Atlas Shrugged Atlas Shrugged as a as a

Philosophical NovelPhilosophical Novel

David Kelley and

William Thomas

Summer Seminar 2006

A Philosophical ThrillerA Philosophical ThrillerWilliam Thomas

Atlas Shrugged as a Philosophical Novel

Lecture I

Lecture 1: A Philosophical Thriller

I. The Greatest Philosophical Novel?

A. Why write a Philosophical novel?

B. The Artistic Challenge of the Philosophical Novel

C. Ayn Rand’s method in overview

II. The Philosophy of Atlas Shrugged-overview

A. Objectivism on one foot

B. Five ideas distinctive to Rand and Atlas

III. Rand’s integration of Plot and Ideas

A. Looters, Producers, and Strikers

B. Plot overview

Part 1. Non-contradiction

Part 2. Either-Or

Part 3. A is A

Philosophy

Philosophy studies the fundamental nature of existence, of man, and of man's relationship to existence. … In the realm of cognition, the special sciences are the trees, but philosophy is the soil which makes the forest possible.

—Ayn Rand, Philosophy, Who Needs It (p. 2)

Metaphysics (the theory of reality). Epistemology (the theory of knowledge) Ethics (the theory of moral values) Politics (the theory of legal rights and government) Aesthetics (the theory of the nature of art)

Philosophy and Art

Man's profound need of art lies in the fact that his cognitive faculty is conceptual, i.e., that he acquires knowledge by means of abstractions, and needs the power to bring his widest metaphysical abstractions into his immediate, perceptual awareness. Art fulfills this need: by means of a selective re-creation, it concretizes man's fundamental view of himself and of existence. It tells man, in effect, which aspects of his experience are to be regarded as essential, significant, important.

— Ayn Rand, "Art and Cognition" The Romantic Manifesto, p. 45.

The Philosophical Novel

Philosophy Provides reasons for basic

values Provides general guidance

for life Abstract ideas

• Arguments, theories• Stories to test theories

Novel Represents a world reshaped

by value Provides specific vision of life Concrete narrative

• Plot, characterization• Theories to bring out

themes of stories

Philosophy times Art

Making abstractions real

Making the real abstractly meaningful

Ayn Rand’s literary method in overview

“Slanted realism” in characterization and world-building

Structured events and scenes

Integration of plot and theme

Lecture 1: A Philosophical Thriller

I. The Greatest Philosophical Novel?

A. Why write a Philosophical novel?

B. The Artistic Challenge of the Philosophical Novel

C. Ayn Rand’s method in overview

II. The Philosophy of Atlas Shrugged-overview

A. Objectivism on one foot

B. Five ideas distinctive to Rand and Atlas

III. Rand’s integration of Plot and Ideas

A. Looters, Producers, and Strikers

B. Plot overview

Part 1. Non-contradiction

Part 2. Either-Or

Part 3. A is A

Ayn Rand’s ideas “on one foot”

Metaphysics: Objective Reality

“Wishing won’t make it so.”

Epistemology: Reason

“You can’t have your cake and eat it, too.”

Ethics: Self-Interest

“Man is an end in himself.”

Politics: Laissez-faire Capitalism

“Give me liberty or give me death.”

Key Ideas Distinctive to Atlas Shrugged

The opposition between productive, rational people and destructive and irrational ones

Reason vs. anti-reason The pursuit of one’s happiness as a moral end in

itself, as against self-sacrifice and imposed duty The unity of mind and body Trade vs. power as two means of interaction

The Plot of Atlas Shrugged

Plot for power, economic disruption

Breakthroughs and discoveries, frustrated,

DT-HR affair

Mysterious disappearances

(Laying the ground)

Seizure of power,

Economic disintegration

Desperate quest for Inventor and Destroyer,

Compromises with looters.

Disappearances accelerate

(Attempts to convert Dagny and Hank)

Overt dictatorship,

Economic collapse,

Political collapse

Discovery of “Atlantis,” DT-JG romance

John Galt’s public speech and capture

Release of Galt and victory of the strike.

Part I

Part II

Part III

Looters Protagonists Strikers

Course Outline

• Sunday: A Philosophical Thriller - Thomas• Monday: Producers versus Looters and Parasites -

Kelley• Tuesday: Reason versus Anti-reason – Thomas• Wednesday: The Pursuit of Happiness as a Moral

End-in-Itself -Kelley• Thursday: The Unity of Mind and Body – Thomas• Friday: Trade versus Power - Kelley