12 May 2026
Resolved - Who are your favorite political philosophers?
The Ayn Rand question finally won! (Cue both groans and cheers.) Although this question isn’t just about Rand, but about political philosophers/philosophy in general.
I must make a confession—I have never actually read any Ayn Rand, nor much in the way of political philosophy. My exposure to Rand has been quotations and some interviews (in which the interviewer seemed determined to misunderstand what Rand was saying). I had to read some Plato and (of course) some Marx in college, which resulted mainly in turning me off philosophy as a reading subject.
Hopefully many of you are better read than I am on the subject. What do you think? Was Ayn Rand right? Or do you prefer the views of some other political philosopher? How have your political philosophies changed over the years?
What do you think about this issue?
Tried her novels a few times and gave up. Not to my taste. Of course she was right about the evils and soul destroying properties of collectivism but that doesn't necessarily translate into great literature.
Just finished Mark Helprin's latest, Elegy in Blue. Liked it a lot. But not as much as the Oceans and the Stars. I think his work resonates with me because he writes from the prospective of an aging male with amazing insight and wisdom. But he did that, too, in A Soldier of the Great War, when he was much younger. Helprin, like Rand is a champion of the individual and of the ancient verities of honor and duty. I highly recommend his work.
Political philosophers? One need look no further than our own Founding Fathers. Jefferson particularly. The rhetoric of our Declaration of Independence will resonate through human history. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." What more need be said? Apparently, Franklin edited Jefferson's prose to add "self-evident' instead of "sacred and undeniable." The same Franklin who when asked what government the Constitution had wrought, replied "A republic, if you can keep it." Prescient words, with our sniveling scoundrels in the disloyal opposition baying like wolves about minority districts, packing the court and creating fictional new states of robotic democrat demons. A party that worships tribal fealty and collectivism is not an American political party in any sense.
I’m not much for philosophy. I find it difficult for the most part. But I will quote someone I like, Mark Twain. “The truth has no defense against a fool determined to believe a lie”