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AynRand

AynRand

, best known for her philosophy of Objectivism]] Ayn Rand (February 2 1905–March 6 1982; first name pronounced (IPA) (rhymes with 'mine')), born Alissa Zinovievna Rosenbaum, was best known for her philosophy of Objectivism and her novels "We the Living", Anthem, The Fountainhead, and Atlas Shrugged. Her philosophy and her fiction both emphasize, above all, her concepts of individualism, rational egoism ("rational self-interest"), and capitalism. Believing government has a legitimate but relatively minimal role in a free society, she was not an anarchist, but a minarchist (though she did not use the term). Her novels were based upon the projection of the Randian hero, a man whose ability and independence causes conflict with the masses, but who perseveres nevertheless to achieve his values. Rand viewed this hero as the ideal and made it the express goal of her literature to showcase such heroes. She believed: #That man must choose his values and actions by reason; #That the individual has a right to exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing self to others nor others to self; and #That no one has the right to seek values from others by physical force, or impose ideas on others by physical force.

Biography

Early life

Rand was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and was the eldest of three daughters of a Jewish family. Her parents were agnostic and largely non-observant. From an early age, she displayed a strong interest in literature and films. She started writing screenplays and novels from the age of seven. Her mother undertook to teach her French and subscribed to a magazine featuring stories for boys, where Rand found her first childhood hero: Cyrus Paltons, an Indian army officer in a Rudyard Kipling-style story called "The Mysterious Valley". Throughout her youth, she read the novels of Sir Walter Scott, Alexandre Dumas and other Romantic writers, and expressed a passionate enthusiasm toward the Romantic movement as a whole. She discovered Victor Hugo at the age of thirteen, and fell deeply in love with his novels. Later, she would cite him as her favorite novelist and the greatest novelist of world literature. She studied philosophy and history at the University of Petrograd. Her major literary discoveries in university were the works of Edmond Rostand, Friedrich Schiller and Fyodor Dostoevsky. She admired Rostand for his richly romantic imagination and Schiller for his grand, heroic scale. She admired Dostoevsky for his sense of drama and his intense moral judgments, but was deeply against his philosophy and his sense of life. She continued to write short stories and screenplays and wrote sporadically in her diary, which contained intensely anti-Soviet ideas. She also encountered the philosophical ideas of Nietzsche, and loved his exaltation of the heroic and independent individual in Thus Spoke Zarathustra; nevertheless she was strongly critical of his philosophy, going so far as to attack it in the introductions of her novels. Her greatest influence by far is Aristotle, especially his work Organon (Logic). She considered him the greatest philosopher ever. She then entered the State Institute for Cinema Arts in 1924 to study screenwriting; in late 1925, however, she was granted a visa to visit American relatives. She arrived in the United States in February 1926, at the age of twenty-one. After a brief stay with her relatives in Chicago, she resolved never to return to the Soviet Union, and set out for Hollywood to become a screenwriter. She then changed her name to "Ayn Rand". There is a story told that she named herself after the Remington Rand typewriter, but recent evidence has proved that this is not the case. She stated that her first name, 'Ayn', was an adaptation of the name of a Finnish writer. This may have been the Finnish-Estonian author Aino Kallas. Others have suggested that her name is derived from the South African rand, but the rand was not used until 1961. Michael Berliner and Richard Ralston, working for the Ayn Rand Institute and with access to Miss Rand’s records, have hypothesized an explanation derived from the appearance of Russian script of "Rozenbaum" (depicted [http://arname.davidhayes.net/ here] with an animation). A further refinement of this interpretation is to make "Rand" from the letters Rznb (Рзнб), again using script letters rather than type. The superiority of this method allows the name to be transformed entirely from Rozenbaum (Розенбаум) without changing the order of the letters, by: splitting: "Розенб аум" reversing: "аум Розенб" dropping two vowels: "аум Рзнб" At that point, the script version is very reminiscent of the name Ayn Rand. Image:ayn_rand_name.gif

Major works

Initially, Rand struggled in Hollywood and took odd jobs to pay her basic living expenses. While working as an extra on Cecil B. DeMille's King of Kings, she intentionally bumped into an aspiring young actor, Frank O'Connor, who caught her eye. The two were married in 1929. In 1931, Rand became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Her first literary success came with the sale of her screenplay Red Pawn in 1932 to Universal Studios. Rand then wrote the play The Night of January 16th in 1934, which was highly successful, and published two novels, We the Living (1936), and Anthem (1938). The two novels failed to gain any significant financial/critical success. She was up against The Red Decade in America, and Anthem did not even find a publisher in the United States; it was first published in England. Besides that, Rand had still not perfected her literary style and the novels cannot be considered fully representative. Without Rand's knowledge or permission, We The Living was made into a pair of films, Noi vivi and Addio, Kira in 1942 by Scalara Films, Rome. The films were nearly censored by the Italian government under Benito Mussolini, but they were allowed to be featured because the novel they were based upon was ostensibly anti-Soviet. The films were successful and the public easily realised that it was as much against Fascism as it was against Communism, and the government banned it quickly thereafter. These films were re-edited into a new version which was approved by Rand and re-released as We the Living in 1986. Rand's first major professional success came with her best-selling novel The Fountainhead (1943). She took seven years to write it. The novel was rejected by twelve publishers, who thought it was too intellectual and opposed to the mainstream of American thought, and that there would be no public for it. It was finally accepted by the Bobbs-Merrill Company publishing house, thanks mainly to a member of the editorial board, Archibald Ogden, who praised the book in the highest terms and finally prevailed. Despite these initial struggles The Fountainhead was a worldwide success, bringing Rand fame and financial security. The theme of The Fountainhead is "individualism and collectivism in man's soul". It features the lives of five main characters. The hero, Howard Roark, is Rand's ideal, a noble soul par excellence, an architect who is firmly and serenely devoted to his own ideals and believes that no man should copy the style of another in any field, and especially in architecture. All the other characters in the novel demand the renunciation of his values with varying degrees of intensity, but Roark maintains his integrity. A most interesting feature of Roark is that he does this unlike traditional heroes who launch into long and passionate monologues about their integrity and the unfairness of the world; Roark, by contrast, does it with a disdainful, almost contemptous taciturnity and laconicism. Rand's magnum opus, Atlas Shrugged, was published in 1957, becoming an international bestseller. Atlas Shrugged is often seen as Rand's most complete statement of the Objectivist philosophy in any of her works of fiction. In its appendix, she offered this summary: :"My philosophy, in essence, is 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." The theme of Atlas Shrugged is "The role of man's mind in society". Rand upheld the industrialist as one of the most admirable members of any society and fiercely opposed the popular resentment accorded to industrialists. This led her to envision a novel wherein the industrialists of America go on strike and retreat to a mountainous hideaway. The American economy and its society in general slowly start to collapse. The government responds by increasing the already stifling controls on industrial concerns. The novel, despite having a political theme at its centre, deals with issues as complex and divergent as sex, music, medicine, and human ability. Along with Nathaniel Branden, his wife Barbara, and others including Alan Greenspan and Leonard Peikoff, (jokingly designated "The Collective"), Rand launched the Objectivist movement to promote her philosophy.

The Objectivist movement

Main article: The Objectivist movement In 1950 Rand moved to New York City, where in 1951 she met the young psychology student Nathaniel Branden [http://www.nathanielbranden.com], who had read her book, The Fountainhead, at the age of 14. Branden, then 19, enjoyed discussing Rand's emerging Objectivist philosophy with her. Together, Branden and some of his other friends formed a group that they dubbed the Ayn Rand Collective, which included some participation by future Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan. After several years, Rand and Branden's friendly relationship blossomed into a romantic affair, despite the fact that both were married at the time. This affair was accepted by their spouses but led to the separation and then divorce of Nathaniel Branden from his wife. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Rand developed and promoted her Objectivist philosophy through both her fiction [http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=objectivism_fiction] and non-fiction [http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=objectivism_nonfiction] works, and by giving talks at several east-coast universities, largely through the Nathaniel Branden Institute ("the NBI") which Branden had established to promote her philosophy. After a convoluted series of separations, Rand abruptly ended her relationship with both Nathaniel Branden and his wife, Barbara Branden, in 1968 when she learned of Nathaniel Branden's affair with Patrecia Scott (this later affair did not overlap chronologically with the earlier Branden/Rand affair). Rand refused to have any further dealings with the NBI. She then published a letter in "The Objectivist" announcing her repudiation of Branden for various reasons, including dishonesty, but did not mention their affair or her role in the schism. The two never reconciled, and Branden remained a persona non grata in the Objectivist movement. 1968 honoring Rand.]] Barbara Branden presented an account of the breakup of the affair in her book, The Passion of Ayn Rand. She describes the encounter between Nathaniel and Rand, saying that Rand slapped him numerous times, and denounced him in these words: "If you have an ounce of morality left in you, an ounce of psychological health — you'll be impotent for the next twenty years! And if you achieve any potency, you'll know it's a sign of still worse moral degradation!" Conflicts continued in the wake of the break with Branden and the subsequent collapse of the NBI. Many of her closest "Collective" friends began to part ways, and during the late 70's, her activities within the formal Objectivist movement began to decline, a situation which increased after the death of her husband in 1979. One of her final projects was work on a television adaptation of Atlas Shrugged. Rand died of heart failure on March 6, 1982 in New York City, years after having successfully battled cancer, and was interred in the Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, New York. Valhalla, New York

Philosophical influences

Rand rejected virtually all other philosophical schools. She acknowledged a shared intellectual lineage with Aristotle and John Locke, and more generally with the philosophy of the Age of Enlightenment and Age of Reason. She occasionally remarked with approval on specific philosophical positions of, e.g., Baruch Spinoza and Thomas Aquinas. She seems also to have respected the American rationalist Brand Blanshard. However, she regarded most philosophers as at best incompetent and at worst downright evil. She singled out Immanuel Kant as the most influential of the latter sort. Nonetheless, there are connections between Rand's views and those of other philosophers. She acknowledged that she had been influenced at an early age by the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche. Though she later repudiated his thought, and reprinted her first novel, We The Living, with some wording changes in 1959, her own thought grew out of critical interaction with it. Generally, her political thought is in the tradition of classical liberalism. She expressed qualified enthusiasm for the economic thought of Ludwig von Mises and Henry Hazlitt. Though not mentioned as an influence by her specifically, parallels between her works and Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay Self-Reliance do exist. Later Objectivists, such as Richard Salsman, have claimed that Rand's economic theories are implicitly more supportive of the doctrines of Jean-Baptiste Say, though Rand herself was likely not acquainted with his work.

Politics and House Committee on Un-American Activities testimony

Rand's political views were radically pro-capitalist, anti-statist, and anti-communist. Her writings praised above all the human individual and the creative genius of which one is capable. She exalted what she saw as the heroic American values of egoism and individualism. Rand also had a strong dislike for mysticism, religion, and compulsory charity (forced extraction), all of which she believed helped foster a crippling culture of resentment towards individual human happiness and success. Rand detested many prominent liberal and conservative politicians of her time, even including prominent anti-communist crusaders like Presidents Harry S. Truman and Ronald Reagan and Senators Hubert H. Humphrey and Joseph McCarthy. In 1947, during the Red Scare, Rand testified as a "friendly witness" before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. [http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/texts/huac.html]. Rand's testimony involved analysis of the 1943 film Song of Russia. While many believe that Ayn Rand disclosed the names of members of the Communist Party in the U.S., thus exposing them to blacklisting, her testimony consisted entirely of comments regarding the disparity between her experiences in the Soviet Union and the fanciful portrayal of it in the film. Rand argued that the movie grossly misrepresented the socioeconomic conditions in the Soviet Union. She told the committee that the film presented life in the USSR as being much better than it actually was. Apparently this 1943 film was intentional wartime propaganda by U.S. patriots, trying to put their Soviet allies in World War II under the best possible light. After the HUAC hearings, when Ayn Rand was asked about her feelings on the effectiveness of their investigations, she described the process as "futile."

Legacy

Rand's funeral was attended by some of her prominent followers, including Alan Greenspan. A six-foot floral arrangement in the shape of a dollar sign was placed on her casket. [http://www.eckerd.edu/aspec/writers/atlas_shrugged.htm] In 1985, Leonard Peikoff, a surviving member of "The Collective" and Ayn Rand's designated heir, established "The Ayn Rand Institute: The Center for the Advancement of Objectivism". The Institute has since registered the name Ayn Rand as a trademark, despite Rand's desire that her name never be used to promote the philosophy she developed. Rand expressed her wish to keep her name and the philosophy of Objectivism separate to ensure the survival of her ideas. Another schism in the movement occurred in 1989, when Objectivist David Kelley wrote an article called "A Question of Sanction," [http://www.wetheliving.com/boston/sanction.html] in which he defended his choice to speak to non-Objectivist libertarian groups. Kelley wrote that Objectivism was not a "closed system" and should engage with other philosophies. Peikoff, in an article for The Intellectual Activist called "Fact and Value" [http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=objectivism_f-v], argued that Objectivism is, indeed, a closed system, and that truth and moral goodness are intrinsically related. Peikoff expelled Kelley from his movement, whereupon Kelley founded The Institute for Objectivist Studies (now known as "The Objectivist Center"). Rand and Objectivism are less well known outside North America, though there are pockets of interest in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, and her novels are reported to be very popular in India ([http://www.theatlasphere.com/metablog/000058.php]). Her work has had little effect on academic philosophy, for her followers are mostly (with some notable exceptions) drawn from the non-academic world.

Controversy

Rand's views are controversial. Religious and socially conservative thinkers have criticized her atheism. Many adherents and practicioners of continental philosophy would criticize her celebration of rationality and self-interest. Her extremely pro-capitalism political views have not been positively received within the American academy. Within the dominant philosophical movement in the English-speaking world, analytic philosophy, Rand's work has been mostly ignored. No leading research university in this tradition considers Rand or Objectivism to be an important philosophical specialty or research area, as is documented by Brian Leiter's report at [http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/]. Some academics, however, are trying to bring Rand's work into the mainstream. For instance, there is an Ayn Rand Society [http://www.aynrandsociety.org/], founded in 1987, affiliated with the American Philosophical Association. A notable exception to the general lack of attention paid to Rand in the analytic community is the essay "On the Randian Argument" by Harvard University philosopher Robert Nozick, which appears in his collection Socratic Puzzles. Nozick's own libertarian political conclusions are similar to Rand's, but his essay is critical of her foundational argument in ethics, which claims that one's own life is, for each individual, the only ultimate value because it makes all other values possible. Nozick says that to make this argument sound, Rand still needs to explain why someone could not rationally prefer the state of eventually dying and having no values. Thus, he argues, her attempt to deduce the morality of selfishness is essentially an instance of assuming the conclusion or begging the question and that her solution to David Hume's famous is-ought problem is unsatisfactory. Nevertheless, Nozick did respect Rand as an author and noted that he found her books enjoyable and thought-provoking. Rand has sometimes been viewed with suspicion for her practice of presenting her philosophy in fiction and non-fiction books aimed at a general audience rather than publishing in peer-reviewed journals. Rand's defenders note that she is part of a long tradition of authors who wrote philosophically rich fiction — including Dante, John Milton, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Albert Camus, and that other philosophers such as Jean-Paul Sartre presented their philosophies in both fictional and non-fictional forms. Other critics argue that Rand’s idealistic philosophy and her Romantic literary style are not applicable to the inhabited world. In particular, these critics claim that Rand's novels are made up of unrealistic and one-dimensional characters. They criticize the portrayal of the Objectivist heroes as incredibly intelligent, unencumbered by doubt, wealthy, and free of flaws, in contrast to the frequent portrayal of the antagonists as weak, pathetic, full of uncertainty, and lacking in imagination and talent. Defenders of Rand point out counterexamples to these criticisms: neither Eddie Willers nor Cherryl Taggart (both positive characters) is especially gifted or intelligent, but both are characters of dignity and respect; Leo Kovalensky suffers enormously due to his inability to cope with the brutality and banality of communism; Andrei Taganov dies after realizing his philosophical errors; Dominique Francon is initially bitterly unhappy because she believes evil is powerful; and Dagny Taggart thinks that she is capable of saving the world alone. Two of her main protagonists, Howard Roark and John Galt, did not begin life as rich. Though Rand believed that, under capitalism, valuable contributions will routinely be rewarded by wealth, she certainly did not think that wealth made a person virtuous. In fact, she presents various vicious apparatchiks and plutocrats who use statism to enrich themselves. Moreover, Hank Rearden is exploited because of his social naïveté. As for the purportedly weak and pathetic villains, Rand's defenders point out that Ellsworth Toohey is represented as being a great strategist and communicator from an early age, and Dr. Robert Stadler is a brilliant scientist. Rand herself replied to these literary criticisms (and in advance of much of them) with her essay "The Goal of My Writing" (1963). There, and in other essays collected in her book The Romantic Manifesto: A Philosophy of Literature (2nd rev. ed. 1975), Rand makes it clear that her goal is to project her vision of an ideal man: not man as he is, but man as he might and ought to be.

Bibliography

Fiction

- Night of January 16th (1934)
- We The Living (1936)
- Anthem (1938)
- The Fountainhead (1943)
- Atlas Shrugged (1957)

Posthumous fiction

- Three Plays (2005)

Nonfiction

- For the New Intellectual (1961)
- The Virtue of Selfishness (with Nathaniel Branden) (1964)
- Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal (with Nathaniel Branden, Alan Greenspan, and Robert Hessen) (1966)
- Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology (1967)
- The Romantic Manifesto (1969)
- The New Left: The Anti-Industrial Revolution (1971)
- Philosophy: Who Needs It (1982)

Posthumous nonfiction

- The Early Ayn Rand (edited and with commentary by Leonard Peikoff) (1984)
- The Voice of Reason: Essays in Objectivist Thought (edited by Leonard Peikoff; additional essays by Leonard Peikoff and Peter Schwartz) (1989)
- Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology second edition (edited by Harry Binswanger; additional material by Leonard Peikoff) (1990)
- Letters of Ayn Rand (edited by Michael S. Berliner) (1995)
- Journals of Ayn Rand (edited by David Harriman) (1997)
- Ayn Rand's Marginalia : Her Critical Comments on the Writings of over Twenty Authors (edited by Robert Mayhew) (1998)
- The Ayn Rand Column: Written for the Los Angeles Times (edited by Peter Schwartz) (1998)
- Russian Writings on Hollywood (edited by Michael S. Berliner) (1999)
- Return of the Primitive: The Anti-Industrial Revolution (expanded edition of The New Left; edited and with additional essays by Peter Schwartz) (1999)
- The Art of Fiction (edited by Tore Boeckmann) (2000)
- The Art of Nonfiction (edited by Robert Mayhew) (2001)
- The Objectivism Research CD-ROM (collection of most of Rand's works in CD-ROM format) (2001)
- Ayn Rand Answers (2005)

References

In addition to Rand's own works (listed above), the following references discuss Rand's life and/or literary work. References that discuss her philosophy can be found in the bibliography of work on Objectivism.
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External links

General information
- [http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/bio/biofaq.html Ayn Rand FAQ]
- [http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/bio/biofaq-notes.html Ayn Rand FAQ-notes]
- [http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_ayn_rand_faq_index2 Frequently Asked Questions on Ayn Rand]
- [http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/r/rand.htm "Ayn Rand" entry from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
- [http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/bio/biofaq.html#Q0/ Rand's biography]
- [http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/ Objectivism Reference Center] Organizations promoting Ayn Rand's philosophy
- [http://www.aynrand.org/ The Ayn Rand Institute]
- [http://www.ariwatch.com/ ARI Watch]
- [http://www.objectivistcenter.org/ The Objectivist Center]
- [http://www.capitalismcenter.org/ The Center for the Advancement of Capitalism] Articles
- [http://chronicle.com/colloquy/99/rand/background.htm Ayn Rand Has Finally Caught the Attention of Scholars] by Jeff Sharlet
- [http://www.mclemee.com/id39.html The Heirs of Ayn Rand by Scott McLemee] An article published in Lingua Franca which covers the arc of her publishing career, while alive and posthomous, as well as the continuing scholarship.
- [http://www.lrb.co.uk/v27/n23/turn03_.html As Astonishing as Elvis by Jenny Turner] Essay review of Ayn Rand by Jeff Britting Articles critical of Ayn Rand
- [http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard23.html The Sociology of the Ayn Rand Cult by Murray Rothbard] Written in 1972, this was the first piece of Rand revisionism from the libertarian standpoint.
- [http://www.2think.org/02_2_she.shtml The Unlikeliest Cult in History by Michael Shermer]
- [http://world.std.com/~mhuben/critobj.html "Extensive list of critical essays that Objectivists must answer"]
- [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibliography_of_work_on_Objectivism] "The works of numerous philosophers that are critical of Rand's Objectivism are included at this internal link #11" Rand's associates
- [http://www.leonardpeikoff.com/ Leonard Peikoff's website]
- [http://www.barbarabranden.com/ Barbara Branden's website]
- [http://www.nathanielbranden.com/ Nathaniel Branden's website] Online groups and blogs
- [http://www.TIADaily.com/ TIA Daily] — Daily news and commentary from the Objectivist perspective by e-mail
- [http://www.DrHurd.com/ Dr. Michael J. Hurd, psychologist] — The Daily Dose of Reason: psychology, life coaching and comments on cultural/political topics from an Objectivist perspective — also, The Living Resources Newsletter and Dr. Hurd's publications
- [http://www.theatlasphere.com/ Ayn Rand Admirers] — The Atlasphere: Member directory, dating service, columns, and news for admirers of Rand's novels
- [http://www.objectivismonline.net/ ObjectivismOnline.Net] — Contains [http://forum.objectivismonline.net/ forums], blogs, essays, chat room, and a [http://wiki.objectivismonline.net wiki on Objectivism]
- [http://www.solopassion.com Sense of Life Objectivists] — Online columns and discussion, by and for Objectivists - hosted by Lindsay Perigo
- [http://forums.4aynrandfans.com The Forum for Ayn Rand Fans]
- [http://www.objectivistblogs.com Objectivist Blogs] — A list of Rand-influenced bloggers
- [http://www.hblist.com Harry Binswanger List] — E-mail-based discussion group
- [http://randex.org/ Randex] — Index of online media references to Ayn Rand and Objectivism
- [http://www.objectivism.net Objectivism.net] — Ayn Rand on CD-ROM, and good links
- [http://wiki.objectivismonline.net/ The Objectivism Wiki]
- [http://www.aynrandstudies.com The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies] — Contains abstracts of articles, author bios, links to several articles, and submission guidelines.
- [http://www.starshipaurora.com/aynrand100.html Ayn Rand 100 Tribute] — includes reference to a tribute album, "Concerto of Deliverance", inspired by Rand's words describing such music. Rand's writing and speeches
- [http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/texts/anthem/complete.html Anthem] — The complete text of the novel, which has fallen into the public domain
- [http://www.ayn-rand.com/ayn-rand-atlas-shrugged.asp Atlas Shrugged ] — Book outline
- [http://www.ayn-rand.com/ayn-rand-fountainhead.asp The Fountainhead] — Book outline
- [http://www.ayn-rand.com/ayn-rand-we-the-living.asp We The Living] — Book outline
- [http://www.tracyfineart.com/usmc/philosophy_who_needs_it.htm "Philosophy: Who Needs It?"] — Address To The Graduating Class Of The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York - March 6, 1974
- [http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/texts/huac.html Rand's HUAC testimony] — Transcript
- [http://www.libertyhaven.org/bookstore/B00004LC7UAMUS169912.shtml We the Living] — Video outline
- [http://www.americanwriters.org/writers/rand.asp Rand featured on C-Span's "American Writers"] — RealVideo discussions on Rand's writing
- Ayn Rand Art
[http://www.yoyita.com/portrait.htm A portrait of Ayn Rand] Rand, Ayn Rand, Ayn Rand, Ayn Rand, Ayn Rand, Ayn Rand, Ayn Rand, Ayn Rand, Ayn Rand, Ayn ja:アイン・ランド

Objectivist philosophy

Objectivism is a philosophical system developed by Russian-born American philosopher and author Ayn Rand. It encompasses positions in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, politics, and aesthetics. Objectivism holds that there is a mind-independent reality, that individual human beings are in contact with this reality through sensory perception, that they gain knowledge by processing the data of perception using the method of reason or "non-contradictory identification," that the proper moral purpose of one's life is the pursuit of one's own happiness, and that the only moral social system is laissez-faire capitalism. The different branches of the philosophy, Rand claims, all hierarchically link back to its metaphysics and epistemology, and are found by establishing the logical results of its position in those two. Rand also characterizes Objectivism as a philosophy "for living on earth," grounded in reality and aimed at facilitating knowledge of the natural world and harmonious, mutually beneficial interactions between human beings. Rand wrote:

My philosophy, in essence, is 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.

Objectivism derives its name from its conception of knowledge and values as "objective," rather than as "intrinsic" or "subjective." According to Rand, neither concepts nor values are "intrinsic" to external reality, nor are they merely "subjective" (by which Rand means "arbitrary" or "created by [one's] feelings, desires, 'intuitions,' or whims"). Rather, properly formed concepts and values are objective, meaning that they meet the specific (cognitive and/or biocentric) needs of the individual human person. Valid concepts and values are, as she wrote, "determined by the nature of reality, but to be discovered by man's mind." One cannot change reality to his desires, meaning that reality is not created by man, men must adapt to it. "Objectivism" was actually Rand's second choice for the name of her philosophy. Rand said that "existentialism" is the more appropriate term, because her philosophy recognizes both the metaphysical primacy of existence and the ethical goal of maintaining one's own existence. However, Existentialist philosophers such as Martin Heidegger and Jean-Paul Sartre had already co-opted this term for a very different view. Consequently, Rand chose "Objectivism."

Objectivist principles

Metaphysics: objective reality

Main article: Objectivist metaphysics The key tenets of the Objectivist metaphysics are captured in three propositions:
- Existence exists.
- Existence is Identity.
- Consciousness is Identification. The axiom of Existence affirms that reality (the universe, that which is) exists, and that it exists independently of human consciousness. The Law of Identity states that anything that exists is determinate, that is, has a fixed, finite nature (i.e., "A is A"). The Axiom of Consciousness affirms that one is conscious and that the function of consciousness is the identification of reality. In addition to these three basic axioms, Objectivist philosophy affirms the Law of Causality as a corollary of the Law of Identity. The Law of Causality states that things act in accordance with their natures. These propositions are all held in Objectivism to be axiomatic. According to Objectivism, the proof of a proposition's being axiomatic is that it is both (a) self-evident and (b) cannot coherently be denied, because any argument against the proposition would have to suppose its truth. Some contemporary physicists dispute the Objectivist Law of Causality because it appears to allow certainty of prediction, whereas the uncertainty principle establishes that nothing can be predicted with certainty, at the quantum-mechanical level (which controls atomic and nuclear physics, and chemistry.) Furthermore, according to chaos theory, many classical (non quantum-mechanical) systems are unpredictable beyond a short time. These reservations would seem to apply as well to the Law of Identity, because things do not have fixed natures. For example, in neutrino oscillations, one kind of neutrino changes into another, and the other can change into a third kind or back to the first. In fact, the neutrinos are produced in "flavor states" [http://ale.physics.sunysb.edu/superk/physics/neutrino-oscillations/oscil/] but propagate in "energy states." Objectivists dispute this intepretation of Rand, arguing that something not being knowable does not imply it is not objective.
Epistemology: reason
Main article: Objectivist epistemology Objectivism's epistemology, like the other branches of Objectivism, was present in some form ever since the publication of Atlas Shrugged. However, it was more fully developed in Rand's 1967 work Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology. Rand considered her epistemology central to her philosophy, once remarking, "I am not primarily an advocate of capitalism, but of egoism; and I am not primarily an advocate of egoism, but of reason. If one recognizes the supremacy of reason and applies it consistently, all the rest follows." According to the Objectivist epistemology, through sensory perception and a process of reasoning, a human being can achieve awareness of his environment. Objectivism rejects philosophical skepticism. As a corollary, it also maintains that anything that is not learned by objective, rational means is not true knowledge, rejecting faith as a means of attaining knowledge. Similarly, though Rand recognized the importance of emotion in human life, she maintained that emotions were evaluational feedback on reality, not a separate means of awareness of reality. Rand's views on the traditional technical problems of epistemology are difficult to spell out in detail, because she did not devote as much space to them as to problems of ethics and politics, and her formulations are typically more brief and cryptic. (The main sources for her epistemological views are Galt's Speech, ITOE, and the essays in Philosophy: Who Needs It). Other philosophers have much work to do in fully unpacking her views. But this much is clear: She defined knowledge as "conceptual awareness of reality held by an individual human mind," not as "justified true belief" or "reliably generated true belief" (two popular views). Thus, she held that there is a sharp separation between human and animal knowledge. She was neither a classical empiricist (like Hume or the logical positivists) nor a classical rationalist (like Plato, Descartes, or Frege). She disagreed with the empiricists mainly in that she (a) held that sensations are integrated automatically into perceptions, which should not be disassembled when doing epistemology, and (b) denied the analytic-synthetic distinction and the related view that there are "truths in virtue of meaning," especially the view that "necessary truths" and mathematical truths are best understood as truths in virtue of meaning. But she was not a rationalist: she denied the existence of a priori knowledge. On the issue of justification, Rand was neither a strict foundationalist after the manner of Chisholm nor a strict coherentist after the manner of Quine. She was a foundationalist insofar as she believed that sensory evidence is not in further need of justification. But beyond that, justification proceeds by coherence. (She disagrees with Quine, then, because he denies that there are axioms like the Law of Identity). She was not a naive realist about perception like Aristotle, nor was she a representationalist (i.e., an indirect realist who believes in a "veil of ideas") like Descartes or Locke. She held that perception is representational, but also pre-conceptual and non-propositional. Consequently, the data of perception cannot be reported in English, because the English language imports conceptual categories that go beyond what is directly given in perception. She does not believe in the possibility of perceptual error or illusion, only the misunderstanding or improper conceptualization of perceptual data. Rand's major work in epistemology dealt with concepts and the proper process of concept-formation. For Rand, concepts have a purpose: to accurately classify real existents according to their similarities and differences. Since we can create concepts that do not serve this purpose, the formation of concepts is subject to error. Therefore, there are "invalid concepts." Rand also proposed novel views about the nature and purpose of definitions. See ITOE.
Ethics: rational self-interest
Main article: Objectivist ethics If one had to reduce to a sound bite Ayn Rand's ideas on how humans ought to live, one would perhaps choose one statement that she wrote:

"To live, man must hold three things as the supreme and ruling values of his life: Reason, Purpose, Self-Esteem."

The ethics of Objectivism is based on the theory that each person is responsible for achieving his or her own [rational] self-interest. There is a difference, however, between rational self-interest and what she calls "selfishness without a self" - a state of range-of-the-moment selfishness to promote a self that has no esteem. Thieves, according to her, are not motivated by a desire to live (as the man of production is), but by the desire to live on a sub-human level. Instead of using "that which promotes the concept of human life" as their standard of values, they promote "that which I value" as the standard of value; thus leaving a blank check on what is and isn't moral. The "I value" in that sentence can be replaced with "we value", "he values", or "He values" and still be a blank-check ethics-killer, according to Rand. She is not asking you to believe that either rational selfishness and hedonistic selfishness-without-a-self should be considered good and evil at the same time (as "double-think" may ask) but that the former should be considered good and the latter evil and that there is a "fundamental" difference between them.

Politics: individual rights and capitalism

The transition from the Objectivist ethics to the Objectivist theory of politics relies on the concept of rights. A "right", according to Objectivism, is a moral principle that both defines and sanctions a human being's freedom of action in a social or societal context. Objectivism holds that only individuals have rights; there is, in the Objectivist view, no such thing as a "collective right" that does not reduce without remainder to a set of individual rights. Furthermore, Objectivism is very specific about the set of "individual rights" that it recognizes; as such, the Objectivist list of individual rights differs significantly from the ones adopted by most governments, for example. Although Objectivism does not use the term "natural rights", the rights it recognizes are based directly on the nature of human beings as described in its epistemology and ethics. Since human beings must make choices in order to survive as human beings, the basic requirement of a human life is the freedom to make, and act on, one's own independent rational judgment, according to one's self-interest. Thus, Objectivism contends, the fundamental right of human beings is the right to life. By this phrase Objectivism means the right to act in furtherance of one's own life — not the right to have one's life protected, or to have one's survival guaranteed, by the involuntary effort of other human beings. Indeed, on the Objectivist account, one of the corollaries of the right to life is the right to property which, according to Objectivism, always represents the product of one's own effort; on this view, one person's right to life cannot entail the right to dispose of another's private property, under any circumstances. Under Objectivism, one has the right to transfer one's own property to whomever one wants for whatever reason, but such a transfer is only ethical if it is made under the terms of a trade freely consented to by both parties, in the absence of any form of coercion, each with the expectation that the trade will benefit them. It can be considered axiomatic within Objectivism that human beings have the right to manipulate nature in any way they see fit, as long as it does not infringe on the rights of others. From this, the right to property arises. On the Objectivist account, the rights of other human beings are not of direct moral import to the agent who respects them; they acquire their moral purchase through an intermediate step. An Objectivist respects the rights of other human beings out of the recognition of the value to himself or herself of living in a world in which the freedom of action of other rational (or potentially rational) human beings is respected. According to Objectivism, then, one's respect for the rights of others is founded on the value, to oneself, of other persons as actual or potential trading partners (whether it be trading in a material or emotional sense). Here is where Objectivism's claim about conflicts of interest attains its full significance: on the Objectivist view, it is precisely because there are no (irresoluble) such conflicts that it is possible for human beings to prosper in a rights-respecting society. Objectivist political theory therefore defends capitalism as the ideal form of human society. Objectivism reserves the name "capitalism" for full laissez-faire capitalism — i.e., a society in which individual rights are consistently respected and in which all property is (therefore) privately owned. Any system short of this is regarded by Objectivists as a "mixed economy" consisting of certain aspects of capitalism and its opposite (usually called socialism or statism), with pure socialism and/or tyranny at the opposite extreme. Far from regarding capitalism as a dog-eat-dog pattern of social organization, Objectivism regards it as a beneficent system in which the innovations of the most creative benefit everyone else in the society at no loss to anyone. Indeed, Objectivism values creative achievement itself and regards capitalism as the only kind of society in which it can flourish. A society is, by Objectivist standards, moral to the extent that individuals are free to pursue their goals. This freedom requires that human relationships of all forms be voluntary (which, in the Objectivist view, means that they must not involve the use of physical force), mutual consent being the defining characteristic of a free society. Thus the proper role of institutions of governance (whether minarchist government proper or its equivalent institutions in an anarchist society) is limited to using force in retaliation against those who initiate its use — i.e., against criminals and foreign aggressors. Economically, people are free to produce and exchange as they see fit, with as complete a separation of state and economics as of state and church.

Influence on libertarianism

state and church Main article: Libertarianism and Objectivism Libertarianism and Objectivism have a complex relationship. Though they share many of the same political goals, Objectivists see some libertarians as plagiarists of their ideas "with the teeth pulled out of them,"[http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=education_campus_libertarians] whereas some libertarians see Objectivists as dogmatic, unrealistic, and uncompromising. According to Reason editor Nick Gillespie in the magazine's March 2005 issue focusing on Objectivism's influence, Ayn Rand is "one of the most important figures in the libertarian movement... A century after her birth and more than a decade after her death, Rand remains one of the best-selling and most widely influential figures in American thought and culture" in general and in libertarianism in particular. Still, he confesses that he is embarrassed by his magazine's association with her ideas.[http://www.reason.com/0503/ed.ng.editors.shtml] In the same issue, Cathy Young says that "Libertarianism, the movement most closely connected to Rand’s ideas, is less an offspring than a rebel stepchild."[http://www.reason.com/0503/fe.cy.ayn.shtml] Though they reject what they see as Randian dogmas, libertarians like Young still concede that "Rand was the most successful and widely read popularizer of the ideas of individual liberty and the free market of her day. In the 21st century... Rand’s message of reason and liberty... could be a rallying point" for a less dogmatic political movement with similar goals like libertarianism.

Esthetics: Romanticism

The Objectivist theory of art flows fairly directly from its epistemology, by way of "psycho-epistemology" (Objectivism's term for the study of human cognition as it involves interactions between the conscious and the subconscious mind). Art, according to Objectivism, serves a human cognitive need: it allows human beings to grasp concepts as though they were percepts. Objectivism defines "art" as a "selective re-creation of reality according to an artist's metaphysical value-judgments" — that is, according to what the artist believes to be ultimately true and important about the nature of reality and humanity. In this respect Objectivism regards art as a way of presenting metaphysics concretely, in perceptual form. The human need for art, on this view, stems from the need for cognitive economy. A concept is already a sort of mental shorthand standing for a large number of concretes, allowing a human being to think indirectly or implicitly of many more such concretes than can be held explicitly in mind. But a human being cannot hold indefinitely many concepts explicitly in mind either — and yet, on the Objectivist view, needs a comprehensive conceptual framework in order to provide guidance in life. Art offers a way out of this dilemma by providing a perceptual, easily grasped means of communicating and thinking about a wide range of abstractions. Its function is thus similar to that of language, which uses concrete words to represent concepts. Objectivism regards art as the only really effective way to communicate a moral or ethical ideal. Objectivism does not, however, regard art as propagandistic: even though art involves moral values and ideals, its purpose is not to educate, only to show or project. Moreover, art need not be, and often is not, the outcome of a full-blown, explicit philosophy. Usually it stems from an artist's sense of life (which is preconceptual and largely emotional), and its appeal is similar to the viewer's or listener's sense of life. Generally Objectivism favors an esthetic of Romanticism, which on its Objectivist definition is a category of art treating the existence of human volition as true and important. In this sense, for Objectivism, Romanticism is the school of art that takes values seriously, regards human reason as efficacious, and projects human ideals as achievable. Objectivism contrasts such Romanticism with Naturalism, which it regards as a category of art that denies or downplays the role of human volition in the achievement of values. The term romanticism, however, is often affiliated with emotionalism, which Objectivism is completely opposed to. Many romantic artists, in fact, were subjectivists and/or socialists. Most Objectivists who are also artists ascribe to what they call Romantic realism, which is what Ayn Rand labeled her own work.

Response to Objectivist philosophy

It is fair to say that, of people who are familiar with Objectivism, reactions are rarely neutral. Her beliefs are often supported with great passion or derided with great disgust, with little in between. The general reaction of academia has been in the latter category, to the point where Objectivism is often not taken as a serious contribution to the field and therefore unworthy of little more than dismissal. To be specific, critics in academia often conclude that many of the specific stances are demonstrably false rehashes of old errors, and even where the belief system happens to endorse true conclusions, it does so on a fallacious basis. For example, a number of philosophers who completely agree with Rand on the topic of atheism nonetheless find her basis for it laughable and frankly embarrassing. Although many academics ignore Objectivism, some have published in academic journals on various aspects of Objectivism. Rand published most of her non-fiction essays in her own newsletter The Objectivist and earlier in the journal she edited, in which only those who largely agreed with Objectivism were published. She did not publish in conventional academic journals. Much of the non-fiction Objectivist corpus is available only in the form of audio recordings. Academic institutional support for Objectivism has increased in recent years. Cambridge University Press is publishing Dr. Tara Smith's The Virtuous Egoist: Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics. There are or have been Objectivist programs and fellowships at the University of Pittsburgh (Dept. of History and Philosophy of Science), University of Texas/Austin, University of North Carolina/Chapel Hill, and several other universities. And there are some 50 members of The Ayn Rand Society, an affiliated group with the American Philosophical Society, Eastern Division. Leonard Peikoff, Ayn Rand's legal heir, published a comprehensive presentation of Objectivism entitled Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand. Other works have been directed at academic audiences, such as Viable Values by Tara Smith, The Evidence of the Senses by David Kelley, and The Biological Basis of Teleological Concepts by Harry Binswanger. An academic journal, the Journal of Ayn Rand Studies has been publishing interdisciplinary scholarly essays on Rand and Objectivism since 1999. Whether this new scholarship and institutional support will result in a dialogue between mainstream academic philosophy and Objectivism remains to be seen. For detailed summaries of specific responses to Objectivism, see bibliography of work on Objectivism.

Criticism of Objectivism

Some people who are not supporters of the beliefs and ideals of Ayn Rand do not describe her philosophy and writings using the allegedly biased terms of "Objectivism" and "Reason", which suggest that those beliefs and ideals are in fact objective and rational. They may use the term "Randian" or "Randist", which to them does not make those assumptions; they believe that the ties between the beliefs and their originator are so strong that following her philosophy necessitates following her. Some (such as Michael Shermer) see the philosophy as being a cult or having a cult-like mentality. Shermer stresses how members of the orthodox movement are expected to consider Ayn Rand "the greatest human being to ever live" and look at anyone that disagrees with Rand as "irrational." They consider this the opposite of an individualist philosophy and, ironically, similar to a collectivist one. Objectivists often respond to this by saying either that a) the claims are exaggerated, b) the cult-like practices were (unfortunately) irrational but do not disprove the philosophy, or c) such statements are justified because one's confidence in Rand is (or should be) based on reason and one's own individual, reality-oriented values. The defense is often a combination of (a) and (c). Rand herself saw some of this and, likely with irony, called her inner circle "The Collective". Like other things associated with Rand, this topic is fiercely debated. The cult accusation is probably the most common attack on Rand and her philosophy, somewhat edging out dismissals of her as an intellectual light-weight (most of her followers didn't have an interest in, or knowledge of, philosophy until reading her work). Rand's defenders assert that the cult accusation distracts people from actually analyzing the philosophy itself. To this, Rand's critics reply with a denial of there being any cohesive philosophy to study, considering it instead a collection of reactions by Rand against popular ideas she opposed. This characterization of Objectivism as a lowbrow anti-philosophy is particularly common among those with academic backgrounds in philosophy. It should be noted that being critical of Rand does not mean disagreeing with her on every point. If anything, those most critical often agree with her on a number of points, which makes them particularly bothered by both the path she takes to arrive at these conclusions and the other conclusions that they feel she gets entirely wrong. Fundamentally, Rand's philosophy is considered an all-or-nothing proposition, yet many people only agree with parts. It is not uncommon for those who agree with her on either the matter of rationalism and atheism or Libertarianism and egoism to disagree strongly on the other.

Criticism of Ayn Rand’s reading of the history of philosophy

Rand regarded her philosophical efforts as the beginning of the correction of a deeply troubled world, and she believed that the world has gotten into its present troubled state largely through the uncritical acceptance, by both intellectuals and others, of traditional philosophy. Especially in the title essay of her early work, For the New Intellectual, Rand levels serious criticisms of canonical historical philosophers, especially Plato, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, G. W. F. Hegel, Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Herbert Spencer. In her later book, Philosophy: Who Needs It, she repeats and enlarges upon her criticisms of Kant, and she also accuses famed Harvard political theorist John Rawls of gross philosophical errors. Some have accused Rand of misinterpreting the works of these philosophers (see, e.g., Ayn Rand, Objectivists, and the History of Philosophy by Fred Seddon). Rand's interpretation and criticism of the views of Immanuel Kant, in particular, have sparked considerable controversy. Many critics take issue with Rand's interpretation of Kant's metaphysics: like early critics of Kant, Rand interprets Kant as an empirical idealist. It is a long-standing question of Kant scholarship whether this interpretation is correct; in the second edition of the Critique of Pure Reason, Kant claimed that his transcendental idealism was different from empirical idealism. Contemporary philosophers such as Jonathan Bennett, James van Cleve, and Rae Langton continue to debate this issue. Other critics focus on Rand's reading of Kant's ethical philosophy. Rand alleges that Kantian ethics is a version of selflessness, an ethics of self-sacrifice. Kant's defenders claim that Kantian ethics is primarily an ethics of reason, because the categorical imperative amounts to a demand that the intent behind one's actions be logically consistent, or in Kantian terminology, that "the maxim of one's act be universalizable." Though Rand denigrates Kant's system as the absolute opposite of Objectivism, some writers have even suggested that Rand drew on Kantian ideas without realizing it. "She despised Immanuel Kant but then actually invokes 'treating persons as ends rather than as means only' to explain the nature of morality,"[http://www.friesian.com/rand.htm] argues Dr. Kelley Ross. In Rand's favor, Kant clearly does maintain (in his Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals) that an action solely motivated by inclination or self-interest is entirely lacking in moral worth. Still, fewer commentators have agreed with Rand's characterization of Kantianism as self-sacrificial. The contemporary philosopher Thomas E. Hill has explicitly defended Kant against this charge in his article, "Happiness and Human Flourishing in Kant's Ethics," in the anthology Human Flourishing. Another attack on Rand comes from her outright rejection of David Hume's ideas at the foundations of her philosophy. Hume famously maintained, "No is implies an ought," but Rand disagreed by arguing that values are a species of fact (see is-ought problem). She wrote, "In answer to those philosophers who claim that no relation can be established between ultimate ends or values and the facts of reality, let me stress that the fact that living entities exist and function necessitates the existence of values and of an ultimate value which for any given living entity is its own life. Thus the validation of value judgments is to be achieved by reference to the facts of reality. The fact that a living entity is, determines what it ought to do." Some have suggested that Rand's solution begs the question by assuming that life is the highest value as a hidden premise of the argument. See also Objectivist Metaethics, Controversy over Ayn Rand.

Notes

# Rand, Ayn. (1996) Atlas Shrugged. Signet Book; 35th Anniv edition. Appendix. ISBN 0451191145

External links

- [http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=objectivism_essentials Essentials of Objectivism]
- [http://www.aynrand.org/ The Ayn Rand Institute — The Center for the Advancement of Objectivism]
- [http://www.ariwatch.com/ ARI Watch] — Argues that some positions of the Ayn Rand Institute differ from those of Ayn Rand.
- [http://www.objectivistcenter.org/ The Objectivist Center]
- [http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/r/rand.htm/ The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy — Ayn Rand]
- [http://www.DrHurd.com/ Dr. Michael J. Hurd, psychologist] — life coaching and comments on cultural/political topics from an Objectivist perspective
- [http://www.TIADaily.com/ TIA Daily] — Daily news and commentary from the ARI Objectivist perspective by e-mail
- [http://wiki.objectivismonline.net/ The Objectivism Wiki]
- [http://www.capitalismcenter.org/ The Center for the Advancement of Capitalism]
- [http://importanceofphilosophy.com/ Importance of Philosophy]
- [http://www.capitalism.org/ The Capitalism Site]
- [http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/ The Objectivism Reference Center] — Includes both advocacy and criticism articles
- [http://solohq.com/ Sense Of Life Objectivists]
- [http://objectivistliving.com/ Objectivist Living Forums] — An Objectivist community dedicated to Ayn Rand and the art of living consciously Category:Philosophical theories Category:Philosophical movements Category:Secularism

1905

1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar).

Events

January-April

- January 2 - Russo-Japanese War: The Russian Army surrenders at Port Arthur, China; an event which shocked the world.
- January 22 - Massacre of Russian demonstrators at the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, one of the triggers of the abortive Russian Revolution of 1905.
- January 26 - The Cullinan Diamond is found near Pretoria, South Africa at the Premier Mine.
- February 10 - Bomb kills grand duke Sergei in Moscow
- February 18 - Tsar orders A. G. Bulygin, the new minister of internal affairs, to make a plan for representative assembly
- February 23 - Foundation of Rotary International
- February 24 - Workmen from the Italian side of the Simplon Tunnel under the Swiss Alps break through the Swiss side
- March 1 - Australian Conservative leader Richard Butler takes office as Premier of South Australia
- March 3 - Tsar Nicholas II of Russia agrees to create an elected assembly (the Duma).
- March 5 - Russian troops begin to retreat from Mukden, Manchuria after losing 100,000 troops in 3 days.
- March 10 Japanese capture of Mukden (now Shenyang) completes rout of Russian armies in Manchuria.
- March 10 - Cassie Chadwick sentenced for 14 years in Cleveland for fraud
- March 17 - Albert Einstein publishes his paper "On a heuristic viewpoint concerning the production and transformation of light" in which he explains the photoelectric effect using the notion of light quanta
- March 31 - During his visit in Morocco, German emperor William II asserts German equality with France in Morocco, triggering the Tangier (or First Moroccan) Crisis.
- April 2 - The Simplon Tunnel dedicated
- April 4 - In India, an earthquake near Kangra, kills 20,000.
- April - Albert Einstein works on the special theory of relativity as well as the theory of Brownian motion

May-October

- May 8 - In Russia, Union of Unions, an umbrella group for newly-formed Russian trade and professional organizations, is found with Paul Milyakov as its leader
- May 11 - Albert Einstein submits his doctoral dissertation "On the Motion of Small Particles..." where he explains the Brownian motion
- May 13 - Mata Hari debuts in Paris
- May 15 - Las Vegas, Nevada is founded when 110 acres (0.4 km²), in what later would become downtown, are auctioned off.
- May 27-28 - Russo-Japanese War: Battle of Tsushima - The Japanese fleet under Admiral Heihachiro Togo destroys Russian fleet under Admiral Zinovi Petrovich Rozhdestvenski in this two day battle
- June 7 - The Norwegian Parliament declares the union with Sweden dissolved, thus Norway achieves its independence.
- June 14-15 - Mutiny in the Russian ironclad Potemkin
- June 15 - Princess Margaret of Connaught marries Gustav, Crown Prince of Sweden.
- June 30 - Albert Einstein publishes the article "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies" where he discovers special relativity.
- July 6 - Alfred Deakin becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the second time.
- July 11 - July 14 - first meeting of the Niagara Movement
- August 13 - Norway holds referendum in favour of dissolving the union with Sweden.
- August 20 - Lord Curzon resigns as viceroy of India
- September 1 - The Canadian province of Alberta is established from the southwestern part of the Northwest Territories.
- September 4 - The Canadian province of Saskatchewan is established.
- September 5 - Russo-Japanese War: Treaty of Portsmouth signed - In New Hampshire a treaty mediated by US President Theodore Roosevelt, is signed by victor Japan and defeated party Russia. In the agreement, Russia cedes the island of Sakhalin and port and rail rights in Manchuria to Japan.
- September 20 - Printer's strike in Moscow
- October 3 - HMS Dreadnought is laid down, revolutionizing battleship design and triggering a naval arms race.
- October 13 - St. Petersburg Soviet of worker's deputies formed
- October 17 - Russian chief minister Sergei Witte announces October Manifesto, plan for representative assembly, increased voting rights and freedom of speech, religion and association
- October 18 - Naval students demonstrate in St Petersburg
- October 26 - Sweden agrees to the repeal of the union with Norway. King Oscar II abdicates the Norwegian throne.
- October 30 - Tsar Nicholas II is forced to grant Russia's first constitution, conceding a national assembly (Duma) with limited powers.
- October 31 - Local peasants in Volokolamsk declare the Markovo Republic (Russian troops overrun it July 18 1906)
- 70 Onion Johnnies die when the steamer Hilda sinks off France.

November-December

- November 9 - The Province of Alberta, Canada holds its 1st General Election.
- November 18 - Prince Carl of Denmark becomes King Haakon VII of Norway.
- November 21 - Moscow soviet formed
- November 28 - Irish nationalist Arthur Griffith founds Sinn Féin in Dublin as a political party whose goal is the independence for all of Ireland.
- December 6 - St Petersburg soviet calls for a general strike
- December 8 - Armed uprising in Moscow is defeated
- December 9 - In Novorossiisk in Siberia, local Socialist Soviet declares independence. 19 days later Russian artillery forces them to surrender
- December 30 - Bomb kills Frank Steunenberg, ex-governor of Idaho. Case leads to a trial again

Births

January-April

- January 2 - Michael Tippett, English composer (d. 1998)
- January 3 - Anna May Wong, American actress (d. 1961)
- January 12 - Tex Ritter, American actor and singer (d. 1974)
- January 18 - Joseph Bonanno, American gangster (d. 2002)
- January 21 - Christian Dior, French couturier (d. 1957)
- January 26 - Charles Lane, American actor
- January 26 - Maria von Trapp, Austrian singer (d. 1987)
- January 29 - Barnett Newman, American painter (d. 1970)
- January 31 - John O'Hara, American writer (d. 1970)
- February 1 - Emilio G. Segrè, Italian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1989)
- February 2 - Ayn Rand, American author (d. 1982)
- February 7 - Paul Nizan, French author (d. 1940)
- February 14 - Thelma Ritter, American actress (d. 1969)
- February 15 - Harold Arlen, American composer of popular music (d. 1986)
- February 23 - Derrick Henry Lehmer, American mathematician (d. 1991)
- February 27 - Franchot Tone, American actor (d. 1968)
- March 6 - Bob Wills, American singer (d. 1975)
- March 15 - Berthold Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg, German lawyer and Nazi opponent (d. 1944)
- March 16 - Elisabeth Flickenschildt, German actress (d. 1977)
- March 18 - Thomas Townsend Brown, American scientist (d. 1985)
- March 18 - Robert Donat, English actor (d. 1958)
- March 18 - Benny Friedman, American football player (d. 1982)
- March 19 - Albert Speer, Nazi official (d. 1981)
- March 23 - Lale Andersen, German singer (d. 1972)
- March 23 - Joan Crawford, American actress (d. 1977)
- March 27 - Elsie MacGill, Canadian aeronautical engineer (d. 1980)
- April 18 - George H. Hitchings, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1998)
- April 21 - Edmund G. Brown, Govenor of California (d. 1996)

May-August

- May 3 - Sebastian Shaw, English actor (d. 1994)
- May 8 - Red Nichols, American jazz musician (d. 1965)
- May 15 - Joseph Cotten, American actor (d. 1994)
- May 16 - Henry Fonda, American actor (d. 1982)
- June 12 - Ray Barbuti, American athlete (d. 1975)
- July 4 - Irving Johnson, American sail training pioneer (d. 1991)
- July 5 - Jock Cameron, South African cricketer (d. 1935)
- July 12 - Edward Bernds, American director (d. 2000)
- July 12 - Prince John of the United Kingdom (d. 1919)
- July 15 - Dorothy Fields, American songwriter (d. 1988)
- July 22 - Doc Cramer, Major League Baseball player (d. 1990)
- July 25 - Elias Canetti, Bulgarian-born British writer (d. 1994)
- July 29 - Dag Hammarskjöld, Swedish United Nations Secretary-General, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1961)
- August 2 - Karl Amadeus Hartmann, German composer (d. 1963)
- August 3 - Franz König, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vienna (d. 2004)
- August 8 - André Jolivet, French composer (d. 1974)
- August 11 - Erwin Chargaff, Austrian biochemist (d. 2002)
- August 16 - Marian Rejewski, Polish mathematician and cryptologist (d. 1980)
- August 20 - Jean Gebser, author, linguist and poet (d. 1973)
- August 21 - Friz Freleng, American animator (d. 1995)
- August 23 - Constant Lambert, British composer (d. 1951)
- August 29 - Dhyan Chand, Indian hockey legend. (d. 1979)
- August 31 - Dore Schary, American film writer, director, and producer (d. 1980)

September-December

- September 1 - Elvera Sanchez, Puerto Rican dancer (d.2000)
- September 3 - Carl David Anderson, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991)
- September 18 - Eddie Anderson, American actor (d. 1977)
- September 18 - Greta Garbo, Swedish actress (d. 1990)
- September 22 - Eugen Sänger, Austrian aerospace engineer (d. 1964)
- September 24 - Severo Ochoa, Spanish–American biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1993)
- September 30 - Savitri Devi, Greek writer and philosopher (d. 1982)
- September 30 - Nevill Francis Mott, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
- September 30 - Michael Powell, British director (d. 1990)
- October 5 - Helen Wills Moody, American tennis player (d. 1998)
- October 23 - Felix Bloch, Swiss-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1983)
- November 7 - William Alwyn, English composer (d. 1985)
- November 9 - Erika Mann, German writer and oldest daughter of Thomas Mann (d. 1969)
- November 15 - Mantovani, Italian-born conductor and arranger (d. 1980)
- November 17 - Queen Astrid of Belgium (d. 1935)
- November 26 - Bob Johnson, baseball player (d. 1982)
- December 11 - Gilbert Rowland, Mexican-born American actor (d. 1994)
- December 24 - Howard Hughes, American film maker, industrialist, aircraft designer, and airline founder (d. 1976)
- December 27 - Leonard Goldenson, American television executive (d. 1999)
- December 30 - Jule Styne, English-born composer (d. 1994)

Unknown dates

- Sada Abe, Japanese actress (d. 1970)

Deaths

- January 14 - Ernst Abbe, German physicist (b. 1840)
- January 19 - Debendranath Tagore, Indian philosopher (b. 1817)
- February 4 - Louis-Ernest Barrias, French sculptor (b. 1841)
- March 6 - John Henninger Reagan, American Confederate politician (b. 1818)
- March 24 - Jules Verne, French author (b. 1828)
- June 22 - Francis Lubbock, Governor of Texas (b. 1815)
- July 8 - Walter Kittredge, American musician and composer (b. 1834)
- August 14 - Simeon Solomon, British artist (b. 1840)
- September 18 - George MacDonald, Scottish author and poet, Christian minister (b. 1824)
- October 13 - Henry Irving, English actor (b. 1838)
- October 29 - Étienne Desmarteau, Canadian athlete (b. 1873)
- Muhammad Abduh, Egyptian philosopher and jurist (b. 1849)

Nobel Prizes

- Physics - Philipp Eduard Anton von Lenard
- Chemistry - Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer
- Physiology or Medicine - Robert Koch
- Literature - Henryk Sienkiewicz
- Peace - Baroness Bertha Sophie Felicita Von Suttner Category:1905

1982

1982 (MCMLXXXII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar.

Events

January

- January 6 - William Bonin is convicted of being the "freeway killer".
- January 8 - AT&T agrees to divest itself into twenty-two subdivisions.
- January 10 - The lowest ever UK temperature of -27.2°C is recorded at Braemar, in Aberdeenshire. This equals the record set in the same place in 1895.
- January 11 - Mark Thatcher, son of the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, disappears in the Sahara during Paris-Dakar rally. He is rescued January 14.
- January 11 to January 17 - A brutal cold snap sends temperatures to all-time record lows in dozens of cities throughout the Midwestern United States.
- January 13 - Shortly after takeoff, Air Florida Flight 90 crashes into Washington, DC's 14th Street Bridge and falls into the Potomac River, killing 78. Half an hour later, a Washington Metro train derails, killing three. It is the system's first fatal accident.
- January 17 - Cold Sunday sweeps over northern United States.
- January 26 - Mauno Koivisto elected the President of Finland.
- January 28 - James L. Dozier is rescued by Italian anti-terrorism forces after 42 days of captivity under the Red Brigades.

February

- February 1 - Senegal and Gambia form a loose confederation.
- February 2 - Hama Massacre begins in Syria.
- February 3 - Syrian president Hafez al-Assad orders army to purge the city of Harran of the Muslim Brotherhood.
- February 5 - Laker Airways collapses, leaving 6,000 passengers stranded and with debts of £270 million.
- February 15 - The oil platform Ocean Ranger sinks during a storm off the coast of Newfoundland, killing 84 rig workers.
- February 19 - The DeLorean Car factory in Belfast is put into receivership.
- February 24 - Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers scores his 77th goal of the National Hockey League season, breaking the previous record of 76. He would go on to score 92 goals that season, which remains the record.

March

- March 1 - Jimmy Page's soundtrack album Death Wish II is released by Swan Song Records
- March 10 - The United States places an embargo on Libyan oil imports, alleging Libyan support of terrorist groups.
- March 10 - Syzygy: all 9 planets align on the same side of the Sun.
- March 18 - An Argentinean scrap metal dealer raises the Argentinean flag in South Georgia
- March 19 - Falklands War approaches: Argentines land on South Georgia Island, precipitating war.
- March 26 - A ground breaking ceremony for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is held in Washington, DC
- March 29 - Royal Assent in London to the Canada Act 1982 sets the stage for the repatriation of the Canadian Constitution (see April 17 below).
- March 30 - Pakistan in Karachi Adeel Mansoor is born.

April

- April 2 - Falklands War begins: Argentina invades the Falkland Islands.
- April 4 - Falklands War: the British Falkland Islands government surrenders, placing the islands in Argentinean control
- April 6 - A blizzard unprecedented in size for April dumps 1-2 feet of snow on the northeastern U.S., closing schools and businesses, snarling traffic, and canceling several major league baseball games.
- April 17 - By Proclamation of the Queen of Canada on Parliament Hill, Canada repatriates its constitution, granting full political independence from the United Kingdom; included is the country's first entrenched bill of rights, called the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
- April 23 - Dennis Wardlow, Mayor of Key West, Florida, declares the independent Conch Republic for a day.
- April 25 - Israel completes withdrawing from the Sinai peninsula per the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty.

May

- May 1 - Falklands War: A Royal Air Force Vulcan bomber takes off from Ascension Island and bombs Stanley Airport.
- May 2 - Falklands War: Nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sinks the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano.
- The Weather Channel airs on cable television for the first time.
- May 5 - Unabomber bomb explodes in the computer science department at Vanderbilt University; secretary Janet Smith is injured.
- May 12 - Spanish priest Juan Hernandes tries to stab Pope John Paul II with a bayonet during the latter's pilgrimage to the Fatima shrine.
- May 21 - Falklands War: Royal Marines and paratroopers from the British Task Force land at San Carlos Bay on the