"For the New Intellectual" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rand Ayn)

FOR THE NEW INTELLECTUAL

AYN RAND



Who are to be the New Intellectuals?

“Any man or woman who is willing to think. All those who know that man’s
life must be guided by reason, those who value their own life and are not
witting to surrender it to the cult of despair in the modern jungle of
cynical impotence, just as they are not willing to surrender the world to
the Dark Ages and the rule of the brutes.”

This book presents the essentials of Ayn Rand’s philosophy “for those who
wish to acquire an integrated view of existence.” In the title essay, she
offers an analysis of Western culture, discusses the causes of its
progress, its decline, its present bankruptcy, and points the road to an
intellectual renaissance.

Ayn Rand raises the standard of “reason, individualism, and capitalism”
against today’s prevalent doctrines of mysticism, altruism, and
collectivism. The novels that present her unconventional views have
become modern classics.




PREFACE

This book is intended for those who wish to assume the responsibility of
becoming the new intellectuals. It contains the main philosophical
passages from my novels and presents the outline of a new philosophical
system.

The full system is implicit in these excerpts (particularly in Galt’s
speech), but its fundamentals are indicated only in the widest terms and
require a detailed, systematic presentation in a philosophical treatise.
I am working on such a treatise at present; it will deal predominantly
with the issue which is barely touched upon in Galt’s speech:
epistemology, and will present a new theory of the nature, source and
validation of concepts. This work will require several years; until then,
I offer the present book as a lead or a summary for those who wish to
acquire an integrated view of existence. They may regard it as a basic
outline; it will give them the guidance they need, but only if they think
through and understand the exact meaning and the full implications of
these excerpts.

I am often asked whether I am primarily a novelist or a philosopher. The
answer is: both. In a certain sense, every novelist is a philosopher,