Editing Individualist anarchism (section)

==== Egoism ====
{{main|Egoist anarchism|Philosophy of Max Stirner}}
{{see also|Ethical egoism|Moral nihilism}}
[[Max Stirner]]'s philosophy, sometimes called egoism, is a form of individualist anarchism.<ref>{{cite book|author-link=David Goodway|last=Goodway |first=David |title=Anarchist Seeds Beneath the Snow |publisher=Liverpool University Press |year=2006 |page=[https://archive.org/details/anarchistseedsbe00good/page/n111 99]|isbn=1846310261|title-link=Anarchist Seeds Beneath the Snow }}</ref> Stirner was a [[Young Hegelians|Hegelian]] philosopher whose "name appears with familiar regularity in historically oriented surveys of anarchist thought as one of the earliest and best-known exponents of individualist anarchism".<ref name=stirnersep/> In 1844, Stirner's work ''[[The Ego and Its Own]]'' was published and is considered to be "a founding text in the tradition of individualist anarchism".<ref name=stirnersep/> Stirner does not recommend that the individual try to eliminate the state, but simply that they disregard the state when it conflicts with one's autonomous choices and go along with it when doing so is conducive to one's interests.<ref>Moggach, Douglas. The New Hegelians. Cambridge University Press, 2006 p. 190.</ref> Stirner says that the egoist rejects pursuit of devotion to "a great idea, a good cause, a doctrine, a system, a lofty calling", arguing that the egoist has no political calling, but rather "lives themselves out" without regard to "how well or ill humanity may fare thereby".<ref>Moggach, Douglas. The New Hegelians. Cambridge University Press, 2006 p. 183.</ref> Stirner held that the only limitation on the rights of the individual is that individual's power to obtain what he desires.<ref>The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge. Encyclopedia Corporation. p. 176</ref> Stirner proposes that most commonly accepted social institutions, including the notion of [[State (polity)|state]], [[property as a right]], [[natural rights]] in general and the very notion of "society" as a legal and ideal abstractness, were mere spooks in the mind. Stirner wants to "abolish not only the state but also society as an institution responsible for its members".<ref>Heider, Ulrike. ''Anarchism: Left, Right and Green'', San Francisco: City Lights Books, 1994, pp. 95–96</ref> Stirner advocated self-assertion and foresaw [[Union of egoists]], non-systematic associations which he proposed in as a form of organization in place of the state.<ref name=karl>{{cite book | last = Thomas | first = Paul |author-link=Paul Thomas (Marx scholar) |title=[[Karl Marx and the Anarchists]] | publisher = [[Routledge]]/[[Kegan Paul]] | location = London | year = 1985 | isbn = 0710206852 |page=[https://archive.org/details/karlmarxanarchis00thom/page/n146 142]}}</ref> A Union is understood as a relation between egoists which is continually renewed by all parties' support through an act of will.<ref name=woodcock20/><ref name="nonserviam">{{cite journal|url=http://i-studies.com/journal/n/pdf/nsi-17.pdf#page=13 |title=The union of egoists |journal=Non Serviam |volume=1 |first=Svein Olav |last=Nyberg |pages=13–14 |location=Oslo, Norway |publisher=Svein Olav Nyberg |oclc=47758413 |access-date=1 September 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101207042220/http://i-studies.com/journal/n/pdf/nsi-17.pdf |archive-date=7 December 2010 }}</ref> Even murder is permissible "if it is right for me",<ref>Moggach, Douglas. The New Hegelians. Cambridge University Press, 2006 p. 191</ref> although it is claimed by egoist anarchists that egoism will foster genuine and spontaneous unions between individuals.<ref name=carlson>{{cite book | last = Carlson | first = Andrew | title = Anarchism in Germany |title-link=Anarchism in Germany (book) | publisher = Scarecrow Press | location = Metuchen | year = 1972 | isbn = 0810804840 | chapter-url = http://tmh.floonet.net/articles/carlson.html | chapter = Philosophical Egoism: German Antecedents | access-date = 2008-12-04 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081210202509/http://tmh.floonet.net/articles/carlson.html | archive-date = 2008-12-10 }}</ref>

Stirner's concept of "egoistic property" not only a lack of moral restraint on how one obtains and uses ''things'', but includes other people as well.<ref>Moggach, Douglas. The New Hegelians. Cambridge University Press, 2006 p. 194</ref> His embrace of egotism is in stark contrast to Godwin's [[altruism]]. Although Stirner was opposed to [[communism]], for the same reasons he opposed [[capitalism]], [[humanism]], [[liberalism]], [[Property rights (economics)|property rights]] and [[nationalism]], seeing them as forms of authority over the individual and as spooks in the mind, he has influenced many [[anarcho-communists]] and [[post-left anarchists]]. The writers of ''An Anarchist FAQ'' report that "many in the anarchist movement in Glasgow, Scotland, took Stirner's 'Union of egoists' literally as the basis for their [[anarcho-syndicalist]] organising in the 1940s and beyond". Similarly, the noted anarchist historian [[Max Nettlau]] states that "[o]n reading Stirner, I maintain that he cannot be interpreted except in a socialist sense".<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=McKay|editor-first=Iain|year=2012|chapter=What are the ideas of Max Stirner?|title=An Anarchist FAQ|volume=II|location=Stirling|publisher=AK Press|isbn=9781849351225}}</ref>

This position on property is quite different from the native American, natural law, form of individualist anarchism which defends the inviolability of the [[private property]] that has been earned through labor.<ref>[[David Weir (academic)|Weir]], David. Anarchy & Culture. [[University of Massachusetts Press]]. 1997. p. 146</ref> Other egoists include [[James L. Walker]], [[Sidney Parker (anarchist)|Sidney Parker]], [[Dora Marsden]] and [[John Beverley Robinson (anarchist)|John Beverly Robinson]]. In Russia, individualist anarchism inspired by Stirner combined with an appreciation for [[Friedrich Nietzsche]] attracted a small following of bohemian artists and intellectuals such as [[Lev Chernyi]] as well as a few lone wolves who found self-expression in crime and violence.<ref name=levy>Levy, Carl. "[http://uk.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761568770_1/Anarchism.html Anarchism]". Microsoft [[Encarta]] Online Encyclopedia 2007. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091013001858/http://uk.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761568770_1/Anarchism.html |date=20091031000000 }} 2009-10-31.</ref> They rejected organizing, believing that only unorganized individuals were safe from coercion and domination, believing this kept them true to the ideals of anarchism.<ref>Avrich, Paul. "The Anarchists in the Russian Revolution". ''Russian Review'', Vol. 26, No. 4. (Oct., 1967). p. 343</ref> This type of individualist anarchism inspired [[anarcha-feminist]] [[Emma Goldman]].<ref name=levy/>