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WHO IS JOHN GALT? 1957–1968
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In the letter it also became clear that Rand thought of Atlas Shrugged
as a kind of revealed truth. She argued that for her or Nathan to assume
a stance of “uncertainty” would be tantamount to pretending “that Atlas
Shrugged [had] not been written.” She also seemed to equate disagreement
with ignorance, and understanding with agreement. If her ideas
weren’t presented as deriving from “rational certainty,” it would permit
the audience to make “assertions of disagreement, while evading and
ignoring everything” she and Branden said. Rand was unable to conceive
of a person’s understanding her ideas, yet disagreeing with them.
She told Hospers that the classes were offered “only to those who have
understood enough of Atlas Shrugged to agree with its essentials,” as if
the two were synonymous. Rand also explicitly rejected any pedagogical
role, telling Hospers that NBI’s purposes were very different from those
of a university. They had no interest in the development of their students’
minds: “we are not and do not regard ourselves as teachers. . . . We
address ourselves to adults and leave up to them the full responsibility
for learning something from the course.” 48 Despite her emphasis
on reason and independent judgment, Rand had a very narrow idea of
how this reason should be used. She conceived her ideal student as an
empty vessel who used his or her rationality only to verify the validity
of Objectivism. At the same time, she excoriated those who did so as
weaklings or cowards.
Although Objectivism claimed to be an intellectual culture, it was
decidedly not one devoted to freewheeling inquiry, but rather a community
in which a certain catechism had to be learned for advancement.
A fl yer for the Basic Principles of Objectivism class openly alerted
potential students to the bias inherent in NBI. “The lectures are not
given to convert antagonists,” the fl yer noted, but were “addressed exclusively”
to those who had read Rand’s major works, “are in agreement
with the essentials of the philosophy presented in these books, and seek
an amplifi cation and further study of this philosophy.” This tendency
was most prominent in New York, where Rand’s opinions and actions
had an immediate effect on the atmosphere at NBI. Her interest in her
students seemed directly proportional to their agreement with her ideas.
An NBI student remembered, “When she learned that I was a physicist,
she made a comment about how physics has been corrupted by bad
philosophy. She was apparently expecting my agreement. But I couldn’t
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