Objectivist movement

The Objectivist movement was a movement to popularize Ayn Rand's Objectivist philosophy that began with the founding of the Nathaniel Branden Institute in 1960. With that event, Objectivism became an organized movement, with its own events, speakers, and publications. This movement has gone through a number of "excommunications" and "schisms" since that time, with various individuals being publicly denounced for their views.

Inside the Objectivist movement, there has been considerable dissension and criticism about Ayn Rand's work and her rightful legacy. Leonard Peikoff, the executor of Ayn Rand's estate and her (self-proclaimed) "intellectual heir" promotes Objectivism as a "closed system" that consists merely of what Rand herself wrote and said, and considers any disagreement with anything Rand said as a betrayal of Objectivism. The Ayn Rand Institute (ARI) is aligned with Peikoff's view of Objectivism.

Another school of thought was started by David Kelley, an academic once affiliated with Vassar College who later worked as an independent writer. In his essay "A Question of Sanction," and later in his pamphlet, "Truth and Toleration," he argued for greater open-mindedness in working with other groups. Kelley also argued that Objectivism is an "open system" that can evolve beyond Rand's own writings and beliefs, and can even correct her mistakes.

Peikoff informed Kelley that he could no longer lecture under the auspices of the ARI or any of its affiliates. Peikoff claimed that Kelley had violated the basic tenets of Objectivism. Kelley responded by founding the Institute for Objectivist Studies, later renamed The Objectivist Center (TOC). Nathaniel Branden, Ayn Rand's former lover and associate, who had earlier been "kicked out" of Objectivism by Rand herself, later began lecturing at events sponsored by TOC.

Peikoff and ARI hold that Kelley is not even an Objectivist. As Rand held that the key to her original insights was her honesty (rather than any kind of superior intelligence), Peikoff and ARI hold that any conclusion that is inconsistent with Objectivism should not be sanctioned under Objectivist auspices. In addition, Peikoff and ARI cite Ayn Rand's opposition to libertarianism in the 1960s as a reason to condemn Kelley's work with libertarians and (perhaps more importantly) his explicit categorization of the Objectivist politics as "libertarian." Kelley and TOC counter this charge by saying that Peikoff and ARI are taking Rand's opposition out of context: what Rand objected to was the ethical subjectivism associated with certain early libertarians. As the libertarian movement grew, it came to encompass many thinkers who were not ethical subjectivists, including utilitarians, deontologists, and Aristotelians very similar to Rand.

As Rand's executor, Peikoff handles the copyrights to all of Rand's works (with the exception of Anthem, which has passed into the public domain). He can thus control the translation of Rand's works into other languages. He has the power of editing and releasing Rand's unpublished works, and has written forewords for all the current printings of her books. Kelley, on the other hand, due to his willingness to work with groups that aren't explicitly Objectivist, has gained a more mainstream audience.