Editing Objectivism (section)

== Impact ==
One Rand biographer says most people who read Rand's works for the first time do it in their "formative years".<ref>{{cite book |title=Ayn Rand and the World She Made |last=Heller |first=Anne C. |location=New York |publisher=Doubleday |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-385-51399-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/aynrandworldshem0000hell/page/ xii] |title-link=Ayn Rand and the World She Made }}</ref> Rand's former protégé [[Nathaniel Branden]] referred to Rand's "especially powerful appeal to the young",<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Benefits and Hazards of the Philosophy of Ayn Rand: A Personal Statement |first=Nathaniel |last=Branden |author-link=Nathaniel Branden |journal=[[Journal of Humanistic Psychology]] |date=Fall 1984 |volume=24 |issue=4 |url=http://mol.redbarn.org/objectivism/Writing/NathanielBranden/BenefitsAndHazards.html |pages=29–64 |doi=10.1177/0022167884244004 |s2cid=144772216 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717195811/http://mol.redbarn.org/objectivism/Writing/NathanielBranden/BenefitsAndHazards.html |archive-date=July 17, 2011  }}</ref> while {{interlanguage link|Onkar Ghate|eo||sq}} of the [[Ayn Rand Institute]] said Rand "appeals to the idealism of youth".<ref name="Ghate">{{cite web|last=Ghate|first=Onkar|date=February 2, 2008|title=The Appeal of Ayn Rand|url=http://capitalismmagazine.com/2008/02/the-appeal-of-ayn-rand/|access-date=April 22, 2014|website=Capitalism Magazine|archive-date=April 22, 2014|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140422194643/http://capitalismmagazine.com/2008/02/the-appeal-of-ayn-rand/}}</ref> This appeal has alarmed a number of critics of the philosophy.<ref>{{harvnb|Gladstein|1999|p=111}}</ref> Many of these young people later abandon their positive opinion of Rand and are often said to have "outgrown" her ideas.<ref name="Doherty544">{{cite book |title=Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement |last=Doherty |first=Brian |author-link=Brian Doherty (journalist) |location=New York |publisher=Public Affairs |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-58648-350-0 |page=544|title-link=Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement }}</ref> Endorsers of Rand's work recognize the phenomenon, but attribute it to the loss of youthful idealism and inability to resist [[social pressure]]s for intellectual [[conformity]].<ref name="Ghate"/><ref name="Doherty544"/> In contrast, historian [[Jennifer Burns (historian)|Jennifer Burns]], writing in ''[[Goddess of the Market]]'' (2009), writes some critics "dismiss Rand as a shallow thinker appealing only to adolescents", although she thinks the critics "miss her significance" as a "[[gateway drug]]" to [[right-wing politics]].<ref>{{harvnb|Burns|2009|p=4}}</ref>

Academic philosophers have generally dismissed Objectivism since Rand first presented it.<ref name="academic"/> Objectivism has been termed "fiercely anti-academic" because of Rand's criticism of contemporary intellectuals.<ref name="McLemee"/> [[David Sidorsky]], a professor of moral and political philosophy at Columbia University, writes that Rand's work is "outside the mainstream" and is more of an [[ideology]] than a comprehensive philosophy.<ref>{{cite news |last=Harvey |first=Benjamin |url=http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050515/NEWS/505150346/1014 |title=Ayn Rand at 100: An 'ism' struts its stuff |newspaper=[[Rutland Herald]] |date=May 15, 2005 |access-date=July 20, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226153815/http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20050515%2FNEWS%2F505150346%2F1014 |archive-date=December 26, 2007 }}</ref> British philosopher [[Ted Honderich]] notes that he deliberately excluded an article on Rand from ''[[The Oxford Companion to Philosophy]]'' (Rand is, however, mentioned in the article on popular philosophy by [[Anthony Quinton, Baron Quinton|Anthony Quinton]]).<ref>{{harvnb|Honderich|2005|pp=x, 740}}</ref> Rand is the subject of entries in the ''[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]'',<ref name="Badhwar 2010"/> ''The Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers'',<ref name=dmap>{{harvnb|Salmieri|Gotthelf|2005}}</ref> the ''[[Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]'',<ref>{{harvnb|Hicks|2005}}</ref> ''The Routledge Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Political Thinkers'',<ref>{{harvnb|Stevens|1998}}</ref> and ''The Penguin Dictionary of Philosophy''.<ref>Mautner, Thomas. ''The Penguin Dictionary of Philosophy''. Penguin Books, 2000, p. 469.</ref> Chandran Kukathas writes in an entry about Rand in the ''[[Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]'', "The influence of Rand's ideas was strongest among college students in the USA but attracted little attention from academic philosophers." Kukathas also writes that her defenses of capitalism and selfishness "kept her out of the intellectual mainstream".<ref name="Kukathas">{{harvnb|Kukathas|1998}}</ref>

During the 1990s, Rand's works were more likely to be encountered in American classrooms.<ref name="McLemee"/> The Ayn Rand Society, dedicated to fostering the scholarly study of Objectivism, is affiliated with the [[American Philosophical Association]]'s Eastern Division.<ref>{{harvnb|Sciabarra|1995|p=386n.7}}</ref> [[Aristotle]] scholar and Objectivist [[Allan Gotthelf]], late chairman of the society, and his colleagues argued for more academic study of Objectivism, considering the philosophy as a unique and intellectually interesting defense of [[classical liberalism]] that is worth debating.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Den Uyl |first=Douglas J. |author-link=Douglas Den Uyl |url=http://www.reasonpapers.com/pdf/23/rp_23_5.pdf |title=On Rand as Philosopher |journal=Reason Papers |volume=23 |pages=70–71 |year=1998 |access-date=August 8, 2011}}</ref> In 1999, a refereed ''[[Journal of Ayn Rand Studies]]'' began.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Jeff |last=Sharlet |title=Ayn Rand has finally caught the attention of scholars: New books and research projects involve philosophy, political theory, literary criticism, and feminism |journal=The Chronicle of Higher Education |volume=45 |issue=31 |date=April 9, 1999 |pages=17–18}}</ref> Programs and fellowships for the study of Objectivism have been supported at the University of Pittsburgh, [[University of Texas at Austin]] and [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]].<ref>{{harvnb|Gladstein|2009|pp=116–117}}; {{harvnb|Burns|2009|p=297}}</ref>