stirner

History of Egoist Anarchism

Stirner's appearance is a spook. How are we to trust Engel's ill-intended caricatures?

From Center for a Stateless Society Faruk Pak

Egoist philosophy generally refers to any school of thought that considers the self (i.e. one’s own personal interests) to be the primary source of ethical standards and action, superseding external factors such as social norms or other-regarding principles. As a result, egoist anarchist schools of thought tend to emphasize personal liberation and non-subordination so that individuals may pursue their own ends without sacrificing them for others or vice versa.

The Nothing

stirner this, stirner that

From Center for a Stateless Society by Ash P. Morgans

Bloody Rule and a Cannibal Order! Part III

This final essay began as a few scattered notes meant originally for the Egoist and the Anarchist which I’ve worked to develop into something of their own piece. My aim here is to challenge what I see as a problematic line of thinking present all throughout this symposium and unfortunately because of that, it has to deal with one of Stirner’s most important, and therefore most difficult, challenges: the problem of language.

Bloody Rule and a Cannibal Order! Part II: The Anarchist

From Center for a Stateless Society by Ash P. Morgans

There is something else happening in Byas’ account of our own self-enslavement that I find interesting. It’s not just that Byas’ portrayal of anarchism is meant to be retroactively binding, emerging from our selves only to ensnare us after the fact. There’s something about this portrayal that forces a binding conclusion.

Bloody Rule and a Cannibal Order! Part I: The Egoist

From Center for a Stateless Society by Ash P. Morgans

Many problems rear their heads when attempting to establish moral systems. Determining proper criteria, defining rights and wrongs, or establishing a certain degree of objectivity are just some of the rocky surfs on which these different attempts have run aground. As such, it’s unsurprising that we see these very problems in the so-called moralist “egoism” described by Jason Lee Byas in a series of essays written against the idea of Stirner’s applicability to anarchism; essays about Stirner where Stirner’s actual thoughts seem typically misunderstood. Byas’ work — Against Moral Cannibalism, Anarchy is Moral Order, and The Authority of Yourself — represent the latest in a long history of surprisingly similar critiques perhaps all wondering that maybe if they say the exact same thing as their predecessor, this time they’ll get the grab on the Stirnerian Cheshire cat. This is meant to be a grinning response.

Refining the “Amoralist’s Challenge”

Stirner

From Center for a Stateless Society

First, I want to express my constant admiration for how comprehensible yet deeply frustrating I find Jason Lee Byas’ approach to anarchism (something I extend to the Center’s resident radical liberals and adherents to Aristotelianism more generally, more words on that to come). To mirror his repeated praise of the “amoralist’s challenge,” I too greatly appreciate his “moralist challenge” to us on the outskirts; while this framing of our fundamental disagreement by no means captures the full scope of the divergence in our views, this hopefully makes for a more accessible introduction to these tensions for an uninitiated reader.

Egoism, Morality, and Anarchism Under Complexity

from Center for a Stateless Society by Andrew Kemle

Jason Lee Byas has already articulated what I think is an interesting (and effective) challenge to Max Stirner’s critique of morality, as well as come to a conclusion that I very much endorse: namely, that self-interest and caring for the well-being of others need not be separate concerns.

Insurrection or Revolution?

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from Center for a Stateless Society by Saul Newman

The ethical politics of Stirner’s egoism

Perhaps it is time to abandon the ‘spooks’ of identity and revolution and to think of subjectivity and politics in a different way. It is here that I suggest we turn to the nineteenth egoist anarchist philosopher Max Stirner.

Anarchy is Moral Order

Anarchy is when you write recursive trolley cart problems in logical notation. Given a powerful enough computer and enough computation time, you would solve the anarchy equation once and for all and have anarchy forever.

from Center for a Stateless Society by Jason Lee Byas

As I argued in my previous post, anyone who cares about morality needs a good answer to the amoralist challenge posed by someone like Stirner. As I also said there, this is especially true for those moralists who are also anarchists, since a morality without such an answer begins to look a good deal like the domination anarchism resists.

Anarchism & Egoism

from Center for a Stateless Society by Cory Massimino

Anarchism and egoism are, ironically, kindred spirits. Both share roots in 19th century radical philosophic and political thought — though the ideas and practices associated with each surely predate their first explicit articulations. Both have been considered, at best, taboo and, at worst, dangerous. Both have been misunderstood, but also mischaracterized. Both ultimately found refuge during the 20th and 21st centuries within broader libertarian undercurrents, where their adherents were fractured and ideas were sharpened. Most importantly, both consider themselves on the side of life and freedom.

Cory is Critiqued on Immediatism podcast

In this episode of Immediatism podcast, Cory's points of view get heavily critiqued by a theorist who tends toward Stirner and D&G. Cybernetics is thoroughly described. Postmodernism and poststructuralism are described in terms of what they attempt to do and how they function in academia. The anonymous author reminisces about a time (prior to the 2010's) when anarchists did not used to talk in terms of cybernetics.

All things are nothing to me, on Immediatism Podcast

The entire book, All Things Are Nothing to Me: The Unique Philosophy of Max Stirner, by Jacob Blumenfeld, is read across these fifteen episodes from Immediatism podcast. Start with either the Introduction or Reading Max Stirner. The episodes are labeled so as to serve as a topical resource. Each is 30 or fewer minutes long and starts with a brief intro recapping the previous episode. For a shorter sample of Jacob Blumenfeld's analysis, enjoy just the final two episodes, which stand on their own as one essay on Stirner, Marx, and Communism.

Understanding Anti-Authoritarian Strategy in the Apocalyptic Era

via raddle.me by cretin

from Indonesian anarchist blog Kontra-Media, original article here:
https://kontramedia.noblogs.org/post/memahami-strategi-anti-otoritarian-...

Like Bennedict Spinoza saw God not in a separate realm, but always 'exists' everywhere. This concept is suitable for radical movements, especially anti-authoritarians, to understand the reality in the era of globalization of capital. To critically understand every root of hierarchy and domination and capture a vision of equality with radical differences, in order to carry out a new strategy towards a life free from the shackles of capital and the state.

The Haunted Archipelago

spooky

from Bandilang Itim

Written by Isang Alipin.

No rulers, anarchy—since there were no rulers in the first place. If there is a ruler, there are ruled; but how can you rule if authority was never real to begin with? The egoist does not have a ruler because it is not possible to rule the selfish. You may influence them, but you will never rule them; the selfish will always do things for their own sake, for their own interests, for their self above all.

Stirner, Wittgenstein, and Anarchism

Stirner, Wittgenstein, and Anarchism. Do I get to pick?

From C4SS by Rai Ling, June 25th, 2021

The work of Max Stirner is a contentious topic among anarchists, with numerous interpretations of his work, ranging from descriptive, presenting a certain framework of thought, to prescriptive, advocating for anti-authoritarianism, and expressing a commitment to “individualism.” It is my position that egoism is primarily descriptive in nature. The key distinctions Stirner makes, those between fixed and unfixed ideas, and conscious and unconscious egoism, do not lead us to any normative conclusions, despite Stirner’s clear personal opposition to the state and authority in general. Rather, many anarchists are egoists because they find personal value in this perspective. Egoism has both everything and nothing to do with anarchism.

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