The Ayn Rand Reader

By Ayn Rand

Edited by Gary Hull and Leonard Peikoff

Introduction by Leonard Peikoff

This book provides an invaluable means of introducing Ayn Rand to new audiences. Here, for the first time, is a single collection of lengthy samples of Ayn Rand's writings on the crucial issues of philosophy. These are carefully chosen excerpts, alternating between her fiction and non-fiction, with brief introductions explaining the context of each selection.

Passages from her novels are followed by non-fiction passages that elaborate on related philosophic issues. The material includes her views on: the mind-body dichotomy, the virtue of selfishness, the nature of concepts, the role of art in human life and the relationship between reason and emotion.

This anthology is ideal for those who are new to Ayn Rand's ideas. But it also provides readers familiar with them an opportunity to relive their favorite scenes.

Table of Contents

Introduction by Leonard Peikoff

Editor’s Preface by Gary Hull

Part One: The Fountainhead

- Roark vs. Keating

- The Quarry Sequence

- The Stoddard Trial

Part Two: Ethics

1. Selfishness

- From Roark’s Speech

- Why "Selfishness"?

- The Objectivist Ethics

2. Anti-Altruism

- From Galt’s Speech

- Moral Inflation

- The Age of Envy

3. Man, the Rational Animal

- Apollo 11

- Apollo and Dionysus

- How Does One Lead a Rational Life in an Irrational Society?

Part Three: Atlas Shrugged

- Rearden’s Anniversary Party

- The John Galt Line

- The Abandoned Factory

- Directive 10-289

- The Tunnel Disaster

- Atlantis

Part Four: Basic Philosophy

1. Reason and Reality

- Axioms of Objectivism

- Faith and Force: The Destroyers of the Modern World

2. Mind and Body

- Attila and the Witch Doctor

- The Meaning of Sex

- Of Living Death

- On Emotions, Including Love

3. Theory of Concepts

- Concept-Formation

- Consciousness and Identity

- Abstraction from Abstractions

- Induction

Part Five: Early Novels and Politics

1. The Individual vs. the State

- Anthem

- We the Living

    - The Purge

    - The Profiteers on Collectivism

2. Capitalism vs. Collectivism

- What Is Capitalism?

- Man’s Rights

- Collectivized "Rights"

- On Utilitarianism

Part Six: Romanticism and the Benevolent Universe

1. Romanticism

- The Goal of My Writing

- What Is Romanticism?

2. The Benevolent Universe

- Introduction to Calumet "K"

- Letter to a Fan

- Don’t Let It Go

Recommended Readings