Debi Ghate and Richard E. Ralston: Why businessmen need philosophy: the capitalist’s guide to the ideas behind Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged

The essays in this book are meant to serve as an introduction to those ideas of Ayn Rand, which are of particular relevance to business people. Rand was known as a spirited defender of the laissez-faire free enterprise system. It is less commonly known that Rand was also deeply committed to the centrality of the enterprise of philosophy for both public and private life. The essays in this book try to bridge the gap between these two aspects of Rand’s thought. The results of the review of the book are mostly positive. The review attempts to separate the different themes in the book such as the importance of philosophy in general, the importance of philosophy for business, the philosophical defense of the free enterprise system and then to evaluate the evidence and arguments presented by the essayists for each claim. The growing field of business ethics testifies to the importance of the discipline of philosophy for practical life. After decades of hearing rumors of the ‘death of philosophy’, suddenly philosophy has a vibrant role to play in the eminently practical endeavor of business. The same paradigm has been reenacted in medical and environmental ethics. It is significant that the important role which philosophy is now occupying in various practical endeavors did not emerge from within the self-reflection of modern philosophical reason. Whether we turn to Marxism, existentialism, analytical philosophy, deconstruction, phenomenology, or pragmatism, the result has been a diminished role for philosophy. Nor is this state of affairs accidental. In each of the above philosophy, an abstract enterprise is conceived with little relation to even one which stands in direct opposition to the realm of the practical. If we take business ethics as an example, this field developed out of aspects of practical life such as the environmental and consumer protection M. Garitta (&) Farmingville, NY, USA e-mail: [email protected] 123 Poiesis Prax (2012) 8:197–201 DOI 10.1007/s10202-012-0106-5