The benevolent universe premise and the heroic view of man are hallmarks of Objectivism. While not among the defining essentials of the philosophy, they are direct and dramatic consequences of these essentials and are signs of the philosophy’s greatness.

This lecture examines the meaning and interconnection of these two propositions, the ways in which Miss Rand presents or dramatizes them in both her fiction and her nonfiction, and the manner in which their truth depends on more fundamental truths of Objectivism.

The lecture uses as evidence the plot resolutions in each of her novels, and the characterizations of Roark and Dominique in The Fountainhead and of Galt and Dagny in Atlas Shrugged—including the fundamental affinities that make Galt Dagny’s “final choice” (and Dagny Galt’s). It also makes wide use of the nonfiction, giving special attention to the Introduction to the 25th anniversary edition of The Fountainhead.