Jennifer Burns: evaluation

Transcript context

…What do you think of the Chris Sciabarra argument that Rand drew a lot of her basic ideas from earlier Russian philosophy? I think there’s probably a good deal to it. I don’t know that I would lay it all. He really emphasizes — I think it’s the Russian Silver Age. To my mind, the clearest through line for her is Friedrich Nietzsche, who would’ve been a presence in Russian intellectual circles but is not necessarily Russian. The Fountainhead, in its original conception, had a headnote from Nietzsche in each of its four sections. She pulled those right before publication because she thought it was too much. I would say, this idea — she loved the phrase from Nietzsche, “The noble soul has reverence for itself.” She loved all those ideas, and they’ve just resonated with her very powerfully. Even in her unpublished work, she really takes some a bit to the edge of madness. They’re more tempered in The Fountainhead. I’m like, “Yes, she’s a Russian novelist.” Look at those books. They’re huge. They’re panoramic. She’s very convinced of her role. She’s very convinced of the power of intelligentsia. There was a complete conviction that a salon of committed intellectuals could cause profound social and intellectual change, which, of course, she had seen happen. I definitely think she’s part of that tradition, but also, she’s not just Russian. She’s Russian Jewish, so I think there’s a counterpoint to that in her concern with the powers of the state, and her focus on rationality, and her celebration of other cultures, high European cultures beyond Russia. She, in the end, would say, “Russia, it’s just a mystical state.” It’s interesting because, in recent years, when we’ve seen the glories, the fantasies of Mother Russia, or the role of the Russian Orthodox Church, the mythic importance of Kyiv, or whatever it may be, I think back to Ayn Rand grumbling, “It’s just a mystical state, and they’re all obsessed with mysticism. ” I’m like, “Well.” She was right. Right?…

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