The standard of value of the Objectivist ethics—the standard by which one
judges what is good or evil—is man’s life , or: that which is required for
man’s survival qua man.
Since reason is man’s basic means of survival, that which is proper to the life
of a rational being is the good; that which negates, opposes or destroys it is
the evil.
Copyright © 1986 by Harry Binswanger.
Introduction copyright © 1986 by Leonard Peikoff.
All rights reserved. For information address New American Library.
Acknowledgments
Excerpts from The Ominous Parallels , by Leonard Peikoff.
Copyright © 1982 by Leonard Peikoff. Reprinted with permission of
Stein and Day Publishers. Excerpts from The Romantic Manifesto ,
by Ayn Rand. Copyright © 1971, by The Objectivist .
Reprinted with permission of Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. Excerpts from
Atlas Shrugged , copyright © 1957 by Ayn Rand, The
Fountainhead , copyright © 1943 by Ayn Rand, and For the
New Intellectual , copyright © 1961 by Ayn Rand. Reprinted by
permission of the Estate of Ayn Rand. Excerpts from Philosophy: Who
Needs It , by Ayn Rand. Copyright © 1982 by
Leonard Peikoff, Executor, Estate of Ayn Rand. Reprinted by
permission of the Estate of Ayn Rand. Excerpts from “The Philosophy
of Objectivism” lecture series. Copyright © 1976 by
Leonard Peikoff. Reprinted by permission. Excerpts from Alvin
Toffler’s interview with Ayn Rand, which first appeared in
Playboy magazine. Copyright © 1964. Reprinted by permission
of Alvin Toffler. All rights reserved including the right of reproduction
in whole or in part in any form. Used by arrangement with Plume, a member of
Penguin Group (USA), Inc.