Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical

Ayn Rand: The Russian Radicalis a 1995 book byChris Matthew Sciabarratracing the intellectual roots of 20th-century Russian-American novelist and philosopherAyn Randand the philosophy she developed,Objectivism.

Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical

Cover
Author	Chris Matthew Sciabarra
Language	English
Subjects	Ayn Rand Objectivism
Publisher	Pennsylvania State University Press
Publication date	1995
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (HardcoverandPaperback)
Pages	477
ISBN	0-271-01440-7
OCLC	31133644
Preceded by	Marx, Hayek, and Utopia
Followed by	Total Freedom: Toward a Dialectical Libertarianism

The book is the second volume in a trilogy on dialectics and libertarianism.The Russian Radicalexplores Rand's college influences and intellectual roots—particularly the role of Rand's philosophy teacher,Nicholas Onufrievich Lossky—and argues that Rand'sphilosophical methodwasdialecticalin nature.

Background

Sciabarra was introduced to Rand's ideas while in high school. He began serious study of her in relation to dialectical thinking while working on his doctoral degree atNew York University.In 1984, he began a "systematic study of the dialectical aspects of Rand's philosophy," research that eventually led to the book.

Sciabarra had difficulty securing a publisher. As he described it ten years later, many academic presses were uninterested in publishing a book about Rand, while commercial presses were put off by the scholarly nature of the content. The book was eventually published by thePennsylvania State University Pressin August 1995. It is the second volume in a three-book series by Sciabarra called "Dialectics and Liberty", which he conceived while working on his dissertation. On account of publishing delays, its predecessor,Marx, Hayek, and Utopia,came out that same month.

Summary

Part One: The Process of Becoming

In his introduction, Sciabarra briefly describes the difficulties facing the Rand scholar, then provides a quick overview ofdialectics.Part One, "The Process of Becoming," examines Rand's intellectual development out of her Russian background. Chapter 1 describes the various currents in Russian philosophy during Rand's childhood and youth, including the views of theSlavophiles,ofVladimir Solovyov,of various literary figures of theSilver Age,and of RussianMarxists.Chapter 2 focuses onLossky'steachings, which "exhibited a Russian proclivity to synthesize opposites and resolve antagonisms. He rejected the dualistic obsession with dichotomies of rationalism or empiricism, idealism or materialism, knowledge or existence. These alternatives were, for him, partial and incomplete. Like other thinkers in Russian philosophy, however, Lossky achieved the ultimate integration through a mystical Absolute."According to Sciabarra, Rand would join Lossky in rejecting all of these dichotomies, but did not accept his appeal to religiousfaith.In Chapter 3 discusses Rand's education at the Stoiunin Gymnasium, at a high school in theCrimea,and atLeningrad State University,where she majored in history. Chapter 4 surveys Rand's maturation as a thinker after she emigrated to the United States in 1926, taking on such controversies as whether she was in a "Nietzscheanphase "when she wrote her first novel,We the Living.

Part Two: The Revolt against Dualism

In Part Two, "The Revolt against Dualism," Sciabarra presents Rand's mature philosophical system, emphasizing its dialectical aspects. Chapter 5 offers a treatment of theObjectivistmetaphysics,including Rand's emphatic opposition to the ideas ofImmanuel Kant.Sciabarra says that Lossky was "the chief Russian translator of Kant's works. He too had criticized Kant's contention that true being (things-in-themselves) transcendsconsciousnessand remains forever unknowable. "Chapter 6 surveys Objectivistepistemology,including Rand's views onperception,concepts,andfree will;Sciabarra ties Rand's emphasis on the role of contextuality in concept formation to the importance ofinternal relationsin dialectical thinking. In Chapter 7 Sciabarra takes on Rand's conception of the relations between reason andemotion,drawing attention to the psychological theories that she developed in collaboration withNathaniel Branden.Chapter 8 brings together Rand's theories about the nature and function of art, and her critiques, subsequently elaborated byLeonard Peikoff,ofrationalismandempiricism.Chapter 9 offers a lengthy examination of Rand'sethical theory,focusing on her reworking ofegoism,her critique ofaltruism,and the relationship between her conception of morality andAristotle'seudaimonism.Chapter 10 completes the survey with Rand'spolitical philosophy,which Sciabarra identifies as a form oflibertarianism.Sciabarra discusses the reciprocal relations between reason and freedom, and between faith and force; Rand's defense ofindividual rights;her distinctive "nondualistic conception of government, one that is neitheranarchisticnorstatistin its orientation ";and her defense of capitalism, which he contrasts withMarx'scritique.

Part Three: The Radical Rand

Part Three of Sciabarra's book discusses the application of Rand's ideas to political, social and historical issues. In Chapter 11, he diagrams Rand's analysis of power relations, in which Level 3 (economic and political functioning), Level 2 (linguistic and ideological functioning) and Level 1 (individual psycho-epistemological and ethical functioning) are all interrelated. He connects Rand's insight that "a leash is only a rope with a noose at both ends" (The Fountainhead) and her conception of "the sanction of the victim" (Atlas Shrugged) withHegel's analysis of the codependency between master and slave. Chapter 12, "The Predatory State," traces Rand's account of the dynamics of themixed economy,her analyses of racism andtribalism,and her rejection of both political conservatism and political liberalism. Chapter 13 is concerned with Rand'sphilosophy of history,which rejects Marxistmaterialismin favor of the view that "a society's history is a logical unfolding of the philosophical premises it has internalized,"He concludes with her vision of the rise of the New Intellectuals, who "conquer dualism and reunite the prodigal sons of capitalism: the intellectual and the businessman"and the ultimate emergence of an Objectivist society.

The second edition

In 2013, Pennsylvania State University Press published an expanded second edition of the book, which included a new preface and three new appendices. The first appendix is a reprint of a 1999 essay, "The Rand Transcript," first published inThe Journal of Ayn Rand Studies,which includes an examination of the actual transcript of Rand's coursework atPetrograd University.The second appendix is a reprint of a 2005Journal of Ayn Rand Studiesessay, "The Rand Transcript, Revisited." The third appendix answers a critique of Sciabarra's historical work by Shoshana Milgram. The second edition also includes an expanded discussion of Rand's radical critique ofU.S. foreign policy,"The Welfare-Warfare State," now included in Chapter 12 of the book. The book also includes a much expanded index and bibliography.

Reception

In a review forThe Freeman,David Brown wrote, "Much to my surprise the author ofAyn Rand: The Russian Radical,a comprehensive new study of Rand's thought and its genesis in Russian culture, has persuaded me that something called 'dialectics' is integral to Ayn Rand's philosophic approach and crucial to its success.Russian Radicalis a different kind of look at Ayn Rand, a full-fledged 'hermeneutic' on the contours, development, and interpretation of her thought. "According to a review by Lester H. Hunt inLiberty,"It is indicative of the interest of this book that I have so far engaged in an argument with it instead of saying how good I think it is on the whole. Among other things, it is an excellent synthesis of the Objectivist literature, both the works of Rand and those of her immediate successors. Sciabarra's mastery of enormous amounts of material is almost literally incredible. He also manages to break entirely new ground on several different issues."

In her biographyGoddess of the Market,Jennifer Burnswrote, "The first author to integrate Rand's life and thought was Chris Sciabarra […]. Though written without access to Rand's personal papers, Sciabarra's book employed original research and brought to light hitherto unknown information about Rand's educational background."

A mixed review byJames G. Lennoxsaid, "Its author has an encyclopedic familiarity with the writings of Ayn Rand and with virtually everyone who has advocated, commented on, or written critically about Objectivism.... He is the first of her commentators to explore the intellectual milieu of Rand's early, formative years, providing a deeper appreciation for her occasional scathing remarks about Russian culture as she had experienced it. All of this material is discussed, and exhaustively referenced, in the interests of providing a comprehensive analysis of Objectivism, not merely as a philosophical system, but as a philosophical and cultural movement." However, Lennox questioned whether Ayn Rand had ever taken a philosophy course from Lossky, let alone been influenced by his own philosophical method, and he recommended against construing Rand's method of challenging dichotomies or "false alternatives" as dialectical.

The Russian Radicalreceived a negative review fromJohn Ridpath,a director of theAyn Rand Institute.Ridpath claimed thatThe Russian Radicalwaspostmodernanddeconstructionistin its overall orientation, that it was one of the "worthless products" of contemporary academia, and that on the whole it was "preposterous in its thesis, destructive in its purpose, and tortuously numbing in its content."

References

• Sciabarra, Chris Matthew(1995).Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical.University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press.ISBN0-271-01440-7.OCLC31133644.

External links

• Sciabarra's webpage devoted to the book
• Publisher's page
• Ayn Rand: the Russian Radicalat the Objectivism Reference Center