''The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies'' (JARS) is an

academic journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and d ...

devoted to the study of

Objectivism Objectivism is a philosophical system developed by Russian Americans, 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 prod ...

, the

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

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 ...

. Established in 1999, its founding co-editors were

R. W. Bradford Raymond William "Bill" Bradford (September 20, 1947 – December 8, 2005), who used R. W. Bradford as his pen name, was an American writer chiefly known for editing, publishing, and writing for the libertarian magazine ''Liberty''. Early life ...

Stephen D. Cox Stephen D. Cox (born January 12, 1948) is the editor of ''Liberty'' magazine, an American online libertarian and classical liberal review. He is also an emeritus professor of literature at the University of California, San Diego and author of ...

, and

Chris Matthew Sciabarra Chris Matthew Sciabarra (born February 17, 1960) is an American political theorist based in Brooklyn, New York. He is the author of three scholarly books—''Marx, Hayek, and Utopia''; '' Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical''; and ''Total Freedom: To ...

. At present, the editorial board consists of Cox, Sciabarra, Robert L. Campbell, and Roderick Long. Since 2013, the journal has been published by

Penn State University Press The Penn State University Press, also known as The Pennsylvania State University Press, was established in 1956 and is a non-profit publisher of scholarly books and journals. It is the independent publishing branch of the Pennsylvania State Uni ...

. Although 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 to ...

has been criticized as being a

cult of personality A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create an id ...

, ''The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies'' often publishes papers by mainstream intellectuals and academics from prestigious universities worldwide that approach Rand's legacy without

hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies migh ...

. ''The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies'' is published twice a year. Occasionally, it publishes special issues.

Controversy

In 2002, philosopher

Andrew Bernstein Andrew Bernstein is an American philosopher. He is a proponent of Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand, and the author of several books, both fiction and non-fiction. Education and career He is the author of ''The Capitalist Manifesto: Th ...

, who is intellectually affiliated with 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 ...

, contributed a brief reply to a review of the

CliffsNotes CliffsNotes are a series of student study guides. The guides present and create literary and other works in pamphlet form or online. Detractors of the study guides claim they let students bypass reading the assigned literature. The company cl ...

for Ayn Rand's novels. He subsequently issued an apology for having contributed to the journal. Bernstein wrote, "I deeply regret my thoughtless decision to contribute to this journal, and hereby irrevocably repudiate any and all association with it", and asserted that the journal was "filled with writings by people with whom I refuse to knowingly associate under any circumstances." In 2007, the Department of Philosophy at

Texas State University Texas State University is a public research university in San Marcos, Texas. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has grown to the second largest university in the Greater Austin metropolitan area and the fifth largest university ...

turned down a grant from the Anthem Foundation to support a visiting faculty position that would specialize in Objectivism. Bernstein was a candidate to fill the position. According to Rebecca Raphael, a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Texas State, Bernstein's apology for publishing in the journal indicated that the Anthem Foundation was expecting the person hired to meet an "ideological litmus test." According to reporter David Glenn, "When asked by ''The Chronicle'' about his 2002 comments, Mr. Bernstein replied that rejecting ''The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies'' was a moral and intellectual obligation."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Journal Of Ayn Rand Studies, The Biannual journals English-language journals Penn State University Press academic journals Rand, Ayn Publications established in 1999 Rand, Ayn Works about Ayn Rand Works about Objectivism (Ayn Rand)