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What can be done to prevent the hijacking of Ayn Rand's ideas?

Ayn Rand has become more and more popular over the last decade, and her ideas have begun to spread into academia. There is more literature being written about Objectivism now then ever before. But there is one thing that worries me. There is a great risk that as Ayn Rand becomes "trendy," second handers will try to use her ideas, manipulate them, to gain respect, and to further their nefarious ends. This is exactly what happened to Friedrich Nietzsche -- when his ideas became popular, his philosophy was hijacked by anarchists, nazis, and postmodernists, completely destroying his reputation for a century. How do we prevent this from happening to Ayn Rand?

Adam , 06.09.2013, 14:59
Idea status: completed

Comments

legendre007, 08.09.2013, 09:18
I think that as Ayn Rand grows more popular, it's inevitable that more people will cite Rand in an out-of-context fashion to rationalize their own hobby-horses. I think all we can do is point out what is or is not an accurate interpretation. We can say, "They cite Ayn Rand for [this], but what Rand actually says is [this]."
NathanSmith, 28.01.2014, 14:36
I look forward to this becoming a big problem. :)

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