Stirner: The Ego and its Own (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought) [Paperback]

Max Stirner (Author), David Leopold (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521456479 | ISBN-13: 978-0521456470 | Publication Date: May 26, 1995

Stirner's The Ego and its Own (1844) is striking in both style and content, attacking Feuerbach, Moses Hess and others to sound the death-knell of Left Hegelianism. The work also constitutes an enduring critique of liberalism and socialism from the perspective of an extreme eccentric individualism. Stirner has latterly been portrayed variously as a precursor of Nietzsche, a forerunner of existentialism, an individualist anarchist, and as manifestly insane. This edition includes an Introduction placing Stirner in his historical context.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Recommended as a classic in anarchist thought. This is the best edition available." --Reader's Review

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (May 26, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521456479
• ISBN-13: 978-0521456470
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #751,817 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars -- "The Fourth Dimension of Ethics" --, September 7, 2000

By 

TheIrrationalMan - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stirner: The Ego and its Own (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought) (Paperback)

"The Ego and His Own", the testament of the philosophic incendiary Max Stirner, remains, one hundred and fifty years after its appearance, the most subversive, the most antisocial, the most radical book in the history of political thought. Writing in a highly idiosyncratic idiom, Stirner launches an extreme and uncompromising attack on Christianity, the state, society, the family, socialism and revolts against the monarchy of abstract ideas, as exemplified by the entire rational tradition of Western philosophy. His book represents the culmination of Left Hegelianism. In the place of moral imperatives, he postulates the will of the sovereign egoist, who lives untrammelled by convention or authority. Rights, obligations, duties do not exist. The might of the ego is the sole determining factor in conduct. He takes his doctrine to its logical conclusion and, at times, to its illogical extreme by urging reasons for crime against all institutions and in the egoist's bid for power in the war of each against all, the arena of which is the embattled socius. He has been interpreted as a harbinger of Fascism and, among other things, an important proto-Nietzschean thinker. He bears many resemblances to his successor Nietzsche, as in how he champions egoism, celebrates the passions, and also in his call for a transvaluation of existing values and the need to create one's life anew. But there is a crucial difference: Stirner, a disciple of Hegelian idealism, is critical; Nietzsche, assertive. Stirner's egoism is spontaneous and capricious while Nietzsche's semi-altruistic egoism always has the highest social end in view. A must for those who want to discover a forgotten classic of political thought.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Impassioned and inspiring., September 19, 1999

By 

T.M.O. ([e-mail]) (Colchester, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ego And Its Own: The Case Of The Individual Against Authority (Paperback)

He has been variously interpreted as an anarcho-egoist, an early existentialist, a protofascist who influenced the thought of Mussolini, a frontrunner of Nietzsche and as a nihilist maniac whose thirst for blood could never be quenched... an iconoclast who aimed to live above society, untramelled by moral conventions... In his defence of the sovereignty of the individual will, Max Stirner launches a brutal and uncompromising assault on the state, society, religion, the family. Also one of the most potent criticisms of humanism, liberalism and communism put forward, Stirner was one of the first to accurately prophesy the tyranny that communism would engender once established. Stylistically, it ranges from cutting aphoristic precision to opaqueness,self-contradiction and repetition, but nonetheless a profound, stimulating presentation of a highly eccentric position of political thought.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting if abrasive food for thought!, October 3, 2002

By 

Kevin Currie-Knight "Education Grad Student" (Newark, Delaware) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Stirner: The Ego and its Own (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought) (Paperback)

"What is supposed to be my concern. First and foremost the Good Cause, then God's Cause, the cause of mankind, of truth, of freedom, of humanity, of justice; further, the cause of my people, my prince, my fatherland; finally, even the cause of my mind. Only MY cause is never to be my concern. 'Shame on the egoist who thinks only of himself.'"

In this, the first paragraph of his powerful book, Max Stirner sets the stage. His cause? 'Nothing.' His goal? To stop at nothing. In The Ego and It's Own (more literally translated to The Person and His Property) Stirner tries making the case for anarchism based on individualism, rebelling against the collectivist strand professed by Proudhon and Godwin before him.

When Stirner says he 'base[s his] cause on nothing,' what is meant. Simply, he takes nothing (even our supposed self evident truths like right to life) as givens. Everything is questionalbe; nothing immune. So really, this book is not for the squeamish. First, he takes apart religion for setting a 'transcendental' cause higher than the individual. Then he attacks the concept of the state- and socialism- for doing the same. Then he takes apart concepts of 'rights' becuase without a god to grant them and a state to inforce them, what right do I have to live if you kill me? To clarify, Stirner does believe in cooperation for each party's benefit; just not coerced in ANY way.

While Stirner is said to be a precursor to Nietzsche, there is no evidence that Nietzsche knew of him. In fact, the biggest influence he might've had (in print) is Marx's 300 page(!) critique of Stirner in his German Ideology. I've not read it, but it's clear that Marx has a lot to wrestle with.

Now for the subtracted star. Stirner, while being an egoist, is somewhat of an egotist. He repeats the same things many times and a reader would not miss much if she cut out 150 pages early. Secondly, and it must be said, Stirner is not profound because he is philosophically challenging. He is not; then again neither are most anarchists. He is profound because he has the gumption to say what no one else will. He even questions why it is considered bad to sleep with one's sister. Can we argue? Hmmm.... What are you staring at me for, read the book already!