Atlas Shrugged

Primary Creator
Author Ayn Rand
Contributor(s)
Properties
Era1951 - 2000
Pages1074 pages
StyleRomanticist
Name of WorkAtlas Shrugged
Production Date1957
Production Location


Current Location


Media Typesbook
General Notes

Plot-theme is "the men of the mind go on strike against the looters of the world"

Description

The story of the conflict between the "men of the mind" vs. those who want to seize the production of those men (and women). Magnum Opus of the author which incorporates substantial portions of her developing philosophy of Objectivism, as illustrated in the characters via their words and actions.

Theme

The crucial value of the human mind.

Emotional Sum or Sense-of-life

Life can be good; Men are competent to live happily; The world can be a shining, happy place to exist, if one is free. But novel also presents a dark, dystopian world to help make real that positive view.

Context Information

hardcover and softcover published by Random House, and audiobook in various media; continuously in-print (as of 2010).

Tags

Strike

Discussion: Atlas Shrugged

....the theme of the novel: the role of the mind in man's life. Yet that is actually a very abstract theme, based on an immense range of concretes. Less abstract themes that would be more easily grasped would include: Politics: Production requires freedom because production requires reason (vs. muscle or government force) and people must be free to think. Ethics: One's own happiness is the proper aim of one's life (Selfishness is moral)-The sanction of the victim-Love is a response to values-Self-sacrifice is immoral. Epistemology: Reason, not faith, leads to knowledge-Philosophy is inescapable Metaphysics: Reality can't be wished away.