Frequently Asked Questions | The Ayn Rand Institute

About Ayn Rands Life

How do you pronounce the name Ayn?

Ayn rhymes with mine.

What is the origin of the name Ayn Rand?

Ayn Rand, born Alisa Rosenbaum, based her professional first name on a Finnish one (see Letters of Ayn Rand). Archival research suggests that Rand may have been an abbreviation of her Russian surname. (The story claiming that the name was borrowed from her Remington Rand typewriter is incorrect.)

Where can I find out more about Ayn Rands life?

Rand was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, February 2, 1905. She died in New York City, March 6, 1982. She is buried in Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York, next to her husband, Frank OConnor (who died in 1979). Learn more about her here or watch a free, online documentary-style course tracing Rands life from the perspective of her goal to become a fiction writer, Ayn Rand: A Writers Life.

How can I find out more about Ayn Rands intellectual and artistic development?

A few suggestions:

Who is Leonard Peikoff?

Dr. Leonard Peikoff is Ayn Rands legal heir. For the last thirty years of Rands life, he was her student, associate and friend. Today he is the foremost authority on her philosophy. Learn more at his website.

What kind of research, writing and scholarship has been produced about Ayn Rands thought?

There is growing interest in Rand'sthought. Notable examples:

How can I obtain permission to reprint or anthologize Ayn Rands writings?

If you are a professor, please follow these instructions for submitting such requests. Others should direct their requests to reprints@aynrand.org.

I would like to perform Miss Rands play Night of January 16th. To whom should I write?

For professional production rights requests, contact: Curtis Brown, Ltd. Ten Astor Place New York, NY 10003

For dramatic performance or film/television permission requests, please contact the Curtis Brown, Ltd. film department at (212) 473-5400, ext. 183.

For amateur production rights requests, contact: Random House Permissions Department 1745 Broadway, 3rd Floor New York, NY 10019 Mail your request, or fax to (212) 572-6066.

Also note that the only version that Ayn Rand wanted performed is the one that is in the paperback book of Night of January 16th, published by Plume. (Due to many mix-ups, this is likely not the version you will get if you use standard means for obtaining plays.)

Where can I find a listing of foreign editions of Ayn Rands works?

This list is updated periodically.

Have any of Ayn Rands novels been adapted into movies?

Yes: The Fountainhead,We the Livingand Atlas Shrugged.

The Fountainhead was made into a movie in 1949, starring Gary Cooper, Patricia Neal and Raymond Massey. Ayn Rand wrote the screenplay but was not fully satisfied with the movie.

We the Living was made into a two-part movie in 1942 in Fascist Italy, starring Alida Valli, Fosco Giachetti and Rossano Brazzi. It was made without Ayn Rands knowledge or consent, but she later saw the movie and thought that, overall, it was well done and that Valli gives a great performance as Kira Argounova.

Parts I and II of Atlas Shrugged have been made into low-budget movies after Ayn Rands death.

Where can I read Ayn Rands view on . . . ?

Is ARI or anyone else formally vested with the right to speak on behalf of Ayn Rands philosophy, Objectivism?

No. Objectivism is the name of Ayn Rands philosophy, which is presented in the material she wrote or endorsed.

ARI advocates her philosophy and applies its principles to many issues and events, including ones Rand herself never discussed. Each individual must judge for himself whether ARIs positions are consistent with the principles of Objectivism.

In a similar connection, Rand wrote: I urge the readers to use their own judgment as to whether a particular article is or is not consonant with Objectivist principles. Remember, it is a fundamental tenet of Objectivism that one must not accept ideas on faith.

How can I financially support ARI?

Learn more about how you can contribute.

Im a contributor and I have some questions; whom should I contact?

Please email Donor Services or call 949-222-6550, ext. 204.

What is ARIs view of the libertarian movement?

No. But the meaning of the term libertarian has been changing over the decades. Consequently, individuals or organizations that today call themselves libertarian may or may not hold the ideas we oppose.

The libertarianism we oppose is a specific set of ideas, the essence of which is a dedicated, thoroughgoing subjectivism. Libertarianism in this sense was spearheaded by Murray Rothbard and his followers in the 1960s and 1970s. Its political expression is anarchism, or anarcho-capitalism as they often term it, and a foreign policy of rabid anti-Americanism (which they pass off as non-interventionism).

The libertarians, in this usage of the term, plagiarize Ayn Rands non-initiation of force principle and convert it into an axiom, denying the need for and relevance of philosophical fundamentals not only the underlying ethics, but also the underlying metaphysics and epistemology.

This is the anti-objective, anti-philosophic position that, in 1985, ARIs then-chairman of the board, Peter Schwartz, properly denounced in his essay Libertarianism: The Perversion of Liberty. That comprehensive critique of libertarianism exposes the movements essence: nihilism. (A condensed version of this article is published in The Voice of Reason: Essays in Objectivist Thought under the same title.) We agreed with and continue to agree with the essence of Peter Schwartzs analysis.

As Mr. Schwartz demonstrated at length, this libertarianism declares that the value of liberty and the evil of initiating force are self-evident primaries, needing no justification or even explanation leaving undefined such key concepts as liberty, force, justice, good, and evil. It claims compatibility with all views in metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics even subjectivism, mysticism, skepticism, altruism, and nihilism substituting hate the state for intellectual content.

This is why Ayn Rand opposed it from the start.

In print in 1972 Rand issued this warning to individuals interested in defending capitalism:

(For more of Rands comments on the libertarian movement, see here.)

ARI has always viewed the movement holding this set of ideas and attitudes as an enemy of capitalism and freedom, and we continue to do so. We will never sanction, cooperate with, or collaborate with any organization that advocates libertarianism in this sense. This policy is required both as a matter of integrity and in intellectual self-defense. The principle involved was identified by Ayn Rand: In any collaboration between two men (or two groups) who hold different basic principles, it is the more evil or irrational one who wins. [The Anatomy of Compromise, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal]

When this subjectivist approach to philosophy and politics dominated the libertarian movement in the 70s and 80s, ARI refused to cooperate with anyone belonging to it. Such cooperation would have constituted a sanction of the anti-ideology of libertarianism. However, today we see evidence to suggest that there is no longer a cohesive libertarian movement. The movement has become fragmented and leaderless (intellectually as well as organizationally), and the term libertarian is progressively losing its former meaning.

Thus when someone or some organization today calls itself, or is called by others, libertarian, one should not assume that this means the person or organization is part of the anti-philosophical libertarian movement. What matters, in evaluating these individuals and organizations, are the ideas they actually hold and advocate.

The term libertarian has been used increasingly over the last few years to mean a vague leaning toward liberty rather than government control. Many people, including reporters and commentators, sense that neither liberals nor conservatives are advocates of freedom. Commentators need a different term to describe those who seem to be more on the side of liberty and will often use the term libertarian.

However, none of the three political terms liberal, conservative, or libertarian has a clearly defined meaning, because there exist no clearly defined ideologies. Consequently, the fact that today someone calls himself or is called by others a libertarian says virtually nothing about his political viewpoint: he could be a religionist, an anarchist, a laissez-faire capitalist, a middle-of-the-roader, etc. In the current terminological confusion, we look to the content of the ideas advocated, not just to the label attached to them.

Objectivism is not liberal, conservative, or libertarian. Objectivism has a clear, well-defined, and unique view of political principles, which exist as outgrowths of their philosophical foundations. The best way for an Objectivist to describe his social-political position is to use the terms pro-capitalist and laissez-faire capitalism. Capitalism, in Rands definition, is a social system based on the recognition of individual rights, including property rights, in which all property is privately owned. [What Is Capitalism? Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal] As Rand herself wrote in 1962 to describe her position:

Objectivism is a philosophical movement; since politics is a branch of philosophy, Objectivism advocates certain political principles specifically, those of laissez-faire capitalism as the consequence and the ultimate practical application of its fundamental philosophical principles. It does not regard politics as a separate or primary goal, that is: as a goal that can be achieved without a wider ideological context. . . . Objectivists are not "conservatives." We are radicals for capitalism; we are fighting for that philosophical base which capitalism did not have and without which it was doomed to perish. [Choose Your Issues, The Objectivist Newsletter, Vol. 1, No. 1]

Of course an advocate of Rands philosophy can also simply use the term Objectivist to describe his political ideology, naming individual rights as the essential political principle. These terms are in much wider circulation today, thanks to increasing public familiarity with Rands thought.

There still exist organizations committed to the inherently corrupt anti-ideology of libertarianism, in the earlier sense of the word. ARI does not deal with such organizations. Although dealing with an ideological organization does not necessarily imply ideological agreement (as, say, when ARI co-sponsors a debate), it does imply that one considers the organization legitimate which, in the case of the anti-ideology libertarians, we do not.

But ARI does seek to work with other organizations on select issues or projects in order to increase ARIs reach and impact. We assess whether it is proper, and beneficial to our mission, to work with a particular organization, and if so, in what form and under what conditions. For many years now, and especially as ARI has grown to enjoy the resources and manpower necessary to do so, we have been dealing with outside scholars and organizations.

Some of the guidelines ARI applies in deciding whether or not to deal with another organization are:

Judging whether to work with another organization, even for a specific and delimited project, is often difficult. ARI does not take such decisions lightly.

Is the Foundation for the New Intellectual still active?

No, it has been dissolved; please contact Kathy Cross, Gift & Estate Planning Manager at ARI, if you have further questions.

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Frequently Asked Questions | The Ayn Rand Institute