Abstract

Rand's metaethical objectivism consists not in the view that values lie outside of us—in an independent reality such that we can identify them or fail to do so. Rather, Rand's conception of "objectivity" regarding the foundation of ethics is what is often called "agent-relative" but not subjective. Or, as Rand states, ethical claims are "objectively conditional" (in her essay "Causality versus Duty"). In elaborating this perspective, Machan shows that it suffices to avoid the dreaded charge of subjectivism contained in both Rasmussen's and Mack's discussion of her views