ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the Objectivist philosophy and fiction of Ayn Rand. Rand extols the “virtue of selfishness,” both in terms of individual self-interest as the premise for the good life and in terms of a moral justification for laissez-faire capitalism. After setting out the particulars of Rand’s selfish philosophy, and contextualizing it in its historical moment, the chapter turns to the vexed question of Rand’s relationship with feminism, and in particular Rand’s contradictory attitudes towards women’s capacity for heroism. The chapter also examines the enduring influence of Rand’s legacy and how, while many charge her with influencing the current Republican Party and even fomenting the broader values responsible for the economic crisis of the late 2000s, there is a simultaneous reluctance to take her work seriously as literature, philosophy, or economic theory. This tendency both to demonize and to dismiss Rand is read as an instance of cultural misogyny.
