Is artistic taste entirely subjective? Is “to each his own” the only principle we can use when judging works of art?

Absolutely not, said Ayn Rand—one of the most popular novelists of the 20th century, whose works continue to sell hundreds of thousands of copies each year. Underlying Rand’s success was an objective philosophy of art, which she later cataloged in her treatise on esthetics, The Romantic Manifesto. Integrating observations in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, psychology, and more, she showed why common conceptions of art as the province of whim are wrong and offered the world a vision of what art can and ought to be.

In this reading group, Angelica Werth will lead discussions of each essay in Rand’s The Romantic Manifesto, comparing and contrasting Rand’s views and works with those of other influential novelists, artists, philosophers, and scientists. Join the discussion for a journey into the creative world of one of the 20th century’s most influential artists.

Meet Your Instructor

Angelica Werth

Angelica is a fellow and programs manager at Objective Standard Institute, an associate editor and regular contributor to The Objective Standard, and an Ayn Rand Fellow at the Foundation for Economic Education. Her roles at OSI include developing courses, teaching writing and editing, mentoring junior fellows, and managing the Junior Fellowship and Intellectual Accelerator Programs. A voracious reader and lover of fiction, Angelica writes and makes videos about philosophic ideas as they manifest in fiction. Read her articles on her Substack, Fictionosophy, and watch her videos on her YouTube channel.