The Atlas Society

The Atlas Society (TAS), formerly known as the Institute for Objectivist Studies and then as The Objectivist Center, is an American Objectivist research and advocacy organization that "promotes open Objectivism: the philosophy of reason, individualism, achievement, and freedom originated by Ayn Rand".[1] It is part of the Objectivist movement that split off from the Ayn Rand Institute in 1990 due to disagreements over whether Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism was a "closed system" or an "open system".[2]

History

TAS was founded by philosopher David Kelley as the Institute for Objectivist Studies in 1990. It was renamed The Objectivist Center in 1999. That same year, the Center founded "The Atlas Society" as an interest group targeted at people who read Rand's novels but were not familiar with other Objectivist literature. On June 5, 2006, the organization announced its decision "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".[3]

The Society continues to host conferences, including an annual Atlas Summit, conduct scholarly research and student training, issue pamphlets, recordings, op-eds, and monographs and provide speakers to the media and campus groups.

Views

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 Rand broke in the late 1960s.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "What We Stand For". The Atlas Society. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  2. ↑ Burns, Jennifer (2009). Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 281. ISBN 978-0-19-532487-7. OCLC 313665028.
  3. ↑ "The Atlas Society and The Objectivist Center Names". The Atlas Society. June 5, 2006. Archived from the original on March 12, 2007. Retrieved June 16, 2006.
  4. ↑
    • Kelley, David (2000). The Contested Legacy of Ayn Rand: Truth and Toleration in Objectivism. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers. ISBN 0-7658-0060-8.

Coordinates: 38°54′10″N 77°02′21″W / 38.9029°N 77.0392°W / 38.9029; -77.0392

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