Seminar on Ayn Rand’s Political Philosophy

Ayn Rand wrote extensively about political philosophy, arguing that the principles and ideas responsible for the remarkable economic and social progress of the nineteenth century were little understood a century later, and that their implicit moral foundation needed to be made explicit.

This course explores Ayn Rand’s political philosophy, beginning with its basic principles and essential concepts and proceeding to important derivative issues. The lessons cover, among other topics, Rand’s view of individual rights and government’s role in protecting them, the problem of physical force in society, the moral foundations of capitalism, the objectivity of the free market, the relationship between economic and intellectual freedom, property rights, and a comparison of Rand’s views to other thinkers’ positions.