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Max Stirner

 

 

 

 

 

Max Stirner


 
 


Johann Kaspar Schmidt, better known as Max Stirner (the nom de plumeNom de Plume

Nom de Plume is a term used to denote an assumed name under which an artist publishes their work....
he adopted from a schoolyard nickname he had acquired as a child because of his high brow=„Stirn“), was a German philosopher, who ranks as one of the literary grandfathers of nihilismFacts About Nihilism

Nihilism is a philosophical position which argues that the world, and especially human existence, is without objective meani...
, existentialismExistentialism

Existentialism is a philosophical movement that is generally considered a study that pursues meaning in existence and seeks ...
, post-modernism and anarchismAnarchism

Anarchism is the name of a political philosophy or a group of doctrines and attitudes that are centered on rejection of gove...
, especially of individualist anarchismIndividualist anarchism

Individualist anarchism is an anarchist philosophical tradition that has a strong emphasis on equality of liberty and indiv...
.
Stirner's main work is The Ego and Its OwnThe Ego and Its Own

The Ego and Its Own is the main work by German philosopher Max Stirner, published in 1844. ...
, also known as The Ego and His Own (Der Einzige und sein Eigentum in German, which translates literally as The Unique One and his Property). This work was first published in 1844 in LeipzigLeipzig

Leipzig [] is the largest city in the federal state of Saxony in Germany with a population of 502,000....
, and has since appeared in numerous editions and translations.
Biography
Stirner was born in BayreuthBayreuth

Bayreuth [pronounced "by-royt"] is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franki...
, BavariaBavaria

The Free State of Bavaria  , with an area of 70,553 km and 12.4 million inhabitants, forms the southernmost state...
, on October 25, 1806.






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Quotations


The divine is God's concern; the human, man's. My concern is neither the divine nor the human, not the true, good, just, free, etc., but solely what is mine, and it is not a general one, but is -- unique, as I am unique. Nothing is more to me than myself! ~ Cambridge 1995, p. 7






Encyclopedia




Johann Kaspar Schmidt, better known as Max Stirner (the nom de plumeNom de Plume

Nom de Plume is a term used to denote an assumed name under which an artist publishes their work....
he adopted from a schoolyard nickname he had acquired as a child because of his high brow=„Stirn“), was a German philosopher, who ranks as one of the literary grandfathers of nihilismFacts About Nihilism

Nihilism is a philosophical position which argues that the world, and especially human existence, is without objective meani...
, existentialismExistentialism

Existentialism is a philosophical movement that is generally considered a study that pursues meaning in existence and seeks ...
, post-modernism and anarchismAnarchism

Anarchism is the name of a political philosophy or a group of doctrines and attitudes that are centered on rejection of gove...
, especially of individualist anarchismIndividualist anarchism

Individualist anarchism is an anarchist philosophical tradition that has a strong emphasis on equality of liberty and indiv...
.
Stirner's main work is The Ego and Its OwnThe Ego and Its Own

The Ego and Its Own is the main work by German philosopher Max Stirner, published in 1844. ...
, also known as The Ego and His Own (Der Einzige und sein Eigentum in German, which translates literally as The Unique One and his Property). This work was first published in 1844 in LeipzigLeipzig

Leipzig [] is the largest city in the federal state of Saxony in Germany with a population of 502,000....
, and has since appeared in numerous editions and translations.

Biography


Stirner was born in BayreuthBayreuth

Bayreuth [pronounced "by-royt"] is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franki...
, BavariaBavaria

The Free State of Bavaria  , with an area of 70,553 km and 12.4 million inhabitants, forms the southernmost state...
, on October 25, 1806. What little is known of his life is mostly due to the ScottishScotland

Scotland is a nation in northwest Europe and one of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom....
 born GermanGermany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in central Europe....
 writer John Henry MackayJohn Henry Mackay Overview

John Henry Mackay was an individualist anarchist, thinker, writer, and homosexual....
, who wrote a biography of Stirner (Max Stirner - sein Leben und sein Werk), published in German in 1898 (enlarged 1910, 1914), and translated into English in 2005.

Stirner was an only childOnly child

*An only child is a child with no older or younger siblings in his or her immediate family....
 to Albert Christian Heinrich Schmidt (1769-1807), a fluteFlute Summary

The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family....
 maker, and Sophia Elenora Reinlein (1778-1839) a Lutheran. Just six months after he was born his father died of TuberculosisTuberculosis

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which most commonly affects t...
 on the 19th of April 1807 at the age of 37. In 1809 his mother remarried to Heinrich Ballerstedt a PharmacistPharmacist

Pharmacists are health professionals who practice the art and science of pharmacy....
 and settled in West PrussiaWest Prussia

West Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773-1824 and 1878-1918. ...
n Kulm (now ChelmnoChelmno

Chelmno is a town in northern Poland with 22,000 inhabitants and the historical capital of Chelmno Land....
 in PolandPoland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country located in Central Europe....
).

When Stirner turned 20, he attended the University of Berlin, where he studied PhilologyPhilology

Philology, etymologically, is the love of words....
, PhilosophyPhilosophy

Philosophy is a field of study that includes diverse subfields such as aesthetics, epistemology, ethics, logic, and metaphys...
 and TheologyTheology

Theology is reasoned discourse concerning religion, spirituality and God....
. He attended the lectures of HegelGeorg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel [] was a German philosopher born in Stuttgart, Wrttemberg, in present-day southwest Germany....
, who was to become a source of inspiration for his thinking. While in Berlin in 1841, Stirner participated in discussions with a group of young philosophers called "Die FreienDie Freien

Die Freien was a 19th century circle of political philosophers in Germany, gathering for informal discussion over a peri...
" ("The Free"), and whom historians have subsequently categorized as the Young HegeliansYoung Hegelians

The Young Hegelians, later known as the Left Hegelians, were a group of students and young professors at the Universit...
. Some of the best known names in 19th century literatureLiterature

Literature is literally "acquaintance with letters" as in the first sense given in the Oxford English Dictionary ....
 and philosophy were members of this discussion group, including Bruno BauerBruno Bauer

Bruno Bauer, was a German theologian, philosopher and historian. ...
, Karl MarxKarl Marx

Karl Heinrich Marx was an immensely influential German philosopher, political economist, and socialist revolutionary....
, Friedrich Engels, Ludwig Feuerbach, and Arnold RugeArnold Ruge

Arnold Ruge was a German philosopher and political writer....
. For a lively account of Die FreienFacts About Die Freien

Die Freien was a 19th century circle of political philosophers in Germany, gathering for informal discussion over a peri...
 see "Red Room and White Beer" by Robert Hellman. While some of the Young Hegelians were eager subscribers to Hegel's dialectical method, and attempted to apply dialectical approaches to Hegel's conclusions, the left wing members of the Young Hegelians broke with Hegel. Feuerbach and Bauer led this charge.

Frequently the debates would take place at Hippel's, a Weinstube in FriedrichstraßeFriedrichstraße

The Friedrichstra?e is a major culture and shopping street in central Berlin, forming the core of the Friedrichstadt neighb...
, attended by, amongst others, the young Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, at that time still adherents of Feuerbach. Stirner met Engels many times and Engels even recalled that they were "great friends" (Duzbrüder). but it is still unclear whether Marx and Stirner ever met. It does not appear that Stirner contributed much to the discussions but was a faithful member of the club and an attentive listener.
The most-often reproduced portraitPortrait

A portrait is a painting, photograph, or other artistic representation of a person....
 of Stirner is a cartoon by Engels, drawn forty years later from memory on the request of Stirner's biographer John Henry MackayJohn Henry Mackay

John Henry Mackay was an individualist anarchist, thinker, writer, and homosexual....
; however, a "Byronic" oil-painting of Stirner also exists, with the subject's legal name indicated on the back, rather than his better-known alias.

Stirner worked as a schoolteacher in a gymnasium for young girls owned by Madame Gropius when he wrote his major work The Ego and Its OwnThe Ego and Its Own

The Ego and Its Own is the main work by German philosopher Max Stirner, published in 1844. ...
, which in part is a polemic against the leading Young Hegelians Ludwig Feuerbach and Bruno Bauer, but also against communists such as Wilhelm WeitlingWilhelm Weitling Summary

Wilhelm Weitling [vait-], 18081871 was the first German communist or socialist of importance....
 and the anarchist Pierre-Joseph ProudhonPierre-Joseph Proudhon

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon was a French mutualist political philosopher who was the first individual to call himself an "anarc...
. He resigned from his teaching position in anticipation of the controversy arising from his major work's publication in October 1844.

Stirner married twice; his first wife was a household servant, with whom he fell in love at an early age. Soon after their marriage, she died due to complications with pregnancy in 1838. In 1843 he married Marie DähnhardtMarie Dähnhardt

Marie D?hnhardt was a German intellectual associated with Die Freien, who was at one point married to the philosopher Max St...
, an intellectual associated with Die FreienDie Freien

Die Freien was a 19th century circle of political philosophers in Germany, gathering for informal discussion over a peri...
. They divorced in 1846. The Ego and Its Own was dedicated "to my sweetheart Marie Dähnhardt". Marie later converted to CatholicismRoman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church or Catholic Church is the Christian Church in full communion with the Pope, the Bishop of Ro...
 and died in 1902 in LondonLondon

London is the capital city of England and of the United Kingdom....
. One of the most curious events in those times was that Stirner planned and financed (with Marie's inheritance) an attempt by some Young Hegelians to own and operate a milk-shop on co-operative principles. This enterprise failed partly because the dairy farmers were suspicious of these well-dressed intellectuals. The milk shop was also so well decorated that most of the potential customers felt too poorly dressed to buy their milk there.

After The Ego and Its Own, Stirner wrote a reply Stirner's Critics and translated Adam SmithAdam Smith

Adam Smith, FRSE, was a Scottish political economist and moral philosopher....
's The Wealth of NationsThe Wealth of Nations

An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations is the magnum opus of the Scottish economist Adam Smi...
and Jean-Baptiste SayJean-Baptiste Say

Jean-Baptiste Say was a French economist and businessman....
's Traite d'Economie Politique into German, to little financial gain. He also wrote a compilation of texts titled History of Reaction in 1852. Stirner died in 1856 in Berlin from an infected insect bite; it is said that Bruno Bauer was the only Young Hegelian present at his funeral.

Philosophy


Stirner's claim that the state is an illegitimate institution has made him an influence upon the anarchist tradition; his thought is often seen as a form of individualist anarchismIndividualist anarchism

Individualist anarchism is an anarchist philosophical tradition that has a strong emphasis on equality of liberty and indiv...
. Stirner however does not identify himself as an anarchist, and includes anarchists among the parties subject to his criticism.

Stirner mocks revolutionRevolution

A revolution is a drastic change that usually occurs relatively quickly....
 in the traditional sense as tacitly statist. David LeopoldDavid Leopold Summary

Dr David Leopold is a fixed term fellow in Politics at Mansfield College, Oxford University....
's conclusion (in his introduction to the Cambridge University PressCambridge University Press Overview

Cambridge University Press is a publisher given a Royal Charter by Henry VIII in 1534, and one of the two privileged presses...
 edition) is that Stirner "...saw humankind as 'fretted in dark superstition' but denied that he sought their enlightenment and welfare" (Ibidem, p. xxxii).

As with the Classical Skeptics Stirner's method of self-liberation is opposed to faith or belief; life is free from "dogmatic presuppositions" (p. 135, 309) or any "fixed standpoint" (p. 295). It is not merely ChristianChristian

A Christian is a follower of Jesus of Nazareth, referred to as Christ....
 dogmaDogma

Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, ideology or any kind of organization, thought to be author...
 but also a variety of EuropeEurope

Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth....
an atheist ideologies that are condemned as crypto-ChristianChristian

A Christian is a follower of Jesus of Nazareth, referred to as Christ....
 for putting ideas in an equivalent role.

What Stirner proposes is not that concepts should rule people, but that people should rule concepts. The denial of absolute truth is rooted in Stirner's the "nothingness" of the self. Stirner presents a detached life of non-dogmatic, open-minded engagement with the world "as it is" (unpolluted by "faith", ChristianChristian

A Christian is a follower of Jesus of Nazareth, referred to as Christ....
 or humanistHumanism

Humanism is a broad category of active ethical philosophies that affirm the dignity and worth of all people, based on the ab...
), coupled with the awareness that there is no soul, no personal essence of any kind.

Hegel's influence

Scholars such as Karl LöwithKarl Löwith

Karl Lwith was a German-Jewish philosopher, a student of Heidegger....
 and Lawrence StepelevichLawrence Stepelevich

Lawrence S. Stepelevich is an American philosopher associated with a renewed interest in the works of Georg Wilhelm Friedri...
 have argued that Hegel was a major influence on The Ego and Its OwnThe Ego and Its Own

The Ego and Its Own is the main work by German philosopher Max Stirner, published in 1844. ...
. Stepelevich argues that while The Ego and its OwnThe Ego and Its Own

The Ego and Its Own is the main work by German philosopher Max Stirner, published in 1844. ...
evidently has an "un-Hegelian structure and tone to the work as a whole", as well as being fundamentally hostile to Hegel's conclusions about the self and the world, this does not mean that Hegel had no effect on Stirner.

To go beyond and against Hegel in true dialectical fashion is in some way continuing Hegel's project, and Stepelevich argues that this effort of Stirner's is, in fact, a completion of Hegel's project. Stepelevich concludes his argument referring to Jean HyppoliteJean Hyppolite

Jean Hyppolite was a French philosopher known for championing the work of Hegel, and other German philosophers, and educatin...
, who in summing up the intention of Hegel's Phenomenology, stated: "The history of the world is finished; all that is needed is for the specific individual to rediscover it in himself."

Works


The False Principle of our Education

In 1842 Das unwahre Prinzip unserer Erziehung (The false Principle of our Education) or Humanism and Realism, was published in Rheinische ZeitungRheinische Zeitung

The Rheinische Zeitung was a 19th-century German newspaper, edited most famously by Karl Marx....
, which was edited by Marx at the time. Written as a reaction to Otto Friedrich Theodor Heinsius' treatise Humanism vs. Realism. Stirner explains that education in either the classical humanist method or the practical realist method still lacks true value. Education is fulfilled in aiding the individual in becoming an individual.

Art and Religion

Art and Religion was also Published in Rheinische ZeitungRheinische Zeitung

The Rheinische Zeitung was a 19th-century German newspaper, edited most famously by Karl Marx....
 in 1842 while Marx was editor. It addresses Bauer and his publication against Hegel called Hegel's doctrine of religion and art judged from the standpoint of faith.

The Ego and Its Own

Stirner's main work is The Ego and Its OwnThe Ego and Its Own

The Ego and Its Own is the main work by German philosopher Max Stirner, published in 1844. ...
(org. 'Der Einzige und sein Eigentum'), which appeared in LeipzigLeipzig

Leipzig [] is the largest city in the federal state of Saxony in Germany with a population of 502,000....
 in 1844.In The Ego and Its OwnThe Ego and Its Own

The Ego and Its Own is the main work by German philosopher Max Stirner, published in 1844. ...
, Stirner launches a radical anti-authoritarianAnti-authoritarian

Anti-authoritarianism is opposition to authoritarianism, which is defined as "concentration of power in a leader or an elite...
 and individualist critique of contemporary PrussiaPrussia

Prussia was, most recently, a historic state originating in Brandenburg, an area which for centuries had substantial influen...
n society, and modern western society as such. He offers an approach to human existence which depicts the self as a creative non-entity, beyond languageLanguage

A language is a system of s, such as voice sounds, gestures or written symbols that encode or decode information....
 and realityReality

Reality in everyday usage means "everything that exists"....
.
The book proclaims that all religionFacts About Religion

Religion is a system of social coherence based on a common group of beliefs or attitudes concerning an object, person, unsee...
s and ideologiesIdeology

An ideology is an organized collection of ideas....
 rest on empty conceptConcept

A concept is an abstract idea or a mental symbol, typically associated with a corresponding representation in language or sy...
s. The same holds true for society's institutions, that claim authority over the individual, be it the stateState

A state is a set of institutions that possess the authority to make the rules that govern the people in one or more societie...
, legislationLaw

Law is the set of rules or norms of conduct which forbid, permit or mandate specified actions and relationships among people...
, the churchChurch

Sorry, no overview for this topic
, or the systems of educationEducation

Education is the process by which an individual is encouraged and enabled to develop fully his or her innate potential; it m...
 such as Universities.

Stirner's argument explores and extends the limits of Hegelian criticism, aiming his critique especially at those of his contemporaries, particularly Ludwig Feuerbach. And popular 'ideologiesIdeology

An ideology is an organized collection of ideas....
', including nationalismNationalism

Nationalism is an ideology that holds that a nation is the fundamental unit for human social life, and takes precedence ove...
, statismStatism

Statism is a very loose and often derogatory term that is used to describe:...
, liberalismLiberalism

Liberalism is an ideology, philosophical view, and political tradition which holds that liberty is the primary political val...
, socialismFacts About Socialism

Socialism refers to a broad array of doctrines or political movements that envisage a socio-economic system in which propert...
, communismCommunism

Communism is an ideology that seeks to establish a future classless, stateless social organization, based upon common owners...
 and humanismHumanism

Humanism is a broad category of active ethical philosophies that affirm the dignity and worth of all people, based on the ab...
.

Stirner's Critics

Recensenten Stirners, published in September 1845 is an article in which Stirner replies to critics of The Ego and its Own including Feuerbach.

History of Reaction

Geschichte der Reaction (History of Reaction) was published in two volumes in 1851 by Allgemeine Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt and immediately banned in Austria. It was written in the context of the recent 1848 revolutions in German statesRevolutions of 1848 in the German states

"Germany" at the time of the Revolutions of 1848 had been a collection of 38 states loosely bound together in the German Confedera...
 and is mainly a collection of the works of others selected and translated by Stirner. The introduction and some additional passages were Stirner's work. Edmund BurkeEdmund Burke

Edmund Burke was an Anglo-Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist, and philosopher, who served for many years i...
 and Auguste Comte are quoted to show two opposing views of revolutionRevolution

A revolution is a drastic change that usually occurs relatively quickly....
.

Critical reception

Stirner's work did not go unnoticed among his contemporaries. Stirner's attacks on ideology – in particular Feuerbach's humanismHumanism

Humanism is a broad category of active ethical philosophies that affirm the dignity and worth of all people, based on the ab...
 – forced Feuerbach into print. Moses HessMoses Hess

Moses Hess was a German Jewish philosopher and one of the founders of socialism....
 (at that time close to Marx) and Szeliga (pseudonym of Franz Zychlin von Zychlinski, an adherent of Bruno Bauer) also replied to Stirner. Stirner answered the criticism in a German periodical, in the article Stirner's Critics (org. Recensenten Stirners, September 1845), which clarifies several points of interest to readers of the book - especially in relation to Feuerbach.

While The German IdeologyThe German Ideology

The German Ideology was a book written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels around April or early May 1845....
so assured The Ego and Its OwnThe Ego and Its Own

The Ego and Its Own is the main work by German philosopher Max Stirner, published in 1844. ...
a place of curious interest among Marxist readers, Marx's ridicule of Stirner has played a significant role in the subsequent marginalization of Stirner's work, in popular and academic discourseDiscourse

Discourse is a term used in semantics as in discourse analysis, but it also refers to a social conception of discourse, ...
.

Marx and Engels


Engels commented on Stirner in poetry at the time of Die FreienDie Freien

Die Freien was a 19th century circle of political philosophers in Germany, gathering for informal discussion over a peri...
:
He once even recalled at how they were "great friends (Duzbrüder)". In November 1844, Engels wrote a letter to Marx. He reported first on a visit to Moses Hess in CologneCologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city after Berlin, Hamburg and Munich, and is the largest city both in the German Feder...
, and then went on to note that during this visit Hess had given him a press copy of a new book by Max Stirner, Der Einzige und Sein Eigenthum.In his letter to Marx, Engels promised to send a copy of Der Einzige to him, for it certainly deserved their attention, as Stirner: "had obviously, among the 'Free Ones', the most talent, independence and diligence". To begin with Engels was enthusiastic about the book, and expressed his opinions freely in letters to Marx:

Later, Marx and Engels wrote a major criticism of Stirner's work. The number of pages Marx and Engels devote to attacking Stirner in (the unexpurgated text of) The German IdeologyThe German Ideology

The German Ideology was a book written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels around April or early May 1845....
exceeds the total of Stirner's written works. As Isaiah BerlinIsaiah Berlin Overview

Sir Isaiah Berlin, OM, was a political philosopher and historian of ideas, regarded as one of the leading liberal thinkers o...
 has described it, Stirner "is pursued through five hundred pages of heavy-handed mockery and insult". The book was written in 1845–1846, but not published until 1932. Marx's lengthy, ferocious polemic against Stirner has since been considered an important turning point in Marx's intellectual development from "idealismIdealism

Idealism is an approach to philosophical enquiry which asserts that everything is of a mental nature....
" to "materialismMaterialism

In philosophy, materialism is that form of physicalism which holds that the only thing that can truly be said to exist i...
".

Stirner and post-structuralism

Saul NewmanSaul Newman

Saul Newman is a political theorist and central post-anarchist thinker, currently honorary research fellow at the University...
 calls Stirner a proto-poststructuralistPost-structuralism

Post-structuralism is a loose, historical term used to describe intellectual developments in Continental Philosophy and Crit...
 who on the one hand basically anticipated modern post-structuralists such as FoucaultFoucault

The name Foucault can refer to:*Lon Foucault...
, Lacan, Deleuze, and Derrida, but on the other had already transcended them, thus providing what they were unable to: paving the ground for a non-essentialistNon-essentialism

The belief that for any given entity there are no specified traits which that entity must have to be defined as that entity....
 critique of present liberal capitalist society. However, Stirner might have disagreed with the poststructuralist idea that as a product of systems, the self is a determination of external factors. For Stirner, the self cannot be a mere product of systems. There remains, for Stirner, a place deep within the self which language cannot explain and that social systems cannot destroy.

Comments by contemporaries

Twenty years after the appearance of Stirner's book, the author Friedrich Albert LangeFriedrich Albert Lange

Friedrich Albert Lange, was a German philosopher and sociologist....
 wrote the following:

In a sense, a "second positive" was soon to emerge in German philosophy, though not from Stirner, but from Friedrich NietzscheFriedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche , a Prussian-born philologist and philosopher, produced critiques of religion, morality, contemp...
.

See also

  • Geschichte des MaterialismusGeschichte des Materialismus

    Geschichte des Materialismus is a philosophical work of 1866, originally written in German by Friedrich Albert Lange....


External links


Relationship with other philosophers

  • , 'How Marx and Nietzsche suppressed their colleague Max Stirner and why he has intellectually survived them'
  • — "loves miracles, but can only perform a logical miracle," by Karl Marx
  • due to an encounter with Stirner's "The Ego", by Bernd A. Laska (2002)
  • , By Lawrence S. Stepelevich

Texts

  • , in the translation of Steven T. Byington.
  • bilingual: full text in German / abridged text in English (trans. Frederick M. Gordon)