The Ayn Rand Lexicon online


Michael Stuart Kelly

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The Ayn Rand Lexicon

It's free. It's searchable. Go on and use it.

Here is the release from ARI announcing this.

October 26, 2007

The Ayn Rand Lexicon: now available free on the Web!

Irvine, CA—Through a special arrangement with the publisher, the editor and the Estate of Ayn Rand, ARI has received exclusive permission to present The Ayn Rand Lexicon—now available in its entirety, free of charge, to Web visitors. Edited by Harry Binswanger, and with an introduction by Leonard Peikoff, this important book presents all of the key ideas of Ayn Rand's philosophy, in an encyclopedic reference of stunning breadth and depth.

From the back cover:

A prolific writer, best-selling novelist, and world-renowned philosopher, Ayn Rand defined a full system of thought—from epistemology to aesthetics. Her writing is so extensive and the range of issues she covers so enormous that those interested in finding her discussions of a given topic may have to search through many sources to locate the relevant passage.

The Ayn Rand Lexicon brings together for the first time all the key ideas of her philosophy of Objectivism, organized alphabetically by topic.

Through excerpts culled from Ayn Rand's many articles, lectures, and books, this work presents the Objectivist view on some 400 topics in philosophy, politics, art, economics, and psychology. The Lexicon thus serves as a mini-encyclopedia of Objectivism, complete with a conceptual index and extensive cross-references.

The Lexicon is both an intriguing introduction for the newcomer and a comprehensive sourcebook for readers already familiar with Objectivist ideas. Begun under Ayn Rand's personal supervision, this unique volume is an invaluable guide to her philosophy of reason, self-interest, and laissez-faire capitalism—the philosophy so brilliantly dramatized in her novels The Fountainhead, We the Living, and Atlas Shrugged.

Browse The The Ayn Rand Lexicon.

Copyright © 2007 Ayn Rand® Institute. All rights reserved.

We would like to formally and publicly thank ARI for providing this valuable resource to the public.

Michael

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The Ayn Rand Lexicon

It's free. It's searchable. Go on and use it.

Here is the release from ARI announcing this.

October 26, 2007

The Ayn Rand Lexicon: now available free on the Web!

Irvine, CA—Through a special arrangement with the publisher, the editor and the Estate of Ayn Rand, ARI has received exclusive permission to present The Ayn Rand Lexicon—now available in its entirety, free of charge, to Web visitors. Edited by Harry Binswanger, and with an introduction by Leonard Peikoff, this important book presents all of the key ideas of Ayn Rand's philosophy, in an encyclopedic reference of stunning breadth and depth.

From the back cover:

A prolific writer, best-selling novelist, and world-renowned philosopher, Ayn Rand defined a full system of thought—from epistemology to aesthetics. Her writing is so extensive and the range of issues she covers so enormous that those interested in finding her discussions of a given topic may have to search through many sources to locate the relevant passage.

The Ayn Rand Lexicon brings together for the first time all the key ideas of her philosophy of Objectivism, organized alphabetically by topic.

Through excerpts culled from Ayn Rand's many articles, lectures, and books, this work presents the Objectivist view on some 400 topics in philosophy, politics, art, economics, and psychology. The Lexicon thus serves as a mini-encyclopedia of Objectivism, complete with a conceptual index and extensive cross-references.

The Lexicon is both an intriguing introduction for the newcomer and a comprehensive sourcebook for readers already familiar with Objectivist ideas. Begun under Ayn Rand's personal supervision, this unique volume is an invaluable guide to her philosophy of reason, self-interest, and laissez-faire capitalism—the philosophy so brilliantly dramatized in her novels The Fountainhead, We the Living, and Atlas Shrugged.

Browse The The Ayn Rand Lexicon.

Copyright © 2007 Ayn Rand® Institute. All rights reserved.

We would like to formally and publicly thank ARI for providing this valuable resource to the public.

Michael

Agreed on thanking the ARI for providing the resource. It's up now - it was down for several hours immediately after the announcement, apparently. (In fact, the whole ARI site was down for a bit.)

Interesting:

Search for Branden: 0 hits

Search for Peikoff: 87 hits

Comment not required.

Alfonso

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It's wonderful that they've made this available online. I just read the Preface by Harry Binswanger, and thought this was cute:

"As the work progressed, Miss Rand became increasingly enthusiastic about the project. One value of the book had special meaning to her: it eliminates any shred of excuse (if ever there had been one) for the continual gross misrepresentation of her philosophy at the hands of hostile commentators. As she quipped to me, "People will be able to look up BREAKFAST and see that I did not advocate eating babies for breakfast." " :D

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Cool. It's nice to have this as an online resource.

Laure quoted Binswanger:

"As the work progressed, Miss Rand became increasingly enthusiastic about the project. One value of the book had special meaning to her: it eliminates any shred of excuse (if ever there had been one) for the continual gross misrepresentation of her philosophy at the hands of hostile commentators. As she quipped to me, "People will be able to look up BREAKFAST and see that I did not advocate eating babies for breakfast."

Unfortunately "hostile commentators" won't be able to look up ARCHITECTURE and discover Rand's views on it.

J

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The itsy bitsy spider / Climbed up the net.waterspout ... {g}

At least this version is useful without its crumbling to dust. I've paid for THAT already. A hardcover edition that uses, I'd say, the crappiest grade of non-acid-free, "perfect"-glue-bound, nearly-newsprint-textured paper I'd ever seen in a purported reference book.

Even the Mentor paperback edition is more durable, but I was stupid enough to not wait for it *sigh*

It's not a genuine reference, anyway. Perhaps by one-third. The other thirds being entertainment value and sheer curiosity value (see "Christmas"). Something omitting any of the non-Orthodox — including those works Rand included in her own anthologies — and including Peikoff can be nothing else.

It may be possible, by the time of Kira Peikoff's grandchildren, to get an objectively edited, complete version of Rand's works, statements, and papers. One that's printed, if books still exist, to endure more than five years without turning yellow. But not, methinks, until then.

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It's great to have this available and it has the potential to make a big impact in the ease of awareness and spread of understanding on what Objectivism, a difficult and 'technical' philosophy is all about. (The links to the actual books, sold by the aynrandbookstore are also a good idea.)

Make it instant. Make it easy. Make it simple. Make it clear.

But, along these lines, an opportunity missed is the lack of a dense web of hyperlinked terms inside the articles displayed. That's one of the great powers of the web...and a great way to learn the many technical or unusual terms used in Ayn Rand's ideas.

You would be able to learn the entire philosophy (or at least track down a well-rounde exposition on all kinds of key ideas) simply by following every link to a concept that was unclear or that you'd forgotten.

It's not like this would be all that difficult to add in...sigh...

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It may be possible, by the time of Kira Peikoff's grandchildren, to get an objectively edited, complete version of Rand's works, statements, and papers. One that's printed, if books still exist, to endure more than five years without turning yellow. But not, methinks, until then.

Two issues identified:

1) To get unexpurgated versions, which include the actual versions of the Objectivist Newsletter, The Objectivist, etc... AS PRINTED. The original nonfiction books (CUI, VOS, etc..) with ALL the essays. No edits of the text to remove citations to people who were excommunicated later, either.

To republish the work in the fashion currently being done is to treat Ayn Rand, her work and her heritage with EXTREME DISRESPECT. (As well as the Brandens and hordes of other excommunicatees.) What other serious author's work is subject to such posthumous editing - without even notes indicating why the edit and preserving the original in a footnote or an appendix.

2) To publish it on a media which lasts.

My bound copies of Objectivist Newsletter, The Objectivist and The Ayn Rand Letter have the covers badly deformed - bending over time.

Alfonso

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I'm pleased that the Lexicon is online.

But the caveats about bowdlerizing and air brushing definitely apply.

The same preface that quotes Rand's cute "breakfast" remark makes a flatly dishonest assertion about the way authors other than Rand were chosen for excerpting.

And the entry on "Imagination" renders an article in The Objectivist authorless in order to avoid naming an unperson.

Robert Campbell

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I was made aware of Objectivism in 1968 before the split and had no allegiance to either Rand or Branden but read both with pleasure. I read all of the Objectivist Newsletter which was co edited by both of them. When The Psychology of Self Esteem was published I realized that most of the chapters had been articles in either The Objectivist Newsletter or The Objectivist. It is astonishing that in the Ayn Rand Lexicon there is no mention of Nathaniel Branden even under the topic of self esteem! Outrageous!

g

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