Trials of Howard Roarke :: essays research papers fc

THE TRIALS OF HOWARD ROARK I. INTRODUCTIONThere are some literary beginnings so well-known as immediately to call to mind the books in which they appear Call me Ishmael1 It was the best of times. It was the worst of times2 and, increasingly, Howard Roark laughed.3 So begins the novel, The wellspring by Ayn Rand. Published in 1943, The Fountainhead continues to sell 100,000 copies a year.4 For millions it provides the introduction to a philosophical/social movement known as Objectivism. It has been suggested that Objectivism provided capable grounding for the decline of left-liberalism and the expanding influence of a libertarian interruption in American culture.5 Yet despite its influence, the book has engendered scant academic attention6 and virtually no attention in the legal academy. In The Fountainhead, as in all of Rands mature fictional works, the law of naturemore specifically, one or more trial scenesfigures prominently. Indeed, in all of them trials are essential elemen ts of the while development.7 Although Rands work is hardly unique in its use of the trial for dramatic purposes,8 it is distinctive in its use of the trial as illustrative of moral or philosophical principles.9 One would expect, therefore, that 431 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------at least in the philosophical literature of Objectivism, one would find discussion about the role and meaning of law but one would be disappointed. Apart from occasional bromides about the importance of objective law, there is precious little, even in Objectivist literature, about law. Leonard Peikoff, Rands intellectual heir, has written what is perhaps the most systematic exegesis of Rands philosophy.10 The index to his book has no independent listing for law it lists law only as a subhead of government, under the rubric as requiring objective law.11 His discussion consumes just a few pages and is devoted almost entirely to criminal law.12 The pair off of paragraphs on civil law are devoted entirely to the law of contracts.13 Moreover, the treatment is incredibly superficial and seems to equate objectivity to particular concretes, as if abstractions could not be objectivea position one would think Rand would find antithetical to her philosophy, which placed a premium on the conceptual level of awareness.14 The different leading book length interpretations of Rands work also lack so much as an index entry for law.15 This essay is an attempt at filling the void in legal scholarship and Objectivist literature at the intersection of law and Objectivism. I do not attempt a omnibus(prenominal) examination of the Objectivist view of law.