İşadamı İçin Felsefe

by Ayn Rand, Taylan Kızılöz (Translator)

Üretimle felsefenin birbirleriyle uyuşmaz kavramlar oldukları kasıtlı savı kimi çevreler tarafından o kadar sıklıkla kullanıldı ki, neredeyse yapan edenler bile buna inanacak hale geldiler. Toplumun sömürücü, kar peşinde koşan, ahlaksız suçlamalarına maruz kalan işadamları bu süreç içerisinde yalnız bırakıldılar. Refah yaratmaktan, istihdam sağlamaktan, kâr etmekten gurur duyup haykırmak yerine, sessizliğe mahkûm edildiler. Sahip oldukları her şeyi paylaşmaları gerektiğine inandırıldılar. İyilik, fedakârlık, hayırseverlik adına hareket ettiklerini iddia eden kalabalıklar tarafından ahlâksızlıkla suçlandılar. Bir yandan üretmeye devam ederken, diğer yandan da kendilerine yapılan tüm haksızlıklara, karalamalara boyun eğdiler. Neden? Çünkü onları, onların yaptıklarını ve ahlâklarını tanımlayan bir düşünce sistemi yoktu. İşadamlarının bir felsefesi yoktu. Bu kitap işadamları için bir kapı aralıyor. Üretmek artık bir utanç olmamalı aksine yapmanın ve etmenin ahlâki tatminini, üretenler gururla sahiplenmeliler.

"Fikirler, dünya üzerindeki en müthiş ve en kritik tatbiki güçtür." -Ayn Rand-

Genres: Philosophy, Business, Economics, Nonfiction, Politics

223 pages, Paperback

First published January 21, 1999

About the author

Polemical novels, such as The Fountainhead (1943), of primarily known Russian-American writer Ayn Rand, originally Alisa Rosenbaum, espouse the doctrines of objectivism and political libertarianism.

Fiction of this better author and philosopher developed a system that she named. Educated, she moved to the United States in 1926. After two early initially duds and two Broadway plays, Rand achieved fame. In 1957, she published Atlas Shrugged , her best-selling work.

Rand advocated reason and rejected faith and religion. She supported rational and ethical egoism as opposed to altruism. She condemned the immoral initiation of force and supported laissez-faire capitalism, which she defined as the system, based on recognizing individual rights, including private property. Often associated with the modern movement in the United States, Rand opposed and viewed anarchism. In art, she promoted romantic realism. She sharply criticized most philosophers and their traditions with few exceptions.

Books of Rand sold more than 37 million copies. From literary critics, her fiction received mixed reviews with more negative reviews for her later work. Afterward, she turned to nonfiction to promote her philosophy, published her own periodicals, and released several collections of essays until her death in 1982.

After her death, her ideas interested academics, but philosophers generally ignored or rejected her and argued that her approach and work lack methodological rigor. She influenced some right conservatives. The movement circulates her ideas to the public and in academic settings.

Reviews

[Steve Hadfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a better book, and I agree with its laissez fare capitalism, but I disagree with the anti-faith stand. I agree that its hard to add a morality into capitalism, but there isn't anything wrong with having a personal moral guiding principle. One does not do what is right because true capitalism demands it. People are moral because something above mankind guides them. Still, much of the logic is still sound - capitalism is the better system. Socialism (mixed economy) always has hypocrisy as a guiding light, always inherently unfair in how it deals with others because it is people that guide it. Where capitalism is guided by the market. But I will still maintain that there are times that raw capitalism can descend into its own form of ternary. Meaning - there is a place for Government, just not a huge place. The problem will always be that Governments want to "run" things, which is a much worse evil.

[Ozkan Aksit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Digerkamlik (alturizm) karsiti. Tavsiye ediyorum…eger diktatorlukten kacan her 100 gocmen icin bizi dolardan korkmaya ve silaha saygi duymaya zorlayan bir entellektueli degis tokus edebilseydik dunya daha ozgur ve adaletli bir yer olurdu:)

[Ilyn Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

[I bought it two years ago, but then, I started to write Reason Reigns.]

Superb!

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Be not fooled: read this in terms of essentials to realize that the "Why" applies to [fill in the blank]--and this is the more fundamental point implicitly running throughout the selections from various authors.

In principle, human beings qua human must have philosophy, in that we require guidance for our minds to survive and thrive in the real world out there; in application, this book of essays merely emphasizes the context of business--and thus tackles and grapples with all things in the more social spheres of philosophy's five main branches (though primarily ethics and morality, politics and politicoeconomics).

Whether one agrees with any particular author or not, one almost assuredly comes away agreeing that this approach is exactly what the applied world of business--and any relational context--needs: to check and chew the premises underlying human action; to find the melodies of thought for better harmony in practice; to dissolve dichotomy of mind and body so sundry in the modern era.

For the curious unfamiliar with the writers, the philosophical framework arises from its historical base in Aristotle, broadly within the modern Neo-Aristotelian traditions, specifically within the systematic thought of Objectivism (hence, the use of Rand as the focal point author). Within the usual designations, the journal and popular literature may reflect, recapitulate, and refer to this thinking as: ethical or rational egoism, enlightened or rational self-interest, rational virtue ethics, et al. In short, the base theme is that no action of business should occur without thoughtful, logical, long-term, deliberately explicit thought within the context of consequences, goals, motivation, etc.

My only gripe is that I think the edition ought to have reprinted Rand's important presentation "Philosophy: Who Needs It," since it is the deepest fountainhead of the entire work: it is about the need of philosophy as such, not the need of any particular philosophy--and it is the necessary prerequisite to understanding its crucial need for a conceptual creature, for human beings as such, whether acting alone, or interdependently, in the world.

In closing, I would strongly suggest complimenting this work with the recently released book by Jaana Woisceshyn, *How to be Profitable and Moral: A Rational Egoist Approach to Business*; and underpinning this thought more thoroughly with either (but preferably both) Tara Smith's *Viable Values: A Study of Life as the Root and Reward of Morality* and *Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist*.

[Muzaffer Bayraktar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Özellikle Edwin Locke, Jaana Woiceshyni Richard Salsman ve Leonard Peikoff'un yazdığı makaleler oldukça verimliydi. Ayn Rand'ın daha önce de okuduğum iki makalalesi dışında kitapta makalesi bulunmuyor. Kitabın yakın zamanda yazılmış olması olayları objektivizm felsefesi ışığında değerlendirmeye oldukça katkı sağlıyor. Ekonomi, iş dünyası,adalet, ve hükümet düzenlemeriyle ilgili bilgiler sade bir dil kullanılarak kafayı zonklatmadan anlamayı sağlıyor. Kitapta tek sevmediğim makaleler Harry Binswanger'ın yazdıkları. Konuyu çok dağıtmış, felsefi ve epistemolojik dayanakları daha zayıf argümanlar ortaya koymuş. Çok akıcı bir haldeyken kitaba neredeyse demir attırmış.

Ayn Rand'ı, kitaplarını, felsefesini benimseyen birisiyseniz okumalısınız. İş adamı olmak veya iş dünyasında yer almak zorunda değilsiniz. Ama ekonomilerin, refah düzeylerinin bu kadar bozuk olmasının nedenlerini çok net bir şekilde görebiliyorsunuz.

[Evan East · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book that offered me a perspective on objectivism as applied to entrepreneurship that I hadn't considered.

[Boni Aditya · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good collection of articles discussing various critical aspects of business and how business men need to defend themselves against irrationality of altruism. But, almost all of them are derivations from Ayn Rand's objectivism, individualism and her other philosophies. A good read but there isn't much that you would learn from this, if you are already exposed to the previous works of Ayn Rand, all of the topics discussed are natural conclusions if you stick to the basic axioms and principles defined by Ayn Rand. For example the articles on Anti Trust laws or the articles about Buy American only movements, all of which are derived from Any Rand's theorems. But the best part of the book happens when she talks about Dr. Knight and his philosophy of perfect competition. That is the core of this book.


Here is a list of books that were mentioned in this work:

Insider trading and the stock market

Communism fascism and democracy

Fountainhead

Paul sameulsons economics

Wealth of nations

Atlas shrugged

[Chad Manske · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 2011, this collection of essays, including two rare pieces from Ayn Rand herself, arm business executives with the objectivist philosophies necessary to ward off ideological attacks on their companies and business interests. As government and the media blame big business for economic crises, capitalism is still the original American dream we’ve somehow gotten away from. “Essential and practical, Why Businessmen Need Philosophy reveals the importance of maintaining philosophical principles in the corporate environment at all levels of business from daily operations to executive decisions, and provides the tactical and tactful rational thinking.”

[Marcus Goncalves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, great book, but this expanded edition is a bit of a mixed bag, but great read I f you can get past the first few chapters.

[Snuffles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, but repetitive if read other rand books.

[J. Nathan Higdon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Who finds this stuff she wrote helpful? I was curious to see if she was as terrible as I thought, and I believe so.

[Seemy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was shockingly boring and robotic - hence perhaps the warning that I should have noticed 'essays' but damn this was boring

Felt like work by someone a student expert of the field but nowhere near real authority that does this week in week out

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[Ash Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Jeff Yoak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of these are essays that I'd read before, but I didn't realize that until I started this that this is the first time through for me in as a book and it includes essays new to me. That was a treat, but I quickly found that this stuff has gotten hard to listen to. It has been almost 20 years since I started studying Objectivist philosophy and this amounts to reviewing the basics I've heard in many, many forms. I think I would more enjoy scholarly treatment of fine points or something, but this came off as shrill. Some of the new formulations were nice, but all-in-all, I can only take this in small doses.

[Michael Palkowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although consistent with Ayn Rand's philosophical premises, it focuses too much on the political minutia especially on specific constitutional issues or localized anxieties. It also understands a lot of problems in really simplistic dichotomous equations and the majority of the book is simplistic evaluations of the plight of producers. Although I am sympathetic to a lot of the arguments expressed here, I don't like the exploitative feel of the collection. For example the book is authored by Ayn Rand and yet nearly all of the contributions are from Leonard Peikoff and the issues discussed are not always appropriate for the tailored individual and are not always about philosophy.

[Bill Churchill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well argued, systemically tight, but tautological.

But this book has a religious feel. It strongly implies that, ‘If only we lived according to…(insert the religious idea of your choice), the world be a better place and justice would prevail.’

We need less politics and religion and more comprehensive reasoning, flexibility and imagination.

I like a quote of Donald Rumsfeld’s when it comes to politics and religion, “…but there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don't know we don't know.”

I am always leery of certainty—especially of the religious flavor of certainty that pervades this book.

[Ravi Warrier · Rating 2 out of 5]

After the two fictions, Ayn Rand should have stopped. For those who didn't understand her philosophy from Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, there is nothing you can do. So, writing more books on Objectivism is just like skinning a dead cat (or whatever the phrase).
This book takes her philosophy over the top. The philosophy, which is great, is not practical in today's world. It is utopic, but not practical. Here's why - http://wp.me/p2F8dg-bl (my business blog).
If you have read the two fictions, save your time and admiration for something else.

[Franklin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy Ayn Rand's books. I also generally enjoy reading about philosophy and Rand's philosophy. However, I don't agree with all of Rand's philosophy or all of the premises in general.

This is an interesting read. The examples are dated, but will still make you think. If you are a younger reader (i.e. under 40) you may not even know some of the examples presented.

Overall, this book will add to the knowledge that you have about philosophy and may make you question the political developments of the past 50 years and how they have changed the face of capitalism in the US and the world.

[Tony Canas]

I loved Atlas Shrugged so I decided to read a little more about Ayn Rand's philosophy. This collection of essays inspired by Rand are very interesting. Some are very good while others are just extreme and downright wrong. The essays on Anti-Trust Laws are questionable while the one on Healthcare is simply wrong. I still recommend reading it, just keep a critical mind and don't buy everything at face value.

[David Glad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only one of the essays in this book was by Ayn Rand. (One of the sources of complaints about the book.) Was my first introduction to her designated successor Leonard Peikoff.

Decent introduction on why businessmen should embrace philosophy and stop being on the defensive and start talking of the good they perform in the world.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book with relevant topics. Interesting to hear about the Antitrust rules and the impacts to business innovation.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent companion to Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. It thoroughly explains the key philosophic points in Atlas Shrugged with concrete and modern examples.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really timely piece in our world of Occupy Wall Street. Not a light read, but worth reading.