In 1954, Rothbard, along with several other attendees of Mises seminar, joined the circle of novelist Ayn Rand, the founder of Objectivism. He soon parted from her, writing, among other things, that her ideas were not as original as she proclaimed but similar to those of Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and Herbert Spencer.[5](pp109–114) In 1958, after the publication of her novel, Atlas Shrugged, Rothbard wrote a fan letter to Rand, calling her book an infinite treasure house, and not merely the greatest novel ever written, [but] one of the very greatest books ever written, fiction or nonfiction. He also wrote that you introduced me to the whole field of natural rights and natural law philosophy, prompting him to learn the glorious natural rights tradition.[5](pp121, 132–134)[41](pp145, 182)[42] He rejoined her circle for a few months, but soon broke with Rand over various differences, including his defense of anarchism. Later, Rothbard ridiculed Rands circle in his play Mozart Was a Red and essay, The Sociology of the Ayn Rand Cult.[41](p184)[43][44] Mozart Was a Red was Rothbards unpublished one-act play written as a farce.[45] Rothbard criticized Ayn Rands circle as a dogmatic personalty cult. The play parodied Rand (through the character Carson Sand) and her friends during a visit from Keith Hackley, a fan of Sands novel The Brow of Zeus (a play on Rands most famous novel, Atlas Shrugged).[46] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_Rothbard#Conflict_with_Ayn_Rand
Posted on: Sun, 15 Jun 2014 17:11:14 +0000
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