Rational voice

Author: (American) Ayn Rand
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-04-01
Features: In 1961, Ayn Rand delivered her first major lecture at the Ford Forum in Boston, and in 1981, she gave her last lecture of her life in New Orleans. During this period, her speeches and commentaries covered a wide range of topics, including education, healthcare, the Vietnam issue, and even Marilyn Monroe's death. The first two decades of Rand's commentaries and speeches were first compiled into the book The Voice of Reason. The book also includes five articles written by her long-time collaborator and spiritual successor, Leonard Peikoff. Peikoff's afterword, Thirty Years with Ayn Rand: An Intellectual Memoir, authentically depicts Ayn Rand's demeanor and personality. Rand's later works, as always, adhered to her philosophical spirit, moral principles, sharp thinking, and undeniable passion.
Part I (Philosophy) includes all discussions on Objectivism. It features an introduction to Objectivism (Chapter), its relationship with Aristotelian philosophy (Chapter 2), and several important new essays on ethics. This primarily addresses the necessity of Objectivism in ethics (Chapter 3 and 4), the fundamental difference between psychological diagnosis and moral judgment (Chapter 5), and the non-objective nature of altruistic ethics (Chapter 6 and 7). Part I concludes with a critique of religion; Objectivism views religion as the rejection of reason (Chapter 8 and 9).
Part II (Culture) begins with a discussion of the intellectual bankruptcy of today (Chapter 10), followed by some signs of this decline: the cultural vacuum of today (Chapter 11), and the rise of global racial movements (Chapter 12). Next, it examines the flaws of three groups: liberal pragmatists (Chapter 13), conservatives (Chapter 14), and businesspeople, whom Rand believed unknowingly became sponsors of their destroyers—the universities (Chapter 15). It analyzes two significant cultural phenomena. One is tragic: Marilyn Monroe's death (Chapter 16); the other is uplifting: the Apollo 11 mission (Chapter 17), an essay that Rand considered her masterpiece, describing her firsthand witnessing of the rocket launch. This piece captures the sensory reality, emotional impact, and underlying philosophical reasons of this historic event—reporting only possible when a great thinker and a literary artist are one. The purpose of the Apollo program is the topic of Chapter 18.
The last two essays in Part II discuss the U.S. education system. One records the prevalent anti-American sentiment in our universities (Chapter 19); the other discusses the anti-conceptual teaching methods that are destroying our elementary schools (Chapter 20).
Part III (Politics) considers political issues from the perspective of a pro-free-market capitalist. This includes critiques of rationing (Chapter 21), public television (Chapter 22), antitrust laws (Chapter 24), foreign aid (Chapter 25), and socialized medicine (Chapter 29 and 30). It also proposes a practical suggestion to break the government's monopoly in education (Chapter 23); a discussion on the role of wealth in an industrial economy (Chapter 27); an analysis of the causes of world hunger (Chapter 28); and an explanation of one of Rand's views—that a rational woman would not want to be President of the United States (Chapter 26). The last essay in Part III is Peter Schwartz's incisive analysis of the political movement of laissez-faire anarchism. Rand had long been opposed to laissez-faire anarchism, viewing it as contradictory to her philosophy. Schwartz's article explains why.