This article summarizes an excerpt of Ayn Rand's description of Objectivism.
What is Objectivism?
Objectivism states that a person's self interest, rationally guided, will create the greatest good. This philosophy is in accord with Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, which holds that an "invisible hand" guides market and commerce, that if every person pursues their own interest, their behavior will naturally produce higher standards of living.
Metaphysics of Objectivism
Objectivism holds that there is an objective reality in the world, that despite the questioning of post-modernists and existentialists, there remains a world which is palpable to the senses and should be accorded with the respect that follows.
Rand describes this as "Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed." This is to say that wishing that a storm will stop battering a life raft in a storm swept ocean will have no effect on the storm whatsoever. Nature must be obeyed. Therefore, in order to command it, a person should venture to the sea only having taken the necessary precautions, not ignoring the realities of icebergs and tidal waves.
Epistemology of Objectivism
Objectivism prizes reason beyond all means of knowing, disdaining all forms of religion as "mysticism". Rand describes reason as "the faculty which identifies and integrates the material provided by man's sense" and "man's only means of perceiving reality, his only source of knowledge, his only guide to action, and his basic means of survival."
Rand then places these sentiments in the aphorism "you can't have your cake and eat it too," implying that a person who would both desire to master physical reality and yet maintain belief in their immutability by supernatural forces will forfeit claim to both.
Ethics of Objectivism
The ethics of Objectivism make the human being the highest good in the system of thought, stating that it is the greatest evil for a person to sacrifice him or herself to others for their "greater good". The sacrificial person would be either a scapegoat or a hypocrite (serving his or her own needs while claiming to serve the people's). This belief puts Objectivism at odds with Christianity and Islam, both of which call for the individual to subdue him or herself for the common good.
Politics of Objectivism
The politics of Objectivism value laissez-faire capitalism as the best system for people to deal with one another. It allows for people to deal with one another in trade, exchanging one good or value for another, rather than a system of brute force which makes one person surrender his or her value to another. As the US practices a separation of Church and State, Objectivism advocates a full separation of Economy and State.
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