The Atlas Society (part of The Objectivist Center (TOC) and originally the Institute for Objectivist Studies or IOS) is "a global online community linking those who admire the fiction of Ayn Rand, including Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead". It is not merely a literary fan club, but a part of the Objectivist movement that split off from the more orthodox Ayn Rand Institute (ARI) in 1989 due to disagreements over whether Objectivism was a "closed system" or an "open." About The Atlas Society

Founder David Kelley espouses Objectivism as an open system, hence the organization has advocated what he terms "a policy of tolerant, open debate and free discussion" at its forums. It has also been willing to cooperate with libertarians on joint projects, and to carry works by individuals such as Nathaniel Branden, who likewise fell out with the ARI.The Contested Legacy of Ayn Rand Objectivism and Libertarianism

In 1999, the Objectivist Center founded an Atlas Society as a "special part of our Web site was meant to appeal to those who read Ayn Rand novels". On June 5th, 2006, they announced that they "have decided 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." Names

The Objectivist Center hosts conferences, including an annual summer seminar; conducts scholarly research and student training; issues pamphlets, recordings, op-eds, and monographs; provides speakers to the media and to campus groups; and publishes a magazine, The New Individualist (formally titled Navigator, published 1997-2004)

See also

• Ayn Rand Institute
• Neo-Objectivism

Notes