The Atlas Society
Encyclopedia
The Atlas Society — of which The Objectivist Center (TOC) is a part — is a research and advocacy organization promoting "a culture that affirms the core Objectivist values of reason, individualism, freedom, and achievement." It is part of the Objectivist movement
that split off from the Ayn Rand Institute
(ARI) in 1990 due to disagreements over whether the philosophy of Ayn Rand
's Objectivism
was a "closed system" or an "open system." The organization's name is a reference to Rand's work, Atlas Shrugged
.
Founder David Kelley
espouses Objectivism as an open system, hence the organization has advocated what he terms "a policy of tolerant, open debate and free discussion" at its forums. It has also been willing to cooperate with certain libertarians
on joint projects, and to carry works by individuals such as Nathaniel Branden
, with whom Ayn Rand broke in the late 1960s.
The Atlas Society, claims to be "the most respected independent source of information about Objectivism"; its mission is to offer a "perspective that transcends conventional 'left-right' cultural and political thinking."
TAS began as the Institute of Objectivist Studies (IOS) in 1990, and was renamed The Objectivist Center in 1999. That same year, the Center founded "The Atlas Society" as a "special part of our Web site[that was] meant to appeal to those who read Ayn Rand novels." On June 5, 2006, the organization announced that they "have decided to use The Atlas Society as our official name, which will help us promote our ideas to Rand readers as well as to the general public, while reserving The Objectivist Center name for our more academic and scholarly activities."
The Society continues to host conferences, including an annual summer seminar; conducts scholarly research and student training; issues pamphlets, recordings, op-eds, and monographs; provides speakers to the media and to campus groups; and publishes a magazine of politics and culture, The New Individualist (previously titled Navigator, published 1997-2004).
Objectivist movement
The Objectivist movement is a movement to study and advance the philosophy of Objectivism. It was founded by novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand. The movement began informally in the 1950s and consisted of students who were brought together by their mutual interest in Rand’s novel, The Fountainhead...
that split off from the Ayn Rand Institute
Ayn Rand Institute
The Ayn Rand Institute: The Center for the Advancement of Objectivism is a 501 nonprofit think tank in Irvine, California that promotes Ayn Rand's philosophy, called Objectivism. It was established in 1985, three years after Rand's death, by Leonard Peikoff, Rand's legal heir...
(ARI) in 1990 due to disagreements over whether the philosophy of Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism....
's Objectivism
Objectivism (Ayn Rand)
Objectivism is a philosophy created by the Russian-American philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand . Objectivism holds that reality exists independent of consciousness, that human beings have direct contact with reality through sense perception, that one can attain objective knowledge from perception...
was a "closed system" or an "open system." The organization's name is a reference to Rand's work, Atlas Shrugged
Atlas Shrugged
Atlas Shrugged is a novel by Ayn Rand, first published in 1957 in the United States. Rand's fourth and last novel, it was also her longest, and the one she considered to be her magnum opus in the realm of fiction writing...
.
Founder David Kelley
David Kelley
David Kelley is an American philosopher, author, and advocate of Objectivism. He is founder and senior fellow of The Atlas Society. He lives in Washington, D.C..-Education and career:...
espouses Objectivism as an open system, hence the organization has advocated what he terms "a policy of tolerant, open debate and free discussion" at its forums. It has also been willing to cooperate with certain libertarians
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
on joint projects, and to carry works by individuals such as Nathaniel Branden
Nathaniel Branden
Nathaniel Branden, né Nathan Blumenthal , is a psychotherapist and writer best known today for his work in the psychology of self-esteem from a humanistic perspective...
, with whom Ayn Rand broke in the late 1960s.
The Atlas Society, claims to be "the most respected independent source of information about Objectivism"; its mission is to offer a "perspective that transcends conventional 'left-right' cultural and political thinking."
TAS began as the Institute of Objectivist Studies (IOS) in 1990, and was renamed The Objectivist Center in 1999. That same year, the Center founded "The Atlas Society" as a "special part of our Web site
The Society continues to host conferences, including an annual summer seminar; conducts scholarly research and student training; issues pamphlets, recordings, op-eds, and monographs; provides speakers to the media and to campus groups; and publishes a magazine of politics and culture, The New Individualist (previously titled Navigator, published 1997-2004).
External links
- The Atlas Society
- TAS vs. ARI: A Question of Objectivity and Independence (the Atlas Society's argument against the Ayn Rand Institute)