The Ego and His Own: #Most Influential Work of Stirner
Nov 2024 · E-Kitap Projesi & Cheapest Books
Ebook
500
Pages
family_home
Eligible
info
reportRatings and reviews aren’t verified Learn More
About this ebook
The Ego and Its Own is an 1844 work by German philosopher Max Stirner. It presents a radically nominalist and individualist critique of, on the one hand, Christianity, nationalism and traditional morality, and on the other, humanism, utilitarianism, liberalism and much of the then-burgeoning socialist movement, advocating instead an amoral (although importantly not inherently immoral or antisocial) egoism. 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. Writing chiefly for working-class readers, he taught that all persons are capable of the self-awareness that would make them "egoists," or true individuals. Max Stirner in his book The Ego and His Own (1845) recommended, instead of social reform, a ruthless individualism that should seek satisfaction by any means and at whatever risk. A small group of other individualists.
About the author
Max Stirner, pseudonym of Johann Kaspar Schmidt, (1806, Bayreuth, Bavaria [Germany]—died 1856, Berlin, Prussia), German antistatist philosopher in whose writings many anarchists of the late 19th and the 20th centuries found ideological inspiration. His thought is sometimes regarded as a source of 20th-century existentialism. After teaching in a girls' preparatory school in Berlin, Stirner made a scanty living as a translator, preparing what became a standard German version of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations. He contributed articles to the liberal periodical Rheinische Zeitung, which was in part edited by Karl Marx. Later Marx tried to refute Stirner's ideas, ironically calling him "Sankt Max" ("Saint Max"). His most influential work is Der Einzige und sein Eigentum (1845; The Ego and His Own).
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
