RECOMMENDED READING
 
This appendix is intended to be an overview of the available Objectivist literature - cherry-picked for readers who are mental health care professionals. I present all those Objectivist books whose content I believe might be valuable in some way to persons who are involved in the mental health care sector. I explain briefly in what way each book, in my estimate, might be valuable. This list is not an exhaustive list of all the Objectivist books, pamphlets and recorded lectures which have valuable contents. For a complete presentation of all the available Objectivist literature, please consult The Ayn Rand Bookstore (www.aynrandbookstore.com ).
 
1) Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand
 
If you only intend to read one single piece of Objectivist literature in your life – then I would recommend that you read Ayn Rand´s magnum opus, Atlas Shrugged. This book is a novel – a best-selling classic of modern literature, in fact. The greatest virtue of Atlas Shrugged is that it does not tell the reader what the essential content of the Objectivist philosophy is – since Atlas Shrugged is a piece of fiction, it shows the reader the basic truths of philosophy. Ayn Rand was a perceptive observer as far as psychology was concerned. Atlas Shrugged therefore also contains much valuable knowledge about human psychology in addition to the “main attraction” – i.e. philosophic knowledge.
 
2) The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand
 
The second “must-read” of Objectivism is Ayn Rand´s other block-buster best-seller of a novel. The Fountainhead was published in 1943, in the midst of the Second World War. Appropriately enough, the theme of The Fountainhead is the conflict between individualism and collectivism. But with Ayn Rand´s ingenious twist – The Fountainhead presents the conflict between individualism and collectivism not in political terms, but in very fundamental psychological and philosophical terms. The essence of the plot in this novel is the struggle of an architect of heroic independence to succeed in a society rotted by a pervasive collectivism. The Fountainhead is extraordinary for the depth of its analysis of those two phenomena called individualism and collectivism. Like a mind surgeon, Ayn Rand cuts right to the conceptual core of these two phenomena. If you really wish to understand the psychologies of individualism and collectivism, respectively, you must read The Fountainhead.
 
3) The Virtue of Selfishness, by Ayn Rand
 
One of the main points which I have been trying to make in this book is the one that the morality of altruism is one of the most major sources of psychological problems, even of psychological anguish, in the modern world. Ayn Rand´s essay collection “The Virtue of Selfishness” (VOS) constitutes an important part of the antidote. VOS presents the essence of Ayn Rand´s case for the ethics of selfishness. The ethics of (rational) selfishness is of course the polar opposite of the ethics of altruism. Once the professional psychologist or psychiatrist has read VOS, he will be in a much better position to understand why so many people today suffer for no obvious reason. The pernicious influence of the ethics of altruism is often the unsuspected reason – unsuspected due to the widespread philosophical ignorance of our present age.
 
Especially the first six essays in this book are highly relevant to the science of psychology.
 
4) The Romantic Manifesto, by Ayn Rand
 
“The Romantic Manifesto” (RM) is an essay collection by Ayn Rand which contains the essence of her esthetics – i.e. theory of art. Since art serves a vital function as – “psychological fuel” – for men´s souls, the rational theory of esthetics carries with it important implications for the science of psychology.
 
Especially chapters 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 and 9 tie in with the science of psychology. Chapter 7, “The Esthetic Vacuum of Our Age”, presents a major part of the theoretical basis of my hypothesis as to what was the cause of my going insane roughly two years after being sent back to Sweden. All of Sweden at the time (i.e. the early 1970s, at which time the Swedish culture was a wasteland dominated by the nihilistic New Left) was just like the esthetic vacuum which Ayn Rand discusses in this essay.
 
5) Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, expanded second edition, by Ayn Rand, edited by Dr. Leonard Peikoff and Dr. Harry Binswanger
 
This book is Ayn Rand´s path breaking definitive exposition of the essentials of her theory of concepts. Since the “question of universals” (i.e. the question of concepts) has been the question which philosophers before Ayn Rand have had the most difficulty dealing with, this book will become an historical turning point in the history of philosophy and of mankind. This book gives the reader a general idea of the nature of Ayn Rand´s epistemology in general, in addition to introducing him to her theory of concepts. Epistemology is, of course, the science which studies man´s means of knowledge. Its relationship to psychology is this: epistemology deals with those aspects of man´s mind which both are conscious and under his direct control (i.e. his thinking) whereas psychology deals with the automatic, subconscious functions of man´s mind (such as his emotions). Mental health care professionals need to know the essence of how men form and use concepts since the thinking which a man does determines the content of his subconscious (e.g. his emotions) mind and also the nature of his “mental habits” (i.e. his psycho-epistemology).
 
6) Return of the Primitive, by Ayn Rand, edited by Peter Schwartz
 
This essay collection is my favorite nonfiction work by Ayn Rand. It is the nonfiction work of Ayn Rand which is most heavily oriented towards polemics (directed mostly at the New Left). It contains my very top favorite essay by Ayn Rand: “The Comprachicos”. This essay, which was written by Ms. Rand in 1970, is a philosophical exposé of the evil of progressive education. The “comprachicos” which the title refers to, are the modern educators – i.e. the moral monsters (such as the father of modern education in America, John Dewey) who deliberately work hard to destroy the minds of the children which unsuspecting parents leave in their care. I had an “A-ha” experience when I read “The Comprachicos” for the first time. After I had read this essay I understood why I had gone insane when I was a teenager. I became a Gwynplaine who finally woke up when he read this essay. I will be eternally grateful to Ayn Rand for doing me that kind service. Some of the other great essays in “The Return of the Primitive” are these: “The Age of Envy”, “The Cashing-In: The Student `Rebellion´”, “The New Left” and “Apollo and Dionysus”.
 
The most major value of “Return of the Primitive” is, in my opinion, the fact that it forcefully makes the point that the root of all the nontrivial concrete problems which plague us today – e.g. socialism, environmentalism, multiculturalism, drug abuse, poverty, war – is the philosophical poison which is being dosed out to the young all the time in the colleges and universities. The main destroyers of America today are not the politicians, nor the labor unions, nor the Wall Street bankers - but the egghead professors in the ivory towers of the universities.
 
7) For the New Intellectual, by Ayn Rand
 
This short book consists of one long essay, titled “For the New Intellectual” and a number of speeches given by several of the key fictional characters in Ayn Rand´s four published novels. The title essay is the main value in this book. The essay gives an overview of the history of the West, together with a running philosophical commentary. Ayn Rand´s theme, which she stresses, is that philosophy is the single factor which ultimately explains everything in the sweep of Western history. In order to fully understand the point of my book – that philosophy determines at least the general thrust of every individual man´s psychology – it would be useful for mental health care professionals to understand the ways in which philosophy, according to Ms. Rand, determines the sweep of history.
 
8) The Ominous Parallels, by Leonard Peikoff
 
“The Ominous Parallels” completes the job which Ayn Rand started in “Atlas Shrugged” and “For the New Intellectual”. It proves the point that philosophy is the force which determines the course of history. From which it follows that if we wish to save the world, and ourselves, we must above all fight the intellectual battle for the right philosophy (i.e. Objectivism). In “The Ominous Parallels” Dr. Peikoff uses the example of the Nazi takeover in Germany as the concrete example which he analyzes in order to demonstrate how an evil philosophy (in this case Kantianism) can lead to an evil politics (in this case Nazism). When Dr. Peikoff demonstrates that the origins of Auschwitz lay in the ivory towers of the University of Koenigsburg (where Immanuel Kant was a mild-mannered and unassuming philosophy professor towards the end of the 18th century) 200 years earlier, he proves, by dint of the principle called - “the hard case” – that philosophy determines the course of history in general.
 
Especially the second section of this book, the section titled “Practice” contains a valuable demonstration of the today widely unknown fact that highly abstract philosophical ideas can influence human behavior to such a major degree that the wrong kind of ideas can turn ordinary men into vicious killers and moral monsters. Especially chapter 13 succeeds at bringing home this lesson forcefully.
 
9) Capitalism: the Unknown Ideal, by Ayn Rand
 
This essay collection presents the essentials of Ayn Rand´s politics. Being focused on political theory, it does not have much direct bearing on the science of psychology. However – astute observations on psychology are scattered around everywhere in Ayn Rand´s essays. So it would not be a waste of time for mental health care professionals to read this book. Furthermore - CUI can shed light on the controversial issue of socialized medicine – which ought to be of interest to mental health care professionals.
 
10) Philosophy: Who Needs It, by Ayn Rand
 
As usual, each and every, one of the essays in this book has much value. I would say that seven of these essays most especially should a fortiori, be required reading for mental health care professionals.
 
The first of these essays “The Meta-Physical Versus the Man- Made” explicates one of the key elements of mental health – namely the calm acceptance of the metaphysically given facts of the metaphysically given facts.
 
“The Missing Link” and “Selfishness Without a Self” are two essays which delineate, in fundamental terms, the psychology of the so-called “selfish lone wolf”. Two examples of lone wolf types are criminals and dictators/power-lusters. The widespread belief such utter scum are “selfish” is a Big Lie - one which has been (unfortunately, with a great deal of success) perpetrated by the numerous advocates of altruism.
 
The essay “Kant versus Sullivan” contains the very best brief damnation of modern philosophy which I have ever read in a work of nonfiction. In addition this essay makes a point which has a great deal of relevancy to the science of psychology (namely the namely the role of words in human cognition). The only rival which “Kant versus Sullivan” has is “The Comprachicos” which essay deals with, in part, the same subject matter. But the latter is not equally brief as the former.
 
“Causality versus Duty” deals with a philosophical issue, i.e. duty ethics, which ethics is a major source of the psychological problems and the unhappiness which afflict so many people in the modern world. This is the reason that I heartily recommend this essay to all mental health care professionals.
 
“An Untitled Letter” exposes the radical evil of the very phenomenon which gave rise to the schizophrenia which came to afflict me when I was 18 and had been living in egalitarian Sweden for just two years. The name which Ayn Rand gave this filthy aberration was “hatred of the good for being the good”. This phrase is the more eloquent, and philosophically precise, term for the vile character trait which is usually called “envy”. The only other two essays by Ayn Rand which rival “An Untitled Letter”, as far as exposing the radical evil of envy is concerned, are “The Comprachicos” and “The Age of Envy”. But those two essays are not equally brief.
 
“Egalitarianism and Inflation” – an essay Ayn Rand wrote in 1974, at height of the inflation of the Nixon years – is an expose of a psycho - epistemological phenomenon which all mental health care professionals would do well to understand – namely concrete - boundedness.
 
“The Stimulus and the Response” is an essay, written by Ayn Rand in early 1972 and, perhaps, late 1971 which explicates the the nature that school of psychology - which goes by the name of behaviorism. – is still worse than determinism. For – determinists do not even notice that they themselves have free will. But behaviorists do not even notice that they themselves are conscious! Therefore, I wonder – only semi-facetiously - whether the behaviorists should not, the entire lot of them, be committed to institutions! For - there must be something seriously wrong with any man who admits into the realm of the possible the notion that he himself is unconscious. Thinking that you yourself might be unconscious is just like seriously entertaining the possibility that you might be a banana tree! Well – Ayn Rand deals with behaviorism in an different manner than I do – she shows what is wrong with the basic philosophy of behaviorism. Instead of just ridiculing it – as I just did.
 
11) The Voice of Reason, edited by Dr. Leonard Peikoff
 
The 31 essays in “The Voice of Reason” are divided into three sections, plus an epilogue: Philosophy, Culture and Politics. I believe that especially eight of the essays here, will be of special interest for mental health care professionals.
 
“Who Is the Final Authority in Ethics?” is a brief but irrefutable answer to subjectivism.
 
“The Psychology of Psychologizing” exposes a widespread (in the modern world) racket which involves the misuse of misuse.
 
“Altruism as Appeasement” explores one of the devastating psychological consequences which often follows from the acceptance of the morality of altruism.
 
“The Sanction of the Victims” explains how the moral code of altruism disarms men in the face of the enemies of freedom in, largely, psychological terms. This essay provides a major part of the answer to the question of why the world is losing what is left of its freedom.
 
“Through Your Most Grievous Fault” sheds more light on the topic which Ayn Rand covered in two of the essays which I presented briefly above – namely: “The Comprachicos” and “An Untitled Letter”. This short essay, on the tragic death of Marilyn Monroe, sheds light on my own close brush with death-by- my-own-hand at the age of 15 – and, also on the psychosis which I came down with 2 1/2 years later.
 
“The American School: Why Johnny Can´t Think” – is an essay by Dr. Leonard Peikoff, which explains the demise of education in America, and which also in passing explains the phenomenon of “concrete-boundedness”, which is a topic closely related to psychology.
 
The two essays – “How Not to Fight Socialized Medicine” and “Medicine: the Death of a Profession” – are two impassioned and philosophically astute calls to battle against socialized medicine. Mental health care professionals who value their livelihood, and their patients´ well-being would do well to read these two outspoken essays.
 
12) The Objectivist Newsletter, The Objectivist and The Ayn Rand Letter, published by Ayn Rand (up until 1968 together with Nathaniel Branden)
 
Ayn Rand published three Objectivist newsletters during the 1960s and the early 1970s. The entire contents of the back issues of these newsletters have been collected in three bound volumes. These volumes contain many dozens of essays by Ayn Rand and others, which are not available in Ayn Rand´s mass-market paperback essay collections. Especially the numerous essays by Nathaniel Branden, who used to be a close associate of Ayn Rand and whose profession was that of a practicing psychologist, shed valuable light on psychological topics (Nathaniel Branden and Ayn Rand had a falling out in 1968 and Nathaniel Branden is nowadays an enemy of Objectivism).
 
13) Objectivism: the Philosophy of Ayn Rand, by Dr. Leonard Peikoff
 
Dr. Leonard Peikoff was a close friend and associate of Ayn Rand for 30 years. Ayn Rand chose Dr. Peikoff to be her intellectual and legal heir before she died, in 1982. In 1985 Dr. Peikoff played a leading role in the establishment of the Ayn Rand Institute, which today functions as the “official” center for the spread of Objectivism. Dr. Leonard Peikoff is the widely acknowledged leading authority on the philosophy of Objectivism. Dr. Peikoff holds a PhD. In philosophy and taught philosophy for many years at Hunter College, Long Island University and New York University.
 
O:PAR is the first and definitive presentation of the entire philosophy of Objectivism in one single treatise. Anyone who wishes to really understand Objectivism must read this work. O:PAR was not written until many years after Ayn Rand´s death – so she did not herself “vet” this presentation of her philosophy. O:PAR is Objectivism – as Ayn Rand´s best student understood it at the time that he wrote it (i.e. during the late 1980s and the early 1990s).
 
14) The Ayn Rand Lexicon, edited by Harry Binswanger
 
This “encyclopedia of Objectivism” was written with Ayn Rand´s approval by her longtime associate, Dr. Harry Binswanger, who holds a doctorate in philosophy from Columbia University. ARL consists of a multitude of verbatim quotes from Ayn Rand on over 400 different topics in philosophy and other intellectual disciplines. Dr. Binswanger has chosen the 400 most important topics on which Ayn Rand had something to say, and he has arranged these topics and the quotes which pertain to them alphabetically. The result is an invaluable reference work. The reader can find out what Ayn Rand´s views were virtually every single important topic in philosophy and related fields of knowledge (namely: “Psychology”, “Economics” and “General”). Of course, mental health care professionals should be especially interested in the 59 entries on various subjects in the “Psychology” section.
 
15) The Virtuous Egoist: Ayn Rand´s Normative Ethics, by Dr. Tara Smith
 
Many modern intellectuals take it for granted that the specific moral code which is altruism is co-extensive with morality in general – i.e. is co-extensive with morality per se. These moderns imagine that the very concept of a – “morality of self-interest” – itself would be an oxymoron.
 
However, said book by Dr. Tara Smith debunks this outlandish myth. “The Virtuous Egoist” fleshes out the meaning of Ayn Rand´s morality of self-interest. Dr. Smith ties Ayn Rand´s abstract theory intimately to perceptual reality. Dr. Smith´s book goes a long way in showing us clearly the fact that Egoism is, in fact, the only true code of morality in the strict sense of that term – for, a genuine moral code is a code of values, the pursuit of which enables the moral agent to live. Whereas altruism is a pseudo-moral code which only serves to bring the agent closer to death - to the extent that the agent neglects to protect himself against the moral code of altruism by means of existing as a cheap hypocrite. A true morality, in the strict sense of the term morality is, and can only be, a code the consistent practice of which promotes the agent´s own life. In other words, it is the non-egoistic code of morality which is the oxymoron!
 
16) Loving Life, by Craig Biddle
 
This brief summary of the Objectivist ethics concretizes the moral teachings of Ayn Rand in a way which is easily graspable by the layman. This book presents the Objectivist ethics in “common sense language”. I highly recommend this book for any newbie to who had difficulty, as I once did, in “wrapping his mind around” the idea that self-interest, rather than self-sacrifice, is the essence of a genuine code of morality.
 
17) Consciousness As Identification, by Dr. Harry Binswanger
 
This is a series of recorded lectures on the basic nature of the human mind. Since psychologists and psychiatrists devote their work to the study of the health of the human mind, these lectures constitute an invaluable intellectual foundation for said work.
 
18) Psycho-Epistemology, by Dr. Harry Binswanger
 
A series of recorded lectures on the role of the subconscious in thinking, and on the operations by which one programs one´s subconscious.
 
19) Psycho-Epistemilogy II, by Dr. Harry Binswanger
 
A series of lectures on applied psycho-epistemology – i.e. “How to operate your mental software”.
 
20) Free Will, by Dr. Harry Binswanger
 
A thorough presentation and validation of the Objectivist theory of free will.
 

THE END