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Philosophical anarchism is an anarchist school of thought which contends that the State
State

A state is a political Social contract with effective sovereignty over a geographic area and representing a population. These may be nation states, State or multinational states....
 lacks moral legitimacy
Legitimacy

:selfref|For the...
 but does not advocate revolution to eliminate it. Though philosophical anarchism does not necessarily imply any action or desire for the elimination of the State, philosophical anarchists do not believe that they have an obligation or duty to obey the State, or conversely, that the State has a right to command.

Philosophical anarchism is a component especially of individualist anarchism
Individualist anarchism

Individualist anarchism refers to any of several traditions that hold that "individual conscience and the pursuit of self-interest should not be constrained by any collective body or public authority" and that the imposition of "the system of democracy, of majority decision" over the decision of the individual "is held null and void." Benjami...
.






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Philosophical anarchism is an anarchist school of thought which contends that the State
State

A state is a political Social contract with effective sovereignty over a geographic area and representing a population. These may be nation states, State or multinational states....
 lacks moral legitimacy
Legitimacy

:selfref|For the...
 but does not advocate revolution to eliminate it. Though philosophical anarchism does not necessarily imply any action or desire for the elimination of the State, philosophical anarchists do not believe that they have an obligation or duty to obey the State, or conversely, that the State has a right to command.

Philosophical anarchism is a component especially of individualist anarchism
Individualist anarchism

Individualist anarchism refers to any of several traditions that hold that "individual conscience and the pursuit of self-interest should not be constrained by any collective body or public authority" and that the imposition of "the system of democracy, of majority decision" over the decision of the individual "is held null and void." Benjami...
. Philosophical anarchists of historical note include William Godwin
William Godwin

William Godwin was an English journalist, political philosophy and novelist. He is considered one of the first exponents of utilitarianism, and one of the first modern proponents of philosophical anarchism....
, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon was a French people politician, Mutualism political philosophy and socialist. He was a member of the French Parliament, and he was the first to call himself an anarchism....
, Benjamin Tucker
Benjamin Tucker

Benjamin Ricketson Tucker was a leading proponent of Anarchism in the United States individualist anarchism in the 19th century, and editor and publisher of the individualist anarchist periodical Liberty ....
, and Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau was an United States author, poet, Natural history, tax resistance, development criticism, surveyor, historian, philosophy, and leading Transcendentalism....
. Contemporary philosophical anarchists include John Simmons and Robert Paul Wolff
Robert Paul Wolff

Robert Paul Wolff is a contemporary political philosophy . Wolff has written widely on many topics in political philosophy such as Marxism, tolerance, liberalism, political theory justification and democracy....
.

According to scholar Allan Antliff
Allan Antliff

Allan W. Antliff is an anarchist activist, art critic and author who has written extensively on the topics of anarchism and art in North America....
, Benjamin Tucker
Benjamin Tucker

Benjamin Ricketson Tucker was a leading proponent of Anarchism in the United States individualist anarchism in the 19th century, and editor and publisher of the individualist anarchist periodical Liberty ....
 coined the term "philosophical anarchism," to distinguish peaceful evolutionary anarchism from revolutionary variants.

Variations

Philosophical anarchists may accept the existence of a minimal state
Minarchism

In civics, minarchism refers to a belief that the only proper role of the state is to protect individuals from aggression. Minarchists contend the state as a necessary evil, but should have only a minimal role in protecting the life, liberty, and property of each individual....
 as unfortunate, and usually temporary, "necessary evil" but argue that citizens do not have a moral obligation
Moral obligation

The term moral obligation has a number of meanings in moral philosophy, in religion, and in layman's terms. Generally speaking, when someone says of an act that it is a "moral obligation," they refer to a belief that the act is one prescribed by their set of Value s....
 to obey the state when its laws conflict with individual autonomy. As conceived by William Godwin
William Godwin

William Godwin was an English journalist, political philosophy and novelist. He is considered one of the first exponents of utilitarianism, and one of the first modern proponents of philosophical anarchism....
, it requires individuals to act in accordance with their own judgments and to allow every other individual the same liberty; conceived egoistically as by Max Stirner
Max Stirner

Johann Kaspar Schmidt , better known as Max Stirner , was a German philosopher, who ranks as one of the literary fathers of nihilism, existentialism, post-modernism and anarchism, especially of individualist anarchism....
, it implies that 'the unique one' who truly 'owns himself' recognizes no duties to others; within the limit of his might, he does what is right for him.

Rather than taking up arms to bring down the state, philosophical anarchists "have worked for a gradual change to free the individual from what they thought were the oppressive laws and social constraints of the modern state and allow all individuals to become self-determining and value-creating." They may oppose the immediate elimination of the state by violent means out of concern that it would be left unsecured against the establishment of a more harmful and oppressive state. This is especially true among those anarchists who consider violence and the state as synonymous, or who consider it counterproductive where public reaction to violence results in increased "law enforcement" efforts.

Notable philosophical anarchists

William Godwin
William Godwin

William Godwin was an English journalist, political philosophy and novelist. He is considered one of the first exponents of utilitarianism, and one of the first modern proponents of philosophical anarchism....
, the founder of philosophical anarchism, believed that government was a "necessary evil" but that it will become increasingly unnecessary and powerless by the gradual spread of knowledge. Godwin said, The nineteen century individualist anarchist Victor Yarros
Victor Yarros

Victor Yarros was an American Anarchism and author. He was a prolific contributor to the individualist anarchist periodical in the United States called Liberty ....
 also stated a typical philosophical anarchist position when he said, Similarly, philosophical anarchist Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau was an United States author, poet, Natural history, tax resistance, development criticism, surveyor, historian, philosophy, and leading Transcendentalism....
 asserted Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States , the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence , and one of the most influential Founding Fathers of the United States for his promotion of the ideals of republicanism in the United States....
 is also sometimes seen as a philosophical anarchist, who said

According to philosophical anarchist John Simmons:

Philosophical anarchists may not wish to disrupt a particular state, but they do not necessarily think anyone has an obligation to obey the state. According to philosophical anarchist Robert Paul Wolff
Robert Paul Wolff

Robert Paul Wolff is a contemporary political philosophy . Wolff has written widely on many topics in political philosophy such as Marxism, tolerance, liberalism, political theory justification and democracy....
, there can be no such thing as a government which "has a right to command and whose subjects have a binding obligation to obey."

Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was a major political and spiritual leader of India and the Indian independence movement. He was the pioneer of satyagraha?resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience, firmly founded upon ahimsa or total non-violence?which led India to Indian independence movement and inspired movements for civi...
 also identified himself as a philosophical anarchist.

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