Chapter 11: Ayn Rand's Objectivism, as the Philosophy for Human Development

This chapter draws from Ayn Rand's objectivism to appraise the challenges of human development in the African society. Using philosophical method of analysis, it provides a response to the negative narratives of stagnation or backwardness that have bedeviled contemporary African society. Instead of crisis, poverty, unemployment, and general experience of lack of development, it argues that the African story can be rewritten with Ayn Rand's idea of objectivism, which among other things offers a beacon of hope for development. Philosophy, in the light of Rand's argument, has an urgent practical importance, as meaningful social change must begin with a moral revolution within each individual and must be driven by the spread of the right ideas and ideals. A neglect of this important human element is detrimental to both human dignity and the human society itself.