Book contents
- The Cambridge History of Atheism
- The Cambridge History of Atheism
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I Preliminaries
- Part II Atheisms in History
- Part III Reformation, Renaissance, Enlightenment
- Part IV Classical Modernity: Philosophical and Scientific Currents
- Part V Classical Modernity: Social and Political Currents
- Part VI Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries: Intellectual and Artistic Currents
- 32 Analytic Philosophy
- 33 Naturalism
- 34 Existentialism
- 35 Atheism and Postmodern Philosophies
- 36 Ayn Rand and Objectivism
- 37 Darwinism
- 38 Literature
- 39 Music
- 40 Visual Arts
- 41 Film and Television
- Part VII Lived Atheism in the Twentieth- and Twenty-First Centuries: Case-Studies
- Part VIII Emerging Atheisms in the Twenty-First Century
- Part IX Conclusion
- Index
- References
36 - Ayn Rand and Objectivism
from Part VI - Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries: Intellectual and Artistic Currents
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 September 2021
Book contents
- The Cambridge History of Atheism
- The Cambridge History of Atheism
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I Preliminaries
- Part II Atheisms in History
- Part III Reformation, Renaissance, Enlightenment
- Part IV Classical Modernity: Philosophical and Scientific Currents
- Part V Classical Modernity: Social and Political Currents
- Part VI Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries: Intellectual and Artistic Currents
- 32 Analytic Philosophy
- 33 Naturalism
- 34 Existentialism
- 35 Atheism and Postmodern Philosophies
- 36 Ayn Rand and Objectivism
- 37 Darwinism
- 38 Literature
- 39 Music
- 40 Visual Arts
- 41 Film and Television
- Part VII Lived Atheism in the Twentieth- and Twenty-First Centuries: Case-Studies
- Part VIII Emerging Atheisms in the Twenty-First Century
- Part IX Conclusion
- Index
- References
Summary
Unlike those rationalists in the history of philosophy – from Plato, through Augustine and Descartes, to modern idealists – who define reason in opposition to perception, Rand stands in the Aristotelian tradition, according to which reason is based on perception and forms concepts inductively, from the materials provided by the senses, allowing human beings “to identify and integrate an unlimited amount of knowledge, a knowledge extending beyond the immediate concretes of any given, immediate moment” (Rand 1970, 19).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge History of Atheism , pp. 647 - 665Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021
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