What was Max Stirner philosophy?

What was Max Stirner philosophy?

Stirner believed that there was no objective social reality independent of the individual; social classes, the state, the masses, and humanity are abstractions and therefore need not be considered seriously. He wrote of a finite, empirical ego, which he saw as the motive force of every human action.

What did Marx think of Stirner?

Marx insists that “for Stirner, right does not arise from the material conditions of people and the resulting antagonism of people against one mother but from their struggle against their own concept which they should ‘get out of their heads”’ without ever touching the world itself.

What is egoism Stirner?

Stirner’s philosophy is usually called “egoism”. He says that the egoist rejects pursuit of devotion to “a great idea, a good cause, a doctrine, a system, a lofty calling”, saying that the egoist has no political calling, but rather “lives themselves out” without regard to “how well or ill humanity may fare thereby”.

Was Stirner a nihilist?

Stirner belonged to movements which Marx rejected as ‘intel- lectual nihilists’. Following the nihilist logic to its ultimate implic- ations, he denied God and Christian values, the State’s authority, and all traditional morality. But he went still further, and denied all ethical obligations.

Is egoism a spook?

Egoism. The egoist, before whom the humane shudder, is a spook as much as the devil is: he exists only as a bogie and phantasm in their brain.

Why are there no pictures of Stirner?

The most-often reproduced portrait of Stirner is a cartoon by Engels, drawn 40 years later from memory at the request of Stirner’s biographer, John Henry Mackay . He died in 1856, which was before photography became very common, so it’s unlikely there is a photographic portrait.

What is an example of egoism?

For example, psychological egoism asserts that a person will always act in their own self-interest, even when it appears as though they aren’t. Imagine that someone tells you that they volunteer at a soup kitchen once a month because they want to help the homeless.

What is a spook anarchism?

He advocated egoism and a form of amoralism in which individuals would unite in Unions of egoists only when it was in their self-interest to do so. He denies society as being an actual entity, calling society a “spook” and that “the individuals are its reality.”