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.
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Text: English, German (translation)
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34 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a most intriguing and quirky work; many will probably find it repellant. It may well be that this volume is the reason that Marx and Engels wrote "The German Ideology"; it may be that Stirner's magnum opus led to Marx fundamentally changing his philosophical perspective from more idealistic to materialistic. Nonetheless, it is a work that gets one's mind to working as one responds to the arguments being advanced. That alone makes this an interesting book to explore.
Max Stirner (born Johan Kaspar Schmidt) is one of the more interesting figures in 19th century political thought. The turgid prose of his one major work, "The Ego and His Own," stretches for several hundred pages and can be a formidable barrier to the reader. Stirner posits something like a war of each against all as the proper way of life and the proper way of allocating scarce resources. This competition with others is natural and ubiquitous. Stirner says: ". . .the egoistic man, who deals with things and thoughts according to his heart's pleasure. . .sets his personal interest above everything."
One major obstacle in the way of an individual's egoism is the existence of "spook notions" and coercive agencies, such as the state. "Spook notions" are concepts viewed as superior to the individual, largely due to dominant values of a society inculcated into the individual; these concepts subsequently become reified. Among examples that he adduces: truth, right, chastity, the law, the good cause, the state, mankind, love, duty, obligation. In each case, people will come to accept these concepts as absolutes and then subordinate their own behavior to these reifications. Stirner contends, to the contrary, that humans should not allow themselves to become subjects to such "spook notions." Stirner argues that most people prostrate themselves before such "spook notions." As a result, so Stirner asserts, such people are possessed, just as surely as madmen may be possessed by their delusions.
If cut adrift from reified moorings, what next? Stirner asserts that one should be guided by one's self-interest, however one might define this. This self-interest, though, should not become superior to the individual, must not be rigidified into a reification. One should leave ends as open questions--remaining, always, the final judge of the ends' utility, since one, in Stirner's view, owns these ends. If one choose to believe in God and follow that deity's word, good. But one must continually recall that this is a matter of choice and that decision may be revoked at any time. The egoist "never takes trouble about a thing for the sake of the thing, but for his sake: the thing must serve him."
The ego and its own are intimately related. One's own can be other people, property, or ideas. The only things that are sacred are those which one declares as "sacred." One keeps all ends open and leaves the option of ultimate rejection of those values. The individual alone, of course, may be deficient in power to accomplish all that he or she would wish. Thus, one would find it expedient to form unions with others. As a result, one becomes strengthened and may do things that were previously beyond one's individual power. It is a union of convenience, based upon the extent to which individuals in the union can benefit from one another. This society, this union of egoists as Stirner describes it, is itself based upon egoism. Stirner says that: "Therefore we two, the State and I, are enemies. I, the egoist, have not at heart the welfare of this 'human society.' I sacrifice nothing to it, I only utilize it; but to be able to utilize it completely I transform it rather into my own property and my creature; that is, I annihilate it and form in its place the Union of Egoists."
Most readers will reject Stirner's perspective, which departs from much of Western philosophical tradition. However, his ideas are thought-provoking and challenge us to look at sociality and ourselves in a very different way. Whether or not one might agree with him, these effects, in and of themselves, make this an interesting work to peruse. Being challenged can be very positive.
Max Stirner (born Johan Kaspar Schmidt) is one of the more interesting figures in 19th century political thought. The turgid prose of his one major work, "The Ego and His Own," stretches for several hundred pages and can be a formidable barrier to the reader. Stirner posits something like a war of each against all as the proper way of life and the proper way of allocating scarce resources. This competition with others is natural and ubiquitous. Stirner says: ". . .the egoistic man, who deals with things and thoughts according to his heart's pleasure. . .sets his personal interest above everything."
One major obstacle in the way of an individual's egoism is the existence of "spook notions" and coercive agencies, such as the state. "Spook notions" are concepts viewed as superior to the individual, largely due to dominant values of a society inculcated into the individual; these concepts subsequently become reified. Among examples that he adduces: truth, right, chastity, the law, the good cause, the state, mankind, love, duty, obligation. In each case, people will come to accept these concepts as absolutes and then subordinate their own behavior to these reifications. Stirner contends, to the contrary, that humans should not allow themselves to become subjects to such "spook notions." Stirner argues that most people prostrate themselves before such "spook notions." As a result, so Stirner asserts, such people are possessed, just as surely as madmen may be possessed by their delusions.
If cut adrift from reified moorings, what next? Stirner asserts that one should be guided by one's self-interest, however one might define this. This self-interest, though, should not become superior to the individual, must not be rigidified into a reification. One should leave ends as open questions--remaining, always, the final judge of the ends' utility, since one, in Stirner's view, owns these ends. If one choose to believe in God and follow that deity's word, good. But one must continually recall that this is a matter of choice and that decision may be revoked at any time. The egoist "never takes trouble about a thing for the sake of the thing, but for his sake: the thing must serve him."
The ego and its own are intimately related. One's own can be other people, property, or ideas. The only things that are sacred are those which one declares as "sacred." One keeps all ends open and leaves the option of ultimate rejection of those values. The individual alone, of course, may be deficient in power to accomplish all that he or she would wish. Thus, one would find it expedient to form unions with others. As a result, one becomes strengthened and may do things that were previously beyond one's individual power. It is a union of convenience, based upon the extent to which individuals in the union can benefit from one another. This society, this union of egoists as Stirner describes it, is itself based upon egoism. Stirner says that: "Therefore we two, the State and I, are enemies. I, the egoist, have not at heart the welfare of this 'human society.' I sacrifice nothing to it, I only utilize it; but to be able to utilize it completely I transform it rather into my own property and my creature; that is, I annihilate it and form in its place the Union of Egoists."
Most readers will reject Stirner's perspective, which departs from much of Western philosophical tradition. However, his ideas are thought-provoking and challenge us to look at sociality and ourselves in a very different way. Whether or not one might agree with him, these effects, in and of themselves, make this an interesting work to peruse. Being challenged can be very positive.
8 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
At first glance, Stirner is infantile revolutionary extraordinaire. And he is -- by himself he is an utterly ridiculous muppet. But taken in the context of the great sexual revolt in the West that culminated in the work of Wilhelm Reich, et al. Stirner is concerned with freeing the passions -- his "ego" would better be identified with Freud's id.
Apart from being a sex-radical manifesto, "The Ego and His Own" is an critique of humanism and the Enlightenment, bringing up many a good point that would later be looked at more closely by future thinkers -- notably Nietzsche, tho also Georges Sorel, for instance.
Good stuff. Not to be read with a literalist mind or without a sense of humour!
Apart from being a sex-radical manifesto, "The Ego and His Own" is an critique of humanism and the Enlightenment, bringing up many a good point that would later be looked at more closely by future thinkers -- notably Nietzsche, tho also Georges Sorel, for instance.
Good stuff. Not to be read with a literalist mind or without a sense of humour!
15 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Read this book only after you have read books by Hayek, Marx, Nietzsche, Hume, Locke, Tocuquillve, then you will appreciate what this book is talking about, then you will understand why Marx and Nietzsche is equally wrong. This is the bible of a human being with right mind, or as someone says, this is the Bible of a Billionaire. This is what Euripides says in his play Cyclops, "Money is wise men's god, rest are just babbling".
It is the most refreshing book a man can ever find. Better than Nietzsche's.
It is the most refreshing book a man can ever find. Better than Nietzsche's.
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6
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- Immanuel Kant's Moral Theory by Roger J. Sullivan in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Literature, Politics, and the English Avant-Garde: Nation and Empire, 1901-1918 by Paul Peppis in Back Matter
- Understanding Democratic Politics: An Introduction by Roland Axtmann on page 270
- A Primer of Libertarian Education by Joel Spring in Back Matter
- Homosexuality and Male Bonding in Prenazi Germany: The Youth Movement, the Gay Movement, and Male Bonding Before Hitler's Rise : Original Transcript by Hubert Kennedy on page 10
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