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Title: An Introduction to Egoism Author: Am Dampierre Date: February 2, 2021 Language: en Topics: egoism, anti-capitalism, anti-state, anarchism, individualism, Max Stirner Source: https://amdampierre.wordpress.com/2021/02/02/an-introduction-to-egoism/ Notes: This is a short introduction, and I recommend read The Unique and Its Property, Translation by Wolfi Landstreicher
Egoism is the Philosophy put out by Max Stirner, and 19th century German
philosopher. His thought is that of anti-politics, putting out a attack
on anything and everything which presents itself as a “Fixed Idea” or
“Phantom” as he puts it. These Fixed Ideas are social constructions
which are alien to us, and by being outside of ourselves alienate us
from the desire of our Egos or “Einzige”
The commodification of our Einzige therefore leads to a alienation of
the self from the self. The logical solution then would be the
destruction of the commodification and ergo, the destruction of
capitalism, in this Egoism as put out by Stirner is inherently
anti-capitalist.
Stirner also warns of laws, rules, and other restrictions on the self,
put out by the state to control the Einzige of the Individual. These
things restrict us, they take the morals and ethics of religion and
force them upon every citizen. The state says who can or cannot do
things, it even says who is or isn’t human. Therefore we must be
Anarchist, destroying any form of authority or hierarchy there is.
The state also works with capital, a horrible combination, to chain us
up further. It gives funding to corporations, restricts who may or may
not own capital (Usually those of a white, male, and wealthy
background). They put those who they deem “Inhuman” into prisons and
force them to work for free or very little, sometimes pennies, and steal
their labor. We become that which is Illegal, we become Inhuman, we
become Monsters to Society itself, we take it as our enemy and attack
it, slash at its fat belly any chance we get. This is the fate for the
Egoist, because through the states enforcement of “Humanity” as the same
as “Law Abiding” or “Moral” we are thrust into the Epitaph of “Monster”.
He also made the point to critique Humanism and all its offshoots.
Humanism being nothing but religious thought packaged into something
that seems “Logical” and “Compassionate”, like stated before in a state
under “Humanism” it alone can decide who is or isn’t human, and cast
those who they say aren’t into the pit. For this we must be against the
notion and ideal of “Human”, we aren’t simply humans, we are
individuals.
Stirner points out that the title of “Human” tells us nothing about
eachother, likewise with other titles, such of Nation, Gender.
Sexuality, and even our names. Stirner is blatantly against these
things, telling us we are utterly Unique and will never be fully
realized by our “Titles”, we should then abandon them and live our in
our “Ownness”. We must instead seek to express ourselves to the best of
our ability without such things, simply living with our Ownness.
Ownness to Stirner was a odd thing, it is us, and at the same time is
things which lie outside of what we consider “Us”. Almost anything can
come into our “Ownness” by turning it into our “Property”, but not in
the traditional sense. Property was something which we use, constantly,
consuming and using, and destroying, and creating, always. We only keep
something as our Property so long as we have to power to protect it, or
more so the power to keep using it. We must take everything within
ourselves, like a thief we shall take all in our sights. If something
ceases being of use to us, we destroy it, consume it, or simply give it
away, it means nothing to me at that point anyways. So almost anything
can be in our “Ownness”,be it material or immaterial. The most obvious
example is things which we hold onto, our cloths, diaries, phones, etc.
But it is also thoughts, the immaterial, Philosophy, Gender, even the
Spiritual.
This idea of “Property”, once examined and taken within us shows that
the fixed idea, the Phantom of “Property” that the capitalistic world
sets our falls apart quickly, like cards blown by a swift breeze we can
blow it apart with out own
ever-consuming Ownness. The “Property” which Capitalist try to peddle us
makes our own Property(Our Ownness) into a commodity to sell to use,
forcing us to toil away day after day for something that’s already ours,
we must simply take it, become that Thief! Become the Inhuman Criminal
and steal which is yours!
Our “Ownness” is a part of us, it is our Einzige or Unique. Our Einzige
is totally Unique, and is so for everything in existence and beyond.
Such things like language cannot even scratch the surface in describing
that our Einzige in and the Uniqueness which it holds. Even calling it
“Einzige”, “Ego”, or “Unique” can be considered not full, for it isn’t
nameable, it isn’t something we can explain, it is nothing, but it is
everything. Something which Stirner called “The Creative Nothing”, “A
Nothing out of Which Everything is Created”. We are this Creative
Nothing, and his Philosophical Thought revolves around it. You must
explore yourself, become the Aristocratic Hermit, and discover deep into
your Creative Nothing. And anything which tries to stop you, must be
destroyed.
This is all well and good, but what about that which is Alien to us? Our
own Alienation comes from many things in our lives, this set out and
created by Society, Civilization, Religion, Capital, and State. These
Fixed Ideas haunt our heads, holding ourselves back from experiencing
our Einzige. We are totally defined by these Phantoms in our current
state, and to Stirner the only way to break free from them is to either
“Banish” them or “Consume” them.
When we feel we should no longer be defined by such Phantoms, that we
desire to stop the alien from chaining us, we banish it. We tear it from
us and throw it out, totally destroy it. We become Iconoclasts, and
ravage the Sacred Alter of Phantoms, freeing ourselves so that we may be
free. This sounds easy enough but is a difficult task to be fulfilled.
Take Gender, today Trans people banish their previous gender, destroy
the phantom, and thus the icon of their own alienation. Obviously this
is a difficult task in itself, but if our trans siblings can do it then
we very well can as well.
We might also very well enjoy the phantom which haunts us, which
alienates us. A close companion, we decide instead to bring it into
ourselves, to “Consume” it and make it our own. Instead of merely
destroying it we pull it into us, examine it closely and decide whether
or not to bring it into ourselves. The Icon then becomes our Tool, a
Tool to use as we please. This is examined by Sexuality, we look at
another and then them deeply, we simply can banish our love! So instead
we take our object of our desire and bring it into us, and make it ours.
This is done easily, and can very much easily turn into a habit,
rationalizing our behaviors and own phantoms with “I need it” or “I want
it”. Half-assed logic will lead only to downfall, we must closely
examine that phantom to decide if we do or don’t need it, then take our
action.
Stirner emphasized the fulfillment of the Einzige, destroying and
attacking all that lies in its way. What it desires is always beneficial
to us or others. But he takes a Nihilistic stance in this, rejecting
everything, attacking everyone, and finally once the slaughter has been
finished, laughs in our faces declaring that “Everything is Nothing to
Me”. This core thought of rejecting everything that is a fixed idea, be
it morals, ethics, or things like love or freedom is crucial to his
philosophy. If we are to examine the phantoms in our lives we must also
treat everything around us as if it is nothing, treat it as if it means
nothing to us, for it is already ours.
The Egoism of Max Stirner is a interesting philosophy, it can be used as
a tool of critique of almost everything, and as a vehicle for self
development and changing the world view of the individual. It can
improve the quality of ones life. If not, it means nothing to me
anyways.