objectivism as it has evolved since Rand's death should start with Peikoff's book."
Peikoff's "orthodox" approach to Rand's ideas drew criticism. Rand scholar Chris Matthew Sciabarra described Peikoff's approach as "noncritical". Non-orthodox Objectivist philosopher David Kelley wrote that Peikoff's introduction of the book as both a "definitive statement" and "interpreted" was "a tortured effort" based on fallacies. In a review for Library Journal, philosopher Leslie Armour called Peikoff an "authorized evangelist" and "official expositor" who was too "bound to the received word" to write a good defense of Rand's ideas.
Other critics attacked the content of Peikoff's views, not just the orthodoxy of his interpretation of Rand. Libertarian writer David Ramsay Steele described Peikoff's effort as "slapdash" and filled with positions that were "wrong, vacuous or trite". Philosopher Henry B. Veatch wrote that Peikoff should have "paid a more discerning and discriminating attention to present-day academic philosophy," instead of "simply brushing academic ethics aside".