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Menoetius revolted: a critical reading of ayn rand’s atlas shrugged

Author

Listed:
  • Rafael Galvão de Almeida

    (UFMG)

  • Leonardo Gomes de Deus

    (UFMG)

Abstract

This article analyses Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, from the point of view of the critique of political economy. Using immanent analysis, we critically analyze the objectivist philosophy of the novel and its superficial resemblances with Marxism, especially its idea of a utopic society in the John Galt’s Gulch. While Rand presents the individual producer as a realized and rational human being, we contrast him with the idea that the capitalist is merely the personification of capital to show how Galt’s Gulch fails as a utopia. Such analysis allows us to situate Atlas Shrugged in the liberal project, arguing that liberalism still has an aristocratic bias which facilitate the 2008’s economic crisis.

Suggested Citation

  • Rafael Galvão de Almeida & Leonardo Gomes de Deus, 2023. "Menoetius revolted: a critical reading of ayn rand’s atlas shrugged," Textos para Discussão Cedeplar-UFMG 654, Cedeplar, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais.
    • Handle: RePEc:cdp:texdis:td654
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    File URL: https://www.cedeplar.ufmg.br/pesquisas/td/TD%20654.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Enrico Santarelli & Enzo Pesciarelli, 1990. "The Emergence of a Vision: The Development of Schumpeter's Theory of Entrepreneurship," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 22(4), pages 677-696, Winter.
    2. William Darity Jr. & M'Balou Camara & Nancy MacLean, 2022. "Setting the Record Straight on the Libertarian South African Economist W. H. Hutt and James M. Buchanan," Working Papers Series inetwp184, Institute for New Economic Thinking.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Ayn Rand; liberalism; critique of political economy; aristocracy; economics and literature.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B24 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Socialist; Marxist; Scraffian
    • B29 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Other
    • Z11 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economics of the Arts and Literature

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