Reason Papers 25 Reply to Critics: Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical- A Work in Progress

Nothing quite compares to the exhilaration that an author feels when his work is being noticed. With over two dozen published and electronic reviews, and hundreds of Internet messages debating the value of my book, Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical (Penn State Press, 1995), I now face the challenge of replying to some of my critics more formally, here, in the pages of Reason Papers. I want to thank Tibor Machan for giving me this opportunity. For the purposes of this brief article, however, I will focus only on the broad issues sparked by this debate- on the nature of scholarship, historiography, and social science m e t h ~ d. ~ Those who would like to read more pointed discussions of specific critiques of my work should acquaint themselves with my website