Ayn Rand's 1943 novel following architect Howard Roark's uncompromising creative integrity against collectivist social pressures — the foundational literary statement of Objectivist individualism.
The philosophical novel as polemic: Rand uses Roark's struggle to express the Objectivist ethics of rational self-interest, the creative individual against the 'second-handers' (those who live through others' perceptions). Massively influential on libertarian and individualist thought despite Rand's technical philosophical limitations. Made architecture, creativity, and uncompromising integrity into a cultural touchstone for a generation of readers. The book's impact on Huemer and many libertarian-adjacent thinkers is documented.
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