Synopses & Reviews
Credited with influencing the philosophies of Nietzsche and Ayn Rand and the development of libertarianism and existentialism, this prophetic 1844 work challenges the very notion of a common good as the driving force of civilization. By examining the role of the human ego, author Max Stirner chronicles the battle of the individual against the collective and#8212; showing how, throughout history, the latter invariably leads to oppression.
Stirner begins with a study of the individual ego and then traces its subjugation from ancient times to the nineteenth century. Nothing escapes his indictment: the ancient philosophers, Christianity, monarchism, the bourgeois state; all have fettered individuals with laws, morality, and obligations. Revolutions expunge one evil only to replace it with another, and Stirner predicted and#8212; years before the publication of Marx's Manifesto and#8212; that socialism would climax in the ultimate totalitarian state.
For students of political science and philosophy, this book is essential reading. For those concerned about the encroachment of authority upon individual liberty, Stirner articulates a philosophy that remains unsurpassed in its scope.
Synopsis
"Stirner's declaration of independence of the individual throws down the challenge to ALL things 'sacred.'"--Max Baginski,
Mother Earth magazine
Credited with influencing Nietzsche, Ayn Rand, Libertarians, and Existentialists, Stirner's prophetic 1844 work challenges the very notion of greater "good" as the driving force of civilization. By examining the role of ego in men, Stirner chronicles the "battle" of the individual against the collective, showing how, throughout history, the latter invariably leads to oppression.
Synopsis
Credited with influencing the philosophies of Nietzsche and Ayn Rand and the development of libertarianism and existentialism, this prophetic 1844 work challenges the very notion of a common good as the driving force of civilization. Stirner chronicles the battle of the individual against the collective to show how the latter invariably leads to oppression.
Synopsis
This prophetic 1844 work challenges the very notion of a common good as the driving force of civilization. It offers burning indictments of philosophers, Christianity, monarchism, and the bourgeois state.
Table of Contents
Editor's Introduction
Translator's Preface
All Things Are Nothing to Me
Part First: Man
I. A Human Life
II. Men of the Old Time and the New
and#160; A. The Ancients
and#160; B. The Moderns
and#160;and#160;and#160; 1. The Spirit
and#160;and#160;and#160; 2. The Possessed
and#160;and#160;and#160; 3. The Hierarchy
and#160; C. The Free
and#160;and#160;and#160; 1. Political Liberalism
and#160;and#160;and#160; 2. Social Liberalism
and#160;and#160;and#160; 3. Humane Liberalism
Part Second: I
III. Ownness
IV. The Owner
and#160; A. My Power
and#160; B. My Intercourse
and#160; C. My Self-Enjoyment
V. The Unique One