The Ego and His Own A Masterpiece on Western Philosophy

Stirner, Max

ISBN 10: 6057748492 / ISBN 13: 9786057748492

Published by E-Kitap Projesi and Cheapest Books, 1844

About this Item

New Book. Shipped from UK. Established seller since 2000.

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Ego and His Own A Masterpiece on Western Philosophy
• Publisher: E-Kitap Projesi and Cheapest Books
• Publication Date: 1844
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 6057748492
• ISBN 13: 9786057748492
• Binding: HRD
• Condition: New
• Weight: 867 grams

About this title

Synopsis

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). 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.