The Intellectual Contributions of Ayn Rand

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heroes honor achievement and reject envy. Rand laid out the details of her world-view in nonfiction books such as The Virtue of Selfishness (Rand, 1964).

Objectivism holds that there is no greater moral goal than achieving one’s own happiness. A person cannot achieve happiness by a wish or a whim. This requires rational respect for the facts of reality, including the facts about human nature and human needs. Happiness requires that one live by objective principles, including moral integrity and respect for the rights of others (Rand, 1964). Again, Kritsonis (2007) calls this belief natural law.

Objectivists believe the following:

1. Reality exists as an absolute. Facts are independent of man’s feelings, wishes, hopes or fears.

2. Reason is man’s only means of perceiving reality. Reason is his only source of knowledge, his only

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