The Atlas Society (TAS) is an American

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of ...

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

that promotes the philosophy of

Ayn Rand Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum;, . Most sources transliterate her given name as either ''Alisa'' or ''Alissa''. , 1905 – March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (), was a Russian-born American writer and p ...

. It is part of the

Objectivist movement The Objectivist movement is a movement of individuals who seek to study and advance Objectivism, the philosophy expounded by novelist-philosopher Ayn Rand. The movement began informally in the 1950s and consisted of students who were brought tog ...

that split off from the

Ayn Rand Institute The Ayn Rand Institute: The Center for the Advancement of Objectivism, commonly known as the Ayn Rand Institute (ARI), is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit think tank in Santa Ana, California, that promotes Objectivism, the philosophy developed by Ayn Rand ...

in 1990 due to disagreements over whether Objectivism was a "closed system" or an "open system".

David Kelley David Christopher Kelley (born June 23, 1949) is an American philosopher. He is a professed Objectivist, though his position that Objectivism can be revised and influenced by other schools of thought has prompted disagreements with other Objec ...

is the founder of TAS, and Jennifer Grossman is its current CEO.

History

In the late 1980s, philosopher

was affiliated with the

(ARI), which was founded 1985 to advocate Rand's philosophy of

Objectivism Objectivism is a philosophical system developed by Russian-American writer and philosopher Ayn Rand. She described it as "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievemen ...

. After disputes with ARI founder

Leonard Peikoff Leonard Sylvan Peikoff (; born October 15, 1933) is a Canadian-American philosopher. He is an Objectivist and was a close associate of Ayn Rand, who designated him heir to her estate. He is a former professor of philosophy and host of a nation ...

and board chairman Peter Schwartz, ARI cut ties with Kelley and warned others in the Objectivist movement not to associate with him. In response, Kelley and former ARI advisor George Walsh co-founded the Institute for Objectivist Studies in 1990; it was later renamed The Atlas Society. TAS positions itself as a more open and tolerant alternative to the "orthodox" ARI. ARI and TAS are the most prominent American organizations advocating for Objectivism, although TAS is smaller and not as well funded as its rival. The organization's activities have included creating written and recorded material about Objectivism, support for student groups, and media appearances. Each summer TAS organizes an annual conference called the "Summer Seminar", and the group formerly published a magazine called ''The New Individualist''. The Objectivist Oral History Project conducts recorded interviews with persons involved in the history of the Objectivist movement. In 2011, Aaron Day took over as the organization's operational executive. On March 1, 2016, TAS announced Jennifer Grossman as its new CEO.

Names

The organization was founded as the Institute for Objectivist Studies in 1990. It was renamed The Objectivist Center in 1999. That same year, the Center founded "The Atlas Society" as an interest group targeted at people who read Rand's novels but were not familiar with other Objectivist literature. On June 5, 2006, the organization announced its decision "to use The Atlas Society as our official name, which will help us promote our ideas to Rand readers as well as to the general public, while reserving The Objectivist Center name for our more academic and scholarly activities".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atlas Society Non-profit organizations based in Texas Objectivist organizations Organizations established in 1990 Political and economic think tanks in the United States