The Society of Anthem

By Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand—Life and Times• Alissa Rosenbaum was born in St. Petersburg,

Russia, on February 2, 1905.

• She decided at the age of nine to make fiction writing her career.

• When she was twenty years old, she came to America and eventually moved to Los Angeles. When she came to America, she decided to change her name to Ayn Rand.

• On her second day in Hollywood, the famous director Cecil B DeMille noticed her standing at the gate of his studio, offered her a ride to the set of his silent movie The King of Kings, and gave her a job.

Ayn Rand—Life and Times

• The next week, she met an actor, Frank O’Connor, whom she married in 1929. They were happily married until his death fifty years later.

• In 1936, her first novel, WE THE LIVING was published. • In 1937, she devoted a few weeks to write her novella,

ANTHEM, which was only published in England at first. It didn’t make it to the United States until 1954.

• Her next novel, THE FOUNTAINHEAD came out in 1943. It became a best seller within two years, based only on word of mouth.

• Her greatest achievement and last work of fiction was

ATLAS SHRUGGED, published in 1957.

Ayn Rand—Life and Times

• In Atlas Shrugged, Ayn developed a philosophic principle called objectivism, her philosophy for living on earth.

• She died on March 6, 1982 at her home in New York City.

Concepts addressed in Concepts addressed in ANTHEMANTHEM

OBJECTIVISM

• REASON is man's only means of knowledge. The facts of reality are knowable through a process of objective reasoning that begins with SENSORY perception and follows the laws of LOGIC. Objectivism rejects SUBJECTIVISM, the belief that knowledge is a matter of OPINION; SKEPTICISM, the belief that knowledge is IMPOSSIBLE and no one can be certain of anything; and every form of MYSTICISM, the belief that knowledge is a product of REVELATIONS or insights into a SUPERNATURAL dimension.

OBJECTIVISM• Rational SELF-INTEREST is the objective

ETHICAL code. Each man should seek his own HAPPINESS through a productive life in which his own independent, RATIONAL judgement is his only guide to action. No man should sacrifice himself to OTHERS nor others to HIMSELF. The primary virtues of the Objectivist ethics are rationality, independence, INTEGRITY, honesty, justice, PRODUCTIVENESS, trade, and PRIDE. Objectivism rejects ALTRUISM, the doctrine that the highest GOOD is service to OTHERS--whether ``others'' denotes a STATE, a DEITY, one's FAMILY, ``SOCIETY,'' or the POOR and DISADVANTAGED.

OBJECTIVISM• LAISSEZ-FAIRE capitalism is the objective social

system.

As a RATIONAL being, an individual possesses inalienable rights to LIFE, LIBERTY, and PROPERTY. As these rights can only be violated by physical FORCE, government is instituted to hold a MONOPOLY on the legal use of physical force and to use it only in RETALIATION against those who initiate its use.

Objectivism supports a FREE market with no government INTERVENTION. Objectivism opposes WELFARE programs, CENSORSHIP of any kind, and both MILITARY and "national service" DRAFTS. Objectivism supports a strong separation between CHURCH and state and between SCHOOL and state.

COLLECTIVISM “The SUBJUGATION (to bring under complete

control; master; conquer) of the INDIVIDUAL to a GROUP, whether to a RACE, CLASS , or STATE does not matter. Collectivism holds that man must be chained to a COLLECTIVE action and COLLECTIVE thought for the sake of what is called the “COMMON GOOD.”

ALTRUISM

“The basic principle of altruism is that man has NO right to exist for his own sake, that service to OTHERS is the only justification of his existence, and that SELF-SACRIFICE is his highest MORAL duty, virtue, and value…which means: the SELF as a standard of EVIL, the SELFLESS as a standard of GOOD.”

EGOISM

“Each man’s primary MORAL obligation is to achieve his own WELFARE, WELL-BEING, or SELF-INTEREST. He should be SELFISH in the sense of being the beneficiary of his own moral actions.”

Chapter 1Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Rules of Society1.It is forbidden to think or write anything that

nobody else thinks2. Men may not write unless the Council of

Vocations gives permission.3. No men may be alone, ever.4. The penalty for stealing is to serve ten

years in the Palace of Corrective Detention.5. All men wear an iron bracelet on their left

wrist with their name on it.6. Anyone who is too tall (six feet) is full of

evil.

Chapter 1: Rules of Society7. No one can speak of the Unmentionable Times

or they are punished with three years in the Palace of Corrective Detention.

8. All men are one and there is no will save the will of all men together.

9. No one is allowed to fight.10. All infants live in the Home of Infants for five

years.11. At the age of five, all children go to the Home

of the Students until they are fifteen. 12. Children are not allowed to be more superior

than other children in any way.

Chapter 1: Rules of Society13. The Transgression of Preference is wanting to choose

one’s own destiny.14. At the age of forty, people retire to the Home of the

Useless; if they live to 45, they become an Ancient One.15. It is not proper to smile without reason.16. Only men in the Home of the Artists can draw pictures.17. Men are not allowed to think of the Uncharted Forest.18. Everything which is not permitted by law is forbidden.19. Men cannot touch the things of the Unmentionable

Times; the penalty is being lashed to death.20. No man may walk through the city when they have no

mission to be there.21. Only the men in the Home of the Clerks can write or read

manuscripts, which take them a year to copy.

Chapter 1: Places and People

• The Council of Vocations—assigns professions to 15 year olds

• Palace of Corrective Detention—prison• Home of the Street Sweepers—Equality’s home• Palace of the World Council—where the Council

rules from• The Great Rebirth—the beginning of time as this

society knows it• Old Ones—people over forty• Home of the Useless—where the Old and Ancient

Ones live• Unmentionable Times—forbidden time before the

Great Rebirth

Chapter 1: Places and People

• The Great Truth—All men are one and there is no will save the will of all men together

• The Home of the Infants—where all children live for the first five years of their life

• The Home of the Students—where all children study for ten years

• Teachers—those in authority in the Home of the Students

• Councils—the voice of all justice and the voice of all men

• Council of Scholars—know all things; no questions forbidden

• The Science of Things—the knowledge of the earth

Chapter 1: Places and People

• Home of the Scholars—where Equality wants to go• Life Mandates—what work men do for all of their

lives• The Social Meeting—City Council members speak

and they all sing hymns• Social Recreation—watching a play about how

wonderful work is• City Cesspool—dump• Home of the Artists—permitted to draw pictures• City Theatre—where the Social Recreation takes

place• Unchartered Forest—men are not allowed to think of

it

Chapter 1: Places and People

• Home of the Clerks—only ones allowed to write manuscripts

Chapter 2: Rules of Society22. Men and women are forbidden to take notice of each

other.23. You cannot speak to men of other trades. 24. You cannot give names that distinguish you from other

men.25. Men may not think of women, save at the time of mating. 26. Women never see their children and children never know

their parents. 27. It is not proper to sing without reason. 28. It is forbidden not to be happy. 29. It is not good to feel too much joy or be glad that your

body lives. 30. No man may speak or hear the Unmentionable Word.

The penalty for this is death.

Chapter 2: Places and People

• Home of the Peasants—where the women work the soil

• Time of Mating—once in the spring when men over 20 and women over 18 mate

• City Palace of Mating—where the breeding takes place

• Council of Eugenics—those who choose who mates with whom

• Council of the Home—people in charge of each vocational home

• Evil Ones—those who helped destroy the world and lost the world war

• Unspeakable Word—one forbidden word

Chapter 2: Places and People

• Saint of the Pyre—the transgressor who was burned for speaking the Unmentionable Word

Chapter 3: Rules of Society31. We know all things which exist and therefore

the things which are not known do not exist.

32. No single one can possess greater wisdom than the many Scholars who are elected by all men for their wisdom.

Chapter 3: Places and People

• none

Chapter 4: Rules of Societynone

Chapter 4: Places and People

• none

Chapter 5: Rules of Society33. You cannot be re-assigned to another

vocation.

34. No men may know what they look like.

Chapter 5: Places and People

• World Council of Scholars: all of the world’s most famous scholars meet once a year.

Chapter 6: Rules of Society35. There are no guards in the Palace of

Corrective Detention.

Chapter 6: Places and People

• Stone Room—place of torture in the Palace of Corrective Detention

• Judges—the men who question prisoners

Chapter 7: Rules of Society37. Only scholars can walk in upon the Council of

the Scholars.

38. Without the Plans of the World Council, the sun cannot rise.

39. Men have no cause to exist save in toiling for other men.

40. You will die if you go into the Uncharted Forest.

Chapter 7: Places and People

• Department of the Candles—the place that they produce all of the candles

Chapter 8: Rules of Societynone

Chapter 8: Places and People

• none

Chapter 9: Rules of Societynone

Chapter 9: Places and People

• none

Chapter 10: Rules of Society

none