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Informative sites on Ayn Rand & Objectivism?

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[i apologize if I'm not supposed to be posting a topic like this, as I'm sure there's plenty of information scattered about the forum, but I found this would be a lot easier.]

Hello, I'm a bit new to the forum, and, actually, to the name Ayn Rand.

I've always found interest in philosophy, and a few months ago I stumbled upon her & decided to learn a bit more.

I was asked to give a speech, on anything, in order to recieve my high school diploma, but found myself stuck for a topic for almost the whole year. ::facepalm::

Eventually, I decided it would be interesting to center it around Objectivism, although my knowledge of it is very limited.

A learning experience and challenge for me, something to make it far more entertaining to write.

I've picked up a few of her books [Notably the fiction, silly me. This, although really interests me, isn't much help in what I'm writing.], Leonard Piekoff's "Objectivism: The Philosophy Of Ayn Rand", as well as found a few websites with information, including this one.

Though I do believe I could easily finish the outline with information from these, I've found myself short of the minimum ten cites.

But anyway, what I was wondering, was if anyone could direct me to somewhere I could find some information?

Or perhaps help me with information that would be vital to include when informing someone on Objectivism?

Maybe even specific threads or posts on this site? I was looking, but it seems quite a lot are more arguments or narrowed down than basic information.

[Would I have permission to cite the forum?]

More web-based cites would be appreciated, as I'm not sure when I'll next be able to get to the book store. That, and, it could be due in this, or next month.

One should also know:

As it's a speech on Objectivism, I figured it would be best to first give a good description on general philosophy, so the listener can better understand exactly what it is I'm talking about.

The second section, will be an introduction to Ayn Rand herself, & the third, of Objectivism.

Anything on any one of those topics is greatly appreciated!

Thank you. c:

Edited by Corrodie
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You should check out the Ayn Rand Institute's website. They've got a wide range of information there, from brief textual overviews of the philosophy through to multi-hour video lectures. There are a lot of interviews and speeches on www.arc-tv.com as well. Three good, short, introductory-level books you might want to check out are Objectivism in One Lesson, Capitalism Unbound: The Incontestable Moral Case for Individual Rights, and Loving Life. The first two are by Andrew Bernstein, the third by Craig Biddle. OOL is an integrated overview of the entire philosophy in about 125 pages; it's easier for a novice to grasp than Peikoff's OPAR. CU focuses on the history of capitalism and the Objectivist case for political freedom. LL focuses on the ethics.

You might also want to check out the website for the Objective Standard. It's a quarterly journal that applies Objectivist principles to current cultural and political affairs; many of the articles are free for non-subscribers and PDFs of individual articles can be purchased for less than five dollars each.

If you're going to be picking through Rand's essays directly, the following ones hit many of the central points: "Philosophy: Who Needs It" and "Faith and Force: The Destroyers of the Modern World" from Philosophy: Who Needs It; "The Objectivist Ethics" from The Virtue of Selfishness; "What is Capitalism?", "Man's Rights" and "The Nature of Government" from Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal.

How much time do you have for your presentation?

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As khaight said ARC's website is a gold mine abundant with information, it will take you a long time to get through it all. You should definitely browse there for a while. This is the homepage.

From there several of the essays he mentions can be found:

"Man's Rights", "Collectivized Rights" and "The Nature of Government" can be found here

"The Objectivist Ethics" here (which is actually at the ARI website). This is a must read.

Also I like "Introducing Objectivism" in which Ayn Rand "presents the essence of [her] philosophy while standing on one foot." It is found in the book The Voice of Reason.

Another great source about Ayn Rand herself is the documentary film (available on DVD ) "Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life". It is excellent. You can probably find it in a good DVD store or maybe even at the library.

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