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Philosophy: Who Needs It

On this page: Description  Contents  Related Links  Reviews, Criticism and Analysis

Description

Full Title: Philosophy: Who Needs It Author(s): Ayn Rand, with an introduction by Leonard Peikoff Year Published: 1982 Publisher: Bobbs-Merrill (hardcover, paperback); MacMillan Publishing (paperback); Signet (paperback) Publication Type: Commercial ISBN-10: 0-672-52725-1 (hardcover), 0-672-52795-2 (paperback), 0-02-066900-3 (paperback), 0-451-13249-1 (paperback), 0-451-13891-7 (paperback), 0-451-17394-5 (paperback) ISBN-13: Description: This is a collection of essays. Although the book was published posthumously with final editing by Leonard Peikoff, Rand had begun work on the collection prior to her death. Most of the essays originally appeared in The Ayn Rand Letter. Cover blurb: Who needs philosophy? Ayn Rand's answer: Everyone. This collection of essays was the last work planned by Ayn Rand before her death in 1982. In it, she summarizes her view of philosophy and deals with a broad spectrum of topics. According to Ayn Rand, the choice we make is not whether to have a philosophy, but which one to have: rational, conscious, and therefore practical; or contradictory, unidentified, and ultimately lethal. Written with all the clarity and eloquence that have placed Ayn Rand's Objectivist philosophy in the mainstream of American thought, these essays range over such basic issues as education, morality, censorship, and inflation to prove that philosophy is the fundamental force in all our lives. (From a Signet paperback printing.)

Contents

Where an item is by an author other than Rand, the author's name is noted in square brackets.

• Introduction [Leonard Peikoff]
• Philosophy: Who Needs It
• Philosophical Detection
• The Metaphysical Versus the Man-Made
• The Missing Link
• Selfishness Without a Self
• An Open Letter to Boris Spassky
• Faith and Force: The Destroyers of the Modern World
• From the Horse's Mouth
• Kant Versus Sullivan
• Causality Versus Duty
• An Untitled Letter
• Egalitarianism and Inflation
• The Stimulus and the Response
• Censorship: Local and Express
• Fairness Doctrine for Education
• What Can One Do?
• Don't Let It Go
• Index

Related Links

• Complete essays and excerpts from this book:
  • "Philosophy: Who Needs It"
  • The anti-conceptual mentality -- from "The Missing Link"
  • The "lone wolf" mentality -- from "Selfishness Without a Self"
  • Criticism of B.F. Skinner -- from "The Stimulus and the Response"
  • From Rand's lecture "Faith and Force: The Destroyers of the Modern World"
• Homepage of Leonard Peikoff
• Wikipedia article about Leonard Peikoff

Reviews, Criticism and Analysis

The following perspectives on this book are available online:

• Critique of the title essay by Grant Schuyler
• Critique by Fred Seddon of Rand's treatment of Rawls in "An Untitled Letter"
• Blog post by Bill Vallicella critiquing Rand's treatment of Kant in "Faith and Force: The Destroyers of the Modern World"

Additional keywords: Ann Rand, Anne Rand, Ayn Rad, Ayn Ran, Any Rand, Leonard Peikof, Leonard Piekoff

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