Novels & Works ^ofAyn Rand

Although Rand admired the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche for projecting at times “a magnificent feeling for man’s greatness,” she regarded him as an opponent, classifying him philosophically as “a mystic and an irrationalist.”

In Journals we see Rand develop this perspective. As her longtime student and associate Leonard Peikoff points out in the introduction, in Rand’s earliest notes there is a noticeable Nietzschean influence “in the form of droplets of subjectivism, and of the idea that the heroes among men are innately great, as against the inherently corrupt masses, who deserve only bitterness and domination from their superiors.”

But as Peikoff also notes, through the course of Journals we see “these droplets — every one of them — evaporate without residue, as [Ayn Rand]’s own principles emerge into the sunshine of explicit statement.” By the time Rand reaches The Fountainhead, she has fully separated her views from Nietzsche’s.

From the time Rand starts thinking about philosophy, one of her primary concerns is how to place morality on a rational basis.

Following the publication of The Fountainhead, Rand begins work on a nonfiction ethical treatise, “The Moral Basis of Individualism.” In the first draft of the treatise, she bases her morality on an axiom: “Man exists and must survive as man.”

But as Rand reviews this draft, she reaches an important insight: “Chapter I should begin by stating the axiom. Then define man’s nature. Then ask” — she then crosses out the last two words — “Or — begin by asking whether a moral code is necessary? Prove that it is — for a rational being.”

This line of questioning would ultimately lead Rand to her full proof of her moral theory — one that argues that a moral code is necessary only because man is a living being who needs principles in order to survive.

In Journals we see Rand develop a unique conception of the psychology of evil as she plans her novels. From her earliest notes, Rand conceives of evil as the desire to crush others because one feels inferior to them — a motive that she would ultimately identify as “hatred of the good for being the good.”

In Rand’s view, in order to rationalize this motive to themselves and others, this mentality counts on evil philosophical ideas — ideas that include egalitarianism, Communism and altruism.

What could lead someone to this state? By the time of The Fountainhead, Rand sees evil as the product of a fear of independent thinking. In her notes for Atlas Shrugged, she identifies the source of this fear: a lifelong pattern of choosing not to think, but to evade reality.

In Journals we have the privilege of watching a powerful intellect think on paper. Among the important lessons is the need to challenge one’s own ideas with probing questions. Rand does this often.

For example, Rand originally planned Atlas Shrugged to be a shorter novel than The Fountainhead, political and social in its theme and containing no new philosophical ideas. But as she worked on the novel, as she later reported in an interview, she asked herself such questions as “Why is the mind important? What specifically does the mind do in relationship to human existence? It’s then I began to see that this is going to be a very important and new philosophical novel. There was a great deal more to say than merely what I had said in The Fountainhead.”

In her notes on Atlas Shrugged, we witness Rand asking these questions and expanding her ideas and the scope of the novel.

Rand grew up in Communist Russia, and throughout Journals we see her unique perspective on Communism. She views its rise and bloodshed not as some inexplicable accident but as the logical consequence of certain ideas.

Like every other form of dictatorship, Communism is at root the theory “That the State is superior to the individual. That the Collective holds all rights and the individual has none.” This is the source of Communism’s evil — it sacrifices individuals — but also of its popularity: since most people believe self-sacrifice is moral, Communism offered “a definite goal, inspiration and ideal, a positive faith.”

Thus, in Journals, we see Rand’s assessment that efforts to fight Communism through purely political means, such as the House Un-American Activities Committee, at which she testified, were ultimately futile. The only way to fight collectivism is to replace altruism with a morality of rational self-interest.