'Johann Kaspar Schmidt' (
October 25,
1806 –
June 26,
1856), better known as 'Max Stirner' (the ''
nom de plume'' 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
nihilism,
existentialism,
post-modernism and
anarchism, especially of
individualist anarchism.
Stirner's main work is ''
The Ego and Its Own'', also known as ''The Ego and His Own'' (''Der Einzige und sein Eigentum'' in German, which translates literally as ''The Individual and his Property''). This work was first published in 1844 in
Leipzig, and has since appeared in numerous editions and translations.
Biography
Max Stirner's birthplace in Bayreuth
Stirner was born in
Bayreuth,
Bavaria, on
October 25,
1806. What little is known of his life is mostly due to the
Scottish born
German writer
John Henry Mackay, who wrote a biography of Stirner (''Max Stirner - sein Leben und sein Werk''), published in German in 1898. An English translation was published in 2005.
Stirner was an
only child to Albert Christian Heinrich Schmidt (1769-1807), a
flute maker, and Sophia Elenora Reinlein (1778-1839) a
Lutheran. Just six months after he was born his father died of
Tuberculosis on the 19th of April 1807 at the age of 37.
[2] In 1809 his mother remarried to Heinrich Ballerstedt a
Pharmacist and settled in Kulm (now
Chełmno in
Poland).
When Stirner turned 20, he attended the
University of Berlin,
[3] where he studied
Philology,
Philosophy and
Theology. He attended the lectures of
Hegel, who was to become a source of inspiration for his thinking.
[4] (Hegel's influence on Stirner's thinking is debatable, and is discussed in more detail
below.)
While in Berlin in 1841, Stirner participated in discussions with a group of young philosophers called "The Free" (
Die Freien), and whom historians have subsequently categorized as the so-called
Young Hegelians. Some of the best known names in
19th century literature and
philosophy were members of this discussion group, including
Bruno Bauer,
Karl Marx,
Friedrich Engels,
Ludwig Feuerbach, and
Arnold Ruge. For a lively account of
Die Freien 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 (
wine bar) in
Friedrichstraße, 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).
[5] 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.
[6]
Cover of ''Max Stirner - His Life and Work'' (English translation) by
John Henry Mackay.
The only portrait we have of Stirner consists of a cartoon by Engels, drawn forty years later from memory on the request of Stirner's biographer
John Henry Mackay.
Stirner worked as a
schoolteacher in a gymnasium for young girls owned by Madame Gropius
[7] when he wrote his major work ''
The Ego and Its Own'', which in part is a polemic against both Hegel and some Young Hegelians including Ludwig Feuerbach and Bruno Bauer, but also against
communists such as
Wilhelm Weitling and the
anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. 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 Dähnhardt, an intellectual associated with
Die Freien. They divorced in 1846. ''The Ego and Its Own'' was dedicated "to my sweetheart Marie Dähnhardt". Marie later converted to
Catholicism and died in 1902 in
London.
One of the most curious events in those times was that Stirner planned and financed (with his second wife'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 German 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 published German translations of
Adam Smith's ''
The Wealth of Nations'' and
Jean-Baptiste Say's ''Traite d'Economie Politique,'' to little financial gain. He also replied to his critics in a small work titled ''History of Reaction'' in 1852.
In 1856, Stirner died in Berlin from an infected insect bite. It is said that Bruno Bauer was the only Young Hegelian present at his funeral.
Philosophy
Main articles: Philosophy of Max Stirner
Caricature of Max Stirner taken from a sketch by Friedrich Engels (1820 - 1895) of the meetings of "Die Freien".
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 anarchism. Stirner however does not identify himself as an anarchist, and includes anarchists among the parties subject to his criticism.
Stirner mocks
revolution in the traditional sense as tacitly statist.
David Leopold's conclusion (in his introduction to the
Cambridge University Press 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
Christian dogma but also a variety of
European atheist ideologies that are condemned as crypto-
Christian 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",
Christian or
humanist), coupled with the awareness that there is no soul, no personal essence of any kind.
Hegel's influence
Scholars such as
Karl Löwith and Lawrence Stepelevich have argued that Hegel was a major influence on ''
The Ego and Its Own''. Stepelevich argues that while ''
The Ego and its Own'' 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 Hyppolite, 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 Zeitung, which was edited by
Marx at the time.
[8] Written as a reaction to Otto Friedrich Theodor Heinsius treatise on Humanism vs. Realism. Stirner explains that education in the classical humanists method or the practical education of the realists, still lacks true value. Education is part of the objective of becoming an individual and as an individual you should acquire education for the benefit it gives you in becoming an individual.
''Art and Religion''
''Art and Religion'' was also Published in
Rheinische Zeitung 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''
Main articles: The Ego and Its Own
Stirner's main work is ''
The Ego and Its Own'' (org. 'Der Einzige und sein Eigentum'), which appeared in
Leipzig in 1844.In ''
The Ego and Its Own'', Stirner launches a radical
anti-authoritarian and
individualist critique of contemporary
Prussian society, and modern western society as such. He offers an approach to human existence which depicts the self as a creative non-entity, beyond
language and
reality.
The book proclaims that all
religions and
ideologies rest on empty
concepts. The same holds true for society's institutions, that claim authority over the individual, be it the
state,
legislation, the
church, or the systems of
education 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 '
ideologies', including
nationalism,
statism,
liberalism,
socialism,
communism and
humanism.
''Stirner's Critics''
''Recensenten Stirners'', published in September 1845 is an article which replys 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.
[9] It was written in the context of the recent
German revolution of 1848/49 (March Revolution) 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 Burke and
Auguste Comte are quoted to show two opposing views of Revolution.
Criticism
Stirner's work did not go unnoticed among his contemporaries. Stirner's attacks on ideology, in particular Feuerbach's humanism, forced Feuerbach into print.
Moses Hess (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 Ideology'' so assured ''
The Ego and Its Own'' 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
discourse.
Influence
Stirner's philosophy has been almost completely ignored by professional philosophers. Characterized as disturbing and something that ought not even be mentioned in polite company, sometimes even considered a direct threat to civilization. It should be examined as briefly as possible and is then best forgotten.
Edmund Husserl once warned a small audience about the "seducing power" of »Der Einzige« — but never mentioned it in his writing
[1]. As the renowned art critic
Herbert Read observed, Stirner's book has remained 'stuck in the gizzard' of Western culture since it first appeared.
Many thinkers have read, and been affected by ''
The Ego and Its Own'' in their youth including
Rudolf Steiner,
Gustav Landauer,
Carl Schmitt and
Jürgen Habermas. But few openly admit any influence on their own thinking.
Ernst Jünger's book ''
Eumeswil'', had the character of the "
Anarch", based on Stirner's "Einzige."
Several other
authors,
philosophers and
artists have cited, quoted or otherwise referred to Max Stirner. They include
Albert Camus in ''The Rebel'' (the section on Stirner is omitted from the majority of English editions including
Penguin's) ,
Benjamin Tucker,
Dora Marsden,
Georg Brandes,
Rudolf Steiner,
Robert Anton Wilson, Italian individualist anarchist
Frank Brand, the notorious antiartist
Marcel Duchamp, several writers of the
Situationist International, and
Max Ernst, who titled a 1925 painting ''L'unique et sa propriété''. The Italian dictator
Benito Mussolini read and was inspired by Stirner, and made several references to him in his newspaper articles, prior to rising to
power.
Since its appearance in 1844, ''
The Ego and Its Own'' has seen periodic revivals of popular, political and academic interest, based around widely divergent translations and interpretations — some psychological, others political in their emphasis. Today, many ideas associated with
post-left anarchy criticism of ideology and uncompromising
individualism - are clearly related to Stirner's. He has also been regarded as pioneering
individualist feminism, since his objection to any absolute concept also clearly counts
gender roles as 'spooks'. His ideas were also adopted by
post-anarchism, with
Saul Newman largely in agreement with many of Stirner's criticisms of classical anarchism, including his rejection of revolution and
essentialism.
Marx and Engels
Caricature by
Friedrich Engels (1820 - 1895) of the meetings of ''"Die Freien"''
Engels commented on Stirner in poetry at the time of
Die Freien:
He once even recalled at how they were "great friends (Duzbrüder)".
[5] In November 1844, Engels wrote a letter to Marx. He reported first on a visit to Moses Hess in
Cologne, 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".
[5] To begin with Engels was enthusiastic about the book, and expressed his opinions freely in letters to Marx:
Later, Marx wrote a major criticism of Stirner's Work, co-authored with Engels, the number of pages Marx and Engels devote to attacking Stirner in (the unexpurgated text of) ''
The German Ideology'' exceeds the total of Stirner's written works. As
Isaiah Berlin has described it, Stirner "is pursued through five hundred pages of heavy-handed mockery and insult".
[12] 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 "
idealism" to "
materialism".
Stirner and post-structuralism
Saul Newman calls Stirner a proto-poststructuralist who on the one hand basically anticipated modern post-structuralists such as
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-Essentialist" 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.
The Nietzsche Dispute
It has been argued that
Friedrich Nietzsche did read Stirner's book, yet even he did not mention Stirner anywhere in his work, his letters, or his papers
[2]. As Nietzsche studied
Friedrich Albert Lange's history of
Materialism, where Stirner is mentioned in comparison to
Schopenhauer, it is likely that he was at least aware of Stirner.
Franz Overbeck said that he went through the records of the university library of Nietzsche's favourite student Adolf Baumgarten and on the 14th of July 1874 he had borrowed Stirner's book,
[13] "on Nietzsche's warmest recommendations". He also recalled that Nietzsche came to visit Overbeck and his wife in the winter of 1878/1879, and had spoken of two writers he had taken an interest in, Klinger and Stirner.
[14] Nietzsche's thinking sometimes resembles Stirner's to such a degree that
Eduard von Hartmann called him a plagiarist. This seems too simple an explanation of what Nietzsche might have done with Stirner's ideas, if he was aware of them. Stirner's book had been in oblivion for half a century, and only after Nietzsche became well-known in the 1890s did Stirner become more well-known, although only as an awkward predecessor of Nietzsche. It has been suggested that Nietzsche - as with Marx's concept of
historical materialism in 1845/46 - did not really plagiarize Stirner but instead "superseded" him by creating a philosophy.
Comments by contemporaries
Twenty years after the appearance of Stirner's book, the author
Friedrich Albert Lange wrote the following:
Notes
1. The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, volume 8, The Macmillan Company and The Free Press, New York 1967.
2. Max Stirner: His Work and Life p.28
3. Max Stirner: His Work and Life p.37
4. The Encyclopedia of Philsosophy, volume 8, The Macmillan Company and The Free Press, New York 1967.
5. Lawrence L Stepelevich, The revival of Max Stirner
6. Gide Charles & Rist, Charles. A History of Economic Doctrines from the Time of the Physiocrats to the Present Day. Harrap 1956, p. 612 "Max Stirner, who was one of the most faithful members and a most attentive listener, although it does not seem that he contributed much to the discussion..."
7. The Encyclopedia of Philsosophy, volume 8, The Macmillan Company and The Free Press, New York 1967
8. Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, The Macmillan company Press, New York, 1967
9. Max Stirner his life and his work, John Henry Mackay, 2005
10. Lawrence L Stepelevich, The revival of Max Stirner
11. Lawrence L Stepelevich, The revival of Max Stirner
12. I. Berlin, Karl Marx (New York, 1963), 143.
13. Safranski, Rudiger. Nietzsche: a Philosophical Biography Granta Books, New York (2002), p.126-7.
14. Franz Overbeck's Memoirs on Nietzsche "Neue Rundschau", 17 (1906), vol.1.
References
★ Stirner, Max: ''Der Einzige und sein Eigentum'' (1845 [October 1844]). Stuttgart: Reclam-Verlag, 1972ff; engl. trans. ''
The Ego and Its Own'' (1907), ed.
David Leopold, Cambridge/ New York: CUP 1995
★ Stirner, Max: "Recensenten Stirners" (Sept. 1845). In: ''Parerga, Kritiken, Repliken'', Bernd A. Laska, ed., Nürnberg: LSR-Verlag, 1986; engl. trans. ''Stirner's Critics'' (abridged), see below
External links
General
★
Max Stirner in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, an extensive introduction
★
Svein Olav Nybergs website on Max Stirner, with extensive links to texts and references
★
/ Max Stirner Project / H. Ibrahim Türkdogan
★
Non Serviam, Internet periodical dedicated to Stirner's ideas
Relationship with other philosophers
★
Max Stirner, a durable dissident, 'How Marx and Nietzsche suppressed their colleague Max Stirner and why he has intellectually survived them'
★
''Stirner Delighted in His Construction'' — "loves miracles, but can only perform a logical miracle," by Karl Marx
★
Nietzsche's initial crisis due to an encounter with Stirner's "The Ego", by Bernd A. Laska (2002)
★
Max Stirner As Hegelian, By Lawrence S. Stepelevich
Texts
★
The complete original text in German of ''Der Einzige und sein Eigentum''
★
The complete English edition of "The Ego and his Own", in the translation of Steven T. Byington.
★
Recensenten Stirners / Stirner's Critics bilingual: full text in German / abridged text in English (trans. Frederick M. Gordon)
العربية
ä¸å›½
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिनà¥à¤¦à¥€
Italiano
日本語
Português
РуÑÑкий
Español
