Ayn Rand’s novels–We the Living, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged–are self-consciously philosophical novels, containing abstract themes, characters driven by opposing moral principles, and conflicts rooted in clashing worldviews. And more than that, Rand’s fictional heroes discover and embody new philosophical ideas, original to Rand. To understand Rand’s distinctive worldview and to learn her new philosophy, Objectivism, there is no better place to start than with careful consideration of the content and meaning of her novels, which contain the richest treatment of a number of central principles of Objectivism available. The course provides a powerful corrective to a tendency among students of Objectivism to neglect Rand’s fiction in their study of Objectivist philosophy.
There are two iterations of this course in the ARU 2025 school year, in Q1-Q2 and Q3-Q4.
Prerequisites or Corequisites: None. 100-level courses have “Objectivism through Ayn Rand’s Fiction” or the “Intensive Seminar on Objectivism” as a corequisite.
Course Start Date: October 24, 2024
Instructors: Onkar Ghate, Ben Bayer, Aaron Smith, Mike Mazza
TAs: Ziemowit Gowin, Nicolas Krusek, Reinier Schuur, Ricardo Pinto, Jennifer Minjarez, Marek Michulka, Nikos Sotirakopoulos, Robertas Bakula, Agustina Vergara Cid
Syllabus: Syllabus
Course Outline and Schedule: Course Outline and Schedule
Assignment to be Completed Before First Discussion Session:
- Group A and B students have a written assignment to be completed before the first live session.
- Group A students, Assignment Set 1 will be posted in the Q1 Week 1 module below on Tuesday, October 15, at 12 pm PT. The deadline for this assignment is Sunday, October 20, by 12 pm PT.
- Group B students, Assignment Set 2 will be posted in the Q1 Week 1 module below on Sunday, October 20, at 12 pm PT. The deadline for this assignment is Tuesday, October 22, by 12 pm PT.
Assignment Groups: Assignment Groups
Assignment Schedule: Assignment Schedule
Live Classes:
Time: Thursdays, 9-10:30 am PT
Meeting Link: You can join the live class on Zoom using this link:
Zoom Meeting Link. (Meeting ID: 835 9200 7392 | Passcode: 794242)
Office Hours:
Please be advised that 1-on-1 appointments are prioritized for graded students. Graded Students can schedule appointments up to 14 days in advance. In all cases, please email the faculty to request a meeting outside of scheduled office hours. Auditors are encouraged to attend open office hours (and can reach out directly to instructors for 1-on-1 appointments if necessary).
Ben Bayer:
All available slots are 20 minutes. If no one books an adjacent slot we can go longer. These are valid from October 22 until December 20.
If you want to meet and no time slots will ever work for you, please reach out directly to bbayer@aynrand.org to try to schedule outside the regular hours.
Tuesdays: 10:40am-12:00pm PT
10:40-12:00pm PT (October 22-October 29); 11:40-1:00pm PT November 5-December 17)
Available for booking up to 1 hour before each timeslot.
Booking page: https://calendar.app.google/dSEPiSVDEevE488z5
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86279289437
Wednesdays: 10:20am-12:00pm PT
10:20-12:00pm PT (October 23-October 30); 11:20-12pm PT (November 6-December 18)
Available for booking up to 1 hour before each timeslot.
Booking page: https://calendar.app.google/3Pr97Lq67tLcereL8
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85426684546
Fridays: 7:00-9:00am PT
7:00-9:00am PT (October 25-November 1); 8:00-10:00am PT (November 8-December 20)
Available for booking up to 12 hour before each timeslot.
Booking page: https://calendar.app.google/8e22toqyy6qe1Bsz7
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81242513788
Aaron Smith
Wednesdays: 10:30am-12:00pm PT
Meeting Link: https://ARI-interviews.as.me/aaronsmith
TA Open Office Hours:
Thursdays: 10:30-11:30am PT
Meeting Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5503138803
If the day and time don’t work for you because of your time zone, you can request a meeting with a TA(s) at a different time. For more information contact zgowin@aynrand.org or nkrusek@aynrand.org.
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