Michelle Marder Kamhi and Louis Torres analyze the scant critical and scholarly attention that has been devoted to Rand 's aesthetic theory by other writers since its publication more than a quarter-century ago. They argue that, with few exceptions, Objectivists and non-Objectivists alike have tended to misinterpret and undervalue Rand 's philosophy of art—which has not been sufficiently distinguished from her theory of Romantic literature. They also point to infelicities of style that have impeded serious consideration of her ideas.

ROBERT L. CAMPBELL finds Tibor Machan's book, Ayn Rand, to be a thoroughgoing introduction to every part of Rand 's system except the esthetics. Machan's presentation is knowledgeable and sympathetic but entirely non-sectarian, it offers several significant criticisms of Rand 's views. Campbell focuses on Machan's discussion of Rand 's philosophical axioms, her ethics, and her antipathy to Immanuel Kant. Certain questions that Machan asks prompt Campbell to inquire whether Rand 's avoidance of cosmology in metaphysics is an example to (...) be followed in epistemology. (shrink)