question of why she uses the term as "neither antagonistic nor defensive, but rather profound." Philosopher Chris Matthew Sciabarra said it is "debatable" whether Rand accurately described the meaning of the term, but argued that Rand's philosophical position required altering the conventional meanings of some terms in order to express her views without inventing entirely new words. Philosophy professor Stephen Hicks wrote in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy that Rand's "provocative title" was matched by "an equally provocative thesis about ethics". Publication history The idea of creating a collection of Rand's essays initially came from Bennett Cerf of Random House, who had published two of Rand's previous books, Atlas Shrugged and For the New Intellectual. Rand proposed a collection of articles to be titled The Fascist New Frontier, after a Ford Hall Forum speech she had given criticizing the views of President John F. Kennedy. Uncomfortable with Rand's comparison of Kennedy to Adolf Hitler, Cerf asked that Rand choose a different title essay. She rejected this request and dropped Random House (as well as ending her friendship with Cerf), choosing New American Library as the publisher for her new book. The Virtue of Selfishness bore a different title and did not include her piece on Kennedy; he had been assassinated before it was released, making the point of the essay moot. Reception The book became one of Rand's strongest-selling works of nonfiction, selling over 400,000 copies in the first four months of its release, and over 1.35 million copies by 2014. Rand scholar Mimi Reisel Gladstein described the collection of essays as "eclectic" and "appealing to interested nonacademic or nonspecialist readers as well as to the more serious student of Objectivism". Gladstein reported that a number of contemporary reviews compared Rand's views to existentialism. In his book Winning Through Intimidation, self-help author Robert J. Ringer said The Virtue of Selfishness is Rand's "masterpiece". In a public appearance, writer Christopher Hitchens said, "Though I have some respect for The Virtue of Selfishness, a collection of essays ... I don't think there's any need to have essays advocating selfishness among human beings. I don't know what your impression has been, but some things require no further reinforcement." References Works cited External links 1964 non-fiction books American essay collections Books by Ayn Rand Books critical of Christianity Books with atheism-related themes English-language books Ethics books Collaborative non-fiction books Objectivist books New American Library