The speech "Philosophy: Who Needs It?" by Ayn Rand is addressed to the class of '74 at West Point. It was not a speech given at graduation but at an evening seminar hosted by the philosophy department. I'm not sure how famous Ayn Rand was at that time but I have a feeling that she had a tuff audience. First off, philosophy is not a very exciting subject for many, much less cadets and much less at a required evening lecture. However, I believe she did an excellent job presenting her argument that philosophy is a fundamental science that everyone should put forth a serious effort to learn. Her speech is a combination informative/persuasive speech. She is trying to inform/persuade her audience that an understanding of philosophy and its different schools of thought is vital to live fully. She uses logic very effectively and I doubt anyone would disagree with her claim if they put a little effort to follow her logic.
Ayn Rand closely follows the ancient Greek method of......
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