Ayn Rand’s birthday today seems like an appropriate time for me to kick off rereading her books from cover to cover after many years. Actually, the timing is right for a few fundamental reasons.
First, I think it’s important to reread the original works of an author-philosopher whose ideas you purposefully adopted. While I’m completely secular, I recognize the importance of reinforcing your beliefs by attending weekly religious services. Individuals who adopt a set of fundamental ideas, religious or secular, should do the same in some form, especially by rereading seminal works.
While I’ve checked in with Rand’s non-fiction books over the years—mostly to reread a single essay to refresh my memory of her views on topics I was interested in at the time—I’ve realized that I haven’t reread any of her books, cover to cover, in many years.
At one point, I decided that I’d read enough and wanted to focus more on integrating those ideas into my daily living. Still, I continued to engage with her ideas and reinforced them through the works of others learned in her philosophy, through their books and other publications, lectures, podcasts, etc.
But it’s been at least 10 years since I’ve read through any of Rand’s fiction and nonfiction books that changed my life so much for the better. That’s a long time to go without regularly re-engaging with such significant ideas directly from their author. I thought it was time to change that.
In part, I’m also energized to revisit Rand’s books now as I observe an alarming trend in our culture: a growing number of Americans seem to care less about facts, reason, logic, and objectivity. During such times, a voice of reason provides a much-needed tonic.
Lastly, I’m performing ongoing research for a major essay I plan to write about Leonardo da Vinci, my other hero. By rereading Rand, I seek to learn more thoroughly particular methods of thinking, especially the process of integration, which I believe is integral to understanding da Vinci’s multifaceted mind and interests.
Today I was rereading Rand’s Philosophy: Who Needs It. Her answer to this title: you do, because every human being—whether or not they realize it, whether or not they’ve read a single word by any philosopher—acts according to deeply held philosophic premises they’ve absorbed and adopted, knowingly or unknowingly, from childhood onward.
I have a lot of heavy reading ahead!