John Galt is a name with two notable references:
- Historically, John Galt (1779–1839) was a Scottish novelist, poet, and playwright known for his depictions of rural Scottish life. He also played a significant role in Canadian colonization, founding the city of Guelph in Ontario and serving as superintendent of the Canada Company. Galt was a prolific writer with several novels portraying Scottish and Canadian settler life
- Fictionally, John Galt is a central character in Ayn Rand's 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged. In the novel, he is a philosopher, inventor, and the embodiment of Rand's ideal man who champions the power of the human mind and individual rights. He leads a strike of the world's creative and productive minds against a collectivist society, symbolized by the question "Who is John Galt?" which expresses despair and resignation but ultimately represents individual agency and rational self-interest. Galt's character is pivotal in the novel's plot and philosophy, representing reason, ambition, and achievement
Thus, John Galt can refer either to the historical Scottish writer or the fictional figure symbolizing individualism and intellectual freedom in Rand's novel.
