Ayn, wonderings and doubts about objectivism

Black woman reading. Photo: Stockphotos

The Return

After years of not writing on the blog, I decided to return. For a couple of reasons; One to reignite my love for writing again. Two, to find a creative outlet to write. To really ramble about whatever takes my fancy.

The first rambling is about the title of the blog. So my other name is Ayn. I rarely use the name, except as a pseudo-name, for opening countless random email accounts and for striking philosophical conversations. I was named by father, who was engrossed in the objectivism movement of the '80s. I together with my brother; are the evidence of my father's movement from: "Unregulated capitalism is the idea" to " worker power!" We are named after philosophers that he was engrossed with at any given time.

I must say early on when I read Ayn Rand; I struggled with her. Not so much that I was extremely young trying to go through a copy of Atlas Shrugged, I couldn't read Fountainhead. As an adult I have been planning, never got to it. However, I was delighted to find that she had a play; Night of January 16th. That was much easier to read as a teenager. But I found it troubling that this author, woman, books were the influence that drove my father to live by and therefore name his "favourite" child after. More worrying was trying to understand whether my father saw himself as a selfish being? Whether that was his core virtue? Because a child, even as an adult, I have hoped that altruism guided his ways. Something that Ayn Rand put down.


Rand makes it known that being selfless is a vice, something that will cause great harm to an individual. But if we were to only care for our own feelings, own wants, and own needs, and ourselves, how could we live in a social society?  As a young generous Christian couldn't agree at all with Rand’s philosophy. I struggle to comprehend that there could be a world where people are truly individualistic. I do not entirely agree with her ethics about selfishness as a virtue because it makes humans devoid of connection and emotion. My worry is if every person were acting out of own personal self-interest, how would the world function, if at all? Things might become stagnant as people will not care about others and the world might fall apart as desires/wants grow tremendously. It is a very radical theory and the characters she created are so unbelievable so her philosophy seems unreasonable to people.

The philosopher. the woman

Ayn Rand was a woman intellectual, strong, and unafraid to voice her thoughts to the public. I also struggle with her views on women, as they did not really portray women as equal to men. For Rand, the ideal woman finds pleasure in surrendering to the heroic man she worshipped. I do not think that is an image of a woman I like. If Rand places such emphasis on self-interest and the individual, why differentiate between male and female? Why could not a woman be heroic like the heroic man? I see how her views on women were questioned as they are not consistent with her other set of views. The woman’s surrender is submissive and it’s almost like she is on a lower level than the man.

The one thing I do find interesting about her is her idea that: A couple should have children only if they have the proper, rational reasons to do so.  I do find it problematic that the philosophy world does not consider her a philosopher, (even with her problematic movement.)

Otherwise, I am back. I am rambling,  I am wandering, and wondering out loud.