Rand was a great admirer of Aristotle. Often her philosophy is characterised as a form of Aristotelianism even though there are obviously huge differences between the two. Aristotle was certainly not an atheist, and his ethics does not seem much like that of Rand.
Aristotle: Ayn Rand's Acknowledged Teacher by Edward W. Younkins
Ayn Rand, whose philosophy is a form of Aristotelianism, had the highest admiration for Aristotle (384-322 B.C.). She intellectually stood on Aristotle’s shoulders as she praised him above all other philosophers. Rand acknowledged Aristotle as a genius and as the only thinker throughout the ages to whom she owed a philosophical debt. According to Rand, Aristotle, the teacher of those who know, is the fountainhead behind every achievement in civilized society including science, technology, progress, freedom, aesthetics (including romantic art) and the birth of America itself. Aristotle’s philosophy has underpinned the achievements of the Renaissance and of all scientific advances and technological progress to this very day. He is the most significant thinker and most successful individual who has ever lived.
The Ayn Rand lexicon has many entries in praise of Aristotle:
http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/aristotle.html
Blog: http://kenthink7.blogspot.com/index.html Blog: http://kencan7.blogspot.com/index.html
--- On Sat, 1/2/10, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
> From: Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com>
> Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] My Ayn Randian, libertarian loving relatives....argh... !!!
> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> Date: Saturday, January 2, 2010, 5:37 PM
>
> On Jan 2, 2010, at 4:45 PM, Chris Doss wrote:
>
> > It basically holds that I get to do whatever I want,
> and everybody else will do whatever they want, and things
> will work out best in the long run for everyone.
>
> I'm not fully versed on my Randism, but I think they prefer
> the liberty argument to the efficiency one - selfishness is
> right and just, and Pareto optimality is just a fortunate
> byproduct, if that is the byproduct.
>
> Doug
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