Ayn Rand identified “The role of the mind in man’s existence” as the theme of Atlas Shrugged. In this talk Dr. Salmieri discusses three essential aspects of this role as they are dramatized in the novel. First, the mind, or reason, is the faculty that makes possible the production of the material values we need to survive. Second, as the faculty by which we conceive and pursue the values that give meaning and direction to our lives, reason is the spirit or soul. The third aspect is an extension of the second: reason discovers and defines the proper morality. In connection with each of these aspects, attention is paid to Rand’s conception of reason as a volitional faculty that “identifies and integrates the material provided by man’s senses.”