Why Businessmen Need Philosophy: The Capitalist's Guide to the Ideas Behind Ayn Rand's AtlasShrugged [Paperback]

Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" was a moral revolution, illustrating "a philosophy for living on earth." If human life is important, then we should glorify those who make life possible--the Thomas Edisons, Henry Fords and other creators, the businessmen who CREATE wealth (rather than seize it).

Yet today most intellectuals attack the very men and women who keep us alive.

This book explains WHY. It explodes the false ideas that underlie today's worship of omnipotent government: altruism, and the Marxist dogma that the source of wealth is men's muscles rather than their minds. And it gives businessmen an invaluable self-defense kit!

The contents:

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Preface by Debi Ghate and Richard E. Ralston
Acknowledgments
Introduction by John Allison

Part 1: Do Businessmen Really Need Philosophy?

"Why Businessmen Need Philosophy," by Leonard Peikoff
"Philosophy: The Ultimate CEO," by Harry Binswanger
"Wealth is the product of man's capacity to think," by Ayn Rand (from Atlas Shrugged)
"The Businessmen's Crucial Role: Material Men of the Mind," by Debi Ghate
"The Money-Making Personality," by Ayn Rand

Part 2: Why is Business "Public Enemy #1"?

"America's Persecuted Minority," by Ayn Rand (From Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal)
"The Philosophical Origins of Antitrust," by John Ridpath
"The Morality of Moneylending: A Short History," by Yaron Brook
"Why Conservatives Can't Stop the Growth of the State," by Yaron Brook and Alex Epstein
"The Philosophy of Privation: Environmentalism Unveiled," by Peter Schwartz (from Return of the Primitive)
"Energy Privation: The Environmentalist Campaign Against Energy," by Keith Lockitch

Part 3: Doesn't Business Require Compromise?

"The Anatomy of Compromise," by Ayn Rand (From The Objectivist Newsletter)
"Why Should One Act on Principle?" by Leonard Peikoff

Part 4: A Defense for Businessmen

"Atlas Shrugged: America's Second Declaration of Independence," by Onkar Ghate
"An Answer for Businessmen," by Ayn Rand
"The Dollar and The Gun," by Harry Binswanger
"You're guilty of a great sin, Mr. Rearden," by Ayn Rand (from Atlas Shrugged)
"The Sanction of the Victims," by Ayn Rand (from The Voice of Reason)
"I work for nothing but my own profit," by Ayn Rand (from Atlas Shrugged)

Afterword: "Modern Management," by Ayn Rand (from The Ayn Rand Column)

Part 5: Additional Resources

About Ayn Rand
About Atlas Shrugged
Ayn Rand's Philosophy: Objectivism
The Morality of Capitalism
Ayn Rand's Fiction
Ayn Rand's Nonfiction

Part 6: About the Contributors

About the Contributors
About the Ayn Rand Institute

Its intended audience might find much of value in this book, if they can get past the first few chapters, which are of somewhat mixed quality (as is John Allison's introduction). And for some reason, the editors left out some of the best essays from the original edition (such as Binswanger's "'Buy American' is Un-American") and retained some of the weaker ones (such as Leonard Peikoff's, which is not his best work, though it is the title essay). To give credit where credit is due, however, the essays by Yaron Brook on the history and morality of money-lending and by Onkar Ghate on Atlas Shrugged as "America's Second Declaration of Independence" are excellent, as are those by Harry Binswanger, Keith Lockitch, and of course Ayn Rand. John Ridpath's and Peter Schwartz's contributions are also good.

this book is the perfect companion to Atlas Shrugged! so compatible, one should not consider himself a student of Atlas Shrugged without reading this.