In this wide-ranging collection of articles, essays, and speeches, George H. Smith analyzes atheism and its relevance to society today. The featured essay in this volume provides a full analysis of Ayn Rand''s unique contribution to atheism, explaining how her objectivist metaphysics and laissez-faire economic principles rested on a purely godless worldview. Several chapters address the evolution of atheism; arguments in favor of religious toleration; the efforts of early Church fathers to discredit Roman polytheism and how these arguments can be used with equal force against later Christian descriptions of God; and a survey of the contributions to freethought made by the deists of the 18th and 19th centuries. With incisive logic and considerable wit, Smith ties atheism to reason and argues that reason itself can be a moral virtue. In one penetrating chapter, Smith salutes three Christian theorists who he believes embody the spirit of reason: Thomas Aquinas, Desiderius Erasmus, and John Locke. This is followed by a philosophical drubbing of his "least favorite Christians" - St. Paul, St. Augustine, and John Calvin. In subsequent chapters, Smith examines religion and education; addresses the 20th century fundamentalist revival; offers suggestions on how to debate atheism with religious believers; critiques "new religions," including pop therapy, est, and tranactional analysis; and provides a comprehensive bibliographic essay on the literature of freethought.

"Does a god exist? This question has undoubtedly been asked, in one form or another, since man has had the ability to communicate. . . Thousands of volumes have been written on the subject of a god, and the vast majority have answered the questions with a resounding 'Yes!' " "You are about to read a minority viewpoint." With this intriguing introduction, George H. Smith sets out to demolish what he considers the most widespread and destructive of all the myths devised by man - the concept of a supreme being. With painstaking scholarship and rigorous arguments, Mr. Smith examines, dissects, and refutes the myriad "proofs" offered by theists - the defenses of sophisticated, professional theologians, as well as the average religious layman. He explores the historical and psychological havoc wrought by religion in general - and concludes that religious belief cannot have any place in the life of modern, rational man. "It is not my purpose to convert people to atheism . . . (but to) demonstrate that the belief in God is irrational to the point of absurdity. If a person wishes to continue believing in a god, that is his prerogative, but he can no longer excuse his belief in the name of reason and moral necessity."

Written by a defender of reason and personal liberty, this book reviews the historical roots of nonbelief and defends reason as the most reliable method humans have for establishing truth and conducting one's life.

Ayn Rand’s philosophy has once again found an important part on the American political stage. With the rise of the Tea Party movement, her political and economic philosophy has infused the American public discourse with a new Libertarian vitality. Ironically, many of her new followers identify themselves as committed Christians, a prospect that Rand herself would have rejected. This book critically reviews Rand’s secular-atheist philosophy of religion, which includes her theory of altruism, collectivism, and statism, and asks the questions: How did Ayn Rand become conservative Christians’ favorite atheist?; Can Christianity, or any other prophetic religion, be reconciled with her philosophy of greed, selfishness, and capitalism?; Can one be both a Christian and a dedicated follower of Ayn Rand?; Can one appropriate her political and economic philosophy while rejecting her radical atheism and anti-religious stance?

An essential guide to the life and works of Ayn Rand, the book chronicles and summarizes her writings, presents information about her national and global impact—and the response to it—and provides the most comprehensive bibliography published to date. Written by an independent scholar who is not part of either the Ayn Rand establishment or the Ayn Rand detractor camp, The New Ayn Rand Companion builds on the foundation of the original. New materials about Rand's posthumous publications, the latest biographical information, and summaries of books and articles about Rand, published since her death, have been added. Burgeoning interest in Rand, the publication of her Letters and Journals and Russian Writings, and the growing body of critical works necessitates an expanded and revised edition of the Ayn Rand Companion. This new edition is the only general reference work that covers the complete Rand corpus, including both those works published during her life and those published to date.

Bloemlezing van bijdragen vanuit feministisch perspectief over het werk van de Amerikaanse filosofe en schrijfster Ayn Rand. Bevat de volgende bijdragen: Ayn Rand: the reluctant feminist / Barbara Branden; Ayn Rand and feminism: an unlikely alliance / Mimi Reisel Gladstein; On 'Atlas shrugged' / Judith Wilt; Ayn Rand: a traitor to her own sex / Susan Brownmiller; Psyching out Ayn Rand / Barbara Grizzuti Harrison; Reflections on Ayn Rand / Camille Paglia; Ayn Rand and feminist synthesis: rereading 'We the living' / Valérie Loiret-Prunet; Skyscrapers, supermodels, and strange attractors: Ayn Rand, Naomi Wolf, and the third wave aesthos / Barry Vacker; Looking through a paradigm darkly / Wendy McElroy; The romances of Ayn Rand / Judith Wilt; Who is Dagny Taggart?: the epic hero/ine in disguise / Karen Michalson; Was Ayn Rand a feminist? / Nathaniel Branden; Ayn Rand and the concept of feminism: a reclamation / Joan Kennedy Taylor; Ayn Rand's philosophy of individualism: a feminist psychologist's perspective / Sharon Presley; Ayn Rand: the women who would not be president / Susan Love Brown; Rereading Rand on gender in the light of Paglia / Robert Sheaffer; Sex and gender through an egoist lens: masculinity and femininity in the philosophy of Ayn Rand / Diana Mertz Brickell; The female hero: a Randian-feminist synthesis / Thomas Gramstad; Fluff and granite: rereading Rand's camp feminist aesthetics / Melissa Jane Hardie.

Author of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand (1905–1982) is one of the most widely read philosophers of the twentieth century. Yet, despite the sale of over thirty million copies of her works, there have been few serious scholarly examinations of her thought. Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical provides a comprehensive analysis of the intellectual roots and philosophy of this controversial thinker. It has been nearly twenty years since the original publication of Chris Sciabarra’s Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical. Those years have witnessed an explosive increase in Rand sightings across the social landscape: in books on philosophy, politics, and culture; in film and literature; and in contemporary American politics, from the rise of the Tea Party to recent presidential campaigns. During this time Sciabarra continued to work toward the reclamation of the dialectical method in the service of a radical libertarian politics, culminating in his book Total Freedom: Toward a Dialectical Libertarianism (Penn State, 2000). In this new edition of Ayn Rand, Chris Sciabarra adds two chapters that present in-depth analysis of the most complete transcripts to date documenting Rand’s education at Petrograd State University. A new preface places the book in the context of Sciabarra’s own research and the recent expansion of interest in Rand’s philosophy. Finally, this edition includes a postscript that answers a recent critic of Sciabarra’s historical work on Rand. Shoshana Milgram, Rand’s biographer, has tried to cast doubt on Rand’s own recollections of having studied with the famous Russian philosopher N. O. Lossky. Sciabarra shows that Milgram’s analysis fails to cast doubt on Rand’s recollections—or on Sciabarra’s historical thesis.