Objectivism is a philosophical system named and developed by Russian-American writer and philosopher Ayn Rand. She described it as "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute".
Ayn Rand in 1957
Rand's Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology explains her theory of concept formation.
Image: Tibor Machan Italy 06
Image: Tara Smith
Alice O'Connor, better known by her pen name Ayn Rand, was a Russian-born American author and philosopher. She is known for her fiction and for developing a philosophical system she named Objectivism. Born and educated in Russia, she moved to the United States in 1926. After two early novels that were initially unsuccessful and two Broadway plays, Rand achieved fame with her 1943 novel The Fountainhead. In 1957, she published her best-selling work, the novel Atlas Shrugged. Afterward, until her death in 1982, she turned to non-fiction to promote her philosophy, publishing her own periodicals and releasing several collections of essays.
Rand in 1943
Rand's first published work was a monograph in Russian about actress Pola Negri.
Rand's play Night of January 16th opened on Broadway in 1935.
The Fountainhead was Rand's first bestseller.