A Question on Objectivism

[RedSunsZenith]

I've been trying to find some information about Ayn Rand's objectivism on the internet, but all of the explanations I find amount to: "Things exist outside of human conciousness. We can only know those things through reason. Therefore, capitalism rules." Is there anyone who can explain her theories a little better, so that she doesn't seem like such an idiot? Or was her philosophy actually this simple and naive?

[OhYesIdid]

It was simple and naive (if you, like me, believe forced cynicism to be naivete). However, objectivists were strongly opposed to "irrational" attitudes. Of course, irrational attitudes are those that contradict free market capitalism, shit like compassion, love, charity, but also other stuff like philosophy (she had a thing with Sartre), reformism, and critical thought. Her ideas are like the ultimate extrapolation of the laissez-faire principle that states that when people act in their own interest, everyone wins. You can pretty much thank her for modern-day greed-is-good mentality, and she tried really hard to sell selfishness as a "virtue".

[eric922]

Her ideals are fairly simple, if you really want to learn about her you could read her books. Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead are her most famous novels, but they are very long and in my opinion poorly written.

She also wrote several non-fiction philosophical novels such as "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal" and "The Virtue of Selfishness."

She also wrote a short novel "We The Living" which she based partially upon her life and said was as close as she would come to writing an autobiography.

Honestly, though I've taken several philosophy course and the name Ayn Rand is never mentioned. She isn't considered worthy of discussion by philosophers, and no English teacher I know would use her texts in class.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

You could read some of Anton LaVey's books about Satanism.At first glance you maybe thinking what does that have to do with Objectivism,but once you do some reading you will understand that Lavean Satanism is simplified Objectivism.

[Commissar Rykov]

Her ideals are fairly simple, if you really want to learn about her you could read her books. Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead are her most famous novels, but they are very long and in my opinion poorly written.

She also wrote several non-fiction philosophical novels such as "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal" and "The Virtue of Selfishness."

She also wrote a short novel "We The Living" which she based partially upon her life and said was as close as she would come to writing an autobiography.

Honestly, though I've taken several philosophy course and the name Ayn Rand is never mentioned. She isn't considered worthy of discussion by philosophers, and no English teacher I know would use her texts in class.
I had an English teacher that was absolutely in love with Rand in High School and she made us all read Fountainhead. Biggest pile of shit I have probably read in my life not to mention the constant need for monologues about how glorious individual action is and that collective measures are horrid. Boring and petty in so many ways.