Egoist anarchism has been called a proto-
existentialist philosopher while at the same time is a central theorist of individualist anarchism. Egoist anarchism is a school of
anarchist thought that originated in the
philosophy of Max Stirner, a 19th-century
Hegelian philosopher whose "name appears with familiar regularity in historically orientated surveys of anarchist thought as one of the earliest and best-known exponents of
individualist anarchism." which Stirner proposed as a form of organisation in place of the
state. Egoist anarchists argue that egoism will foster genuine and spontaneous union between individuals. Stirner and
Nietzsche, who
exerted influence on anarchism despite its opposition, were
frequently compared by French "literary anarchists" and anarchist interpretations of
Nietzschean ideas appear to have also been influential in the United States.
Ethical egoism Ethical egoism, also called simply egoism, is the
normative ethical position that
moral agents ought to do what is in their own
self-interest. It differs from
psychological egoism, which claims that
people do only act in their self-interest. Ethical egoism also differs from
rational egoism which holds merely that it is
rational to act in one's self-interest. However, these doctrines may occasionally be combined with ethical egoism. Ethical egoism contrasts with ethical
altruism, which holds that moral agents have an
obligation to help and serve others. Egoism and altruism both contrast with ethical utilitarianism, which holds that a moral agent should treat one's
self (also known as
the subject) with no higher regard than one has for others (as egoism does, by elevating self-interests and "the self" to a status not granted to others), but that one also should not (as altruism does) sacrifice one's own interests to help others' interests, so long as one's own interests (i.e. one's own
desires or
well-being) are substantially-equivalent to the others' interests and well-being. Egoism, utilitarianism, and altruism are all forms of
consequentialism, but egoism and altruism contrast with utilitarianism, in that egoism and altruism are both
agent-focused forms of consequentialism (i.e. subject-focused or
subjective), but utilitarianism is called agent-neutral (i.e.
objective and
impartial) as it does not treat the subject's (i.e. the self's, i.e. the moral "agent's") own interests as being more or less important than if the same interests, desires, or well-being were anyone else's. Ethical egoism does not require moral agents to harm the interests and well-being of others when making moral deliberation, e.g. what is in an agent's self-interest may be incidentally detrimental, beneficial, or neutral in its effect on others. Individualism allows for others' interest and well-being to be disregarded or not as long as what is chosen is efficacious in satisfying the self-interest of the agent. Nor does ethical egoism necessarily
entail that in pursuing self-interest one ought always to do what one wants to do, e.g. in the long term the fulfilment of short-term desires may prove detrimental to the self. Fleeting pleasance then takes a back seat to protracted
eudaemonia. In the words of
James Rachels, "[e]thical egoism [...] endorses selfishness, but it doesn't endorse foolishness." Ethical egoism is sometimes the philosophical basis for support of
libertarianism or
individualist anarchism as in
Max Stirner, although these can also be based on altruistic motivations. These are political positions based partly on a belief that individuals should not coercively prevent others from exercising freedom of action.
Existentialism Existentialism is a term applied to the work of a number of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who generally held, despite profound doctrinal differences, that the focus of philosophical thought should be to deal with the conditions of existence of the individual person and their emotions, actions, responsibilities, and thoughts. The early 19th century philosopher
Søren Kierkegaard, posthumously regarded as the father of existentialism, maintained that the individual solely has the responsibilities of giving one's own life
meaning and living that life
passionately and sincerely, in spite of many existential obstacles and distractions including
despair,
angst,
absurdity,
alienation and
boredom. Subsequent existential philosophers retain the emphasis on the individual, but differ in varying degrees on how one achieves and what constitutes a fulfilling life, what obstacles must be overcome, and what external and internal factors are involved, including the potential consequences of the
existence or
non-existence of God. Many existentialists have also regarded traditional systematic or academic philosophy in both style and content as too abstract and remote from concrete human experience. Existentialism became fashionable after
World War II as a way to reassert the importance of human individuality and freedom. Nietzsche's concept of the
superman is closely related to the idea of individualism and the pursuit of one's own unique path and potential.
Freethought Freethought holds that individuals should not accept ideas proposed as
truth without recourse to knowledge and
reason. Thus, freethinkers strive to build their opinions on the basis of
facts,
scientific inquiry and
logical principles, independent of any logical
fallacies or intellectually limiting effects of authority,
confirmation bias,
cognitive bias,
conventional wisdom,
popular culture,
prejudice,
sectarianism,
tradition,
urban legend and all other
dogmas. Regarding
religion, freethinkers hold that there is insufficient evidence to scientifically validate the existence of
supernatural phenomena.
Humanism Humanism is a perspective common to a wide range of
ethical stances that attaches importance to human dignity, concerns, and capabilities, particularly rationality. Although the word has many senses, its meaning comes into focus when contrasted to the supernatural or to appeals to authority. Since the 19th century, humanism has been associated with an anti-clericalism inherited from the 18th-century Enlightenment
philosophes. 21st century Humanism tends to strongly endorse
human rights, including
reproductive rights,
gender equality,
social justice, and the
separation of church and state. The term covers
organized non-theistic religions,
secular humanism, and a humanistic life stance.
Hedonism Philosophical hedonism is a meta-ethical theory of value which argues that
pleasure is the only
intrinsic good and pain is the only intrinsic bad. The basic idea behind hedonistic thought is that pleasure (an umbrella term for all inherently likable emotions) is the only thing that is good in and of itself or by its very nature. This implies evaluating the moral worth of character or behavior according to the extent that the pleasure it produces exceeds the pain it entails.
Libertinism A libertine is one devoid of most moral restraints, which are seen as unnecessary or undesirable, especially one who ignores or even spurns accepted morals and forms of behaviour sanctified by the larger society. Libertines place value on physical pleasures, meaning those experienced through the senses. As a philosophy, libertinism gained new-found adherents in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, particularly in
France and
Great Britain. Notable among these were
John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester and the
Marquis de Sade. During the
Baroque era in France, there existed a
freethinking circle of philosophers and intellectuals who were collectively known as
libertinage érudit and which included
Gabriel Naudé,
Élie Diodati and
François de La Mothe Le Vayer. The critic
Vivian de Sola Pinto linked
John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester's libertinism to
Hobbesian materialism.
Objectivism Objectivism is a system of philosophy created by philosopher and novelist
Ayn Rand which holds that
reality exists independent of consciousness; human beings gain knowledge rationally from perception through the process of concept formation and inductive and deductive logic; the moral purpose of one's life is the pursuit of one's own happiness or rational self-interest. Rand thinks the only social system consistent with this morality is full respect for individual rights, embodied in pure
laissez-faire capitalism; and the role of
art in human life is to transform man's widest metaphysical ideas, by selective reproduction of reality, into a physical forma work of artthat he can comprehend and to which he can respond emotionally. Objectivism celebrates man as his own hero, "with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute."
Philosophical anarchism , American individualist anarchist who focused on economics calling them anarchistic-socialism and adhering to the
mutualist economics of
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and
Josiah Warren Philosophical anarchism is an
anarchist school of thought which contends that the
state lacks
moral legitimacy. In contrast to revolutionary anarchism, philosophical anarchism does not advocate violent revolution to eliminate it but advocates peaceful evolution to superate it. Although philosophical anarchism does not necessarily imply any action or desire for the elimination of the state, philosophical anarchists do not believe that they have an obligation or duty to obey the state, or conversely that the state has a right to command. Philosophical anarchism is a component especially of individualist anarchism. Philosophical anarchists of historical note include
Mohandas Gandhi,
William Godwin,
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon,
Max Stirner,
Benjamin Tucker and
Henry David Thoreau. Contemporary philosophical anarchists include
A. John Simmons and
Robert Paul Wolff.
Subjectivism Subjectivism is a philosophical tenet that accords primacy to subjective experience as fundamental of all measure and law. In extreme forms such as solipsism, it may hold that the nature and existence of every object depends solely on someone's subjective awareness of it. In the proposition 5.632 of the
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus,
Ludwig Wittgenstein wrote: "The subject doesn't belong to the world, but it is a limit of the world". Metaphysical subjectivism is the theory that reality is what we perceive to be real, and that there is no underlying true reality that exists independently of perception. One can also hold that it is
consciousness rather than perception that is reality (
subjective idealism). In
probability, a subjectivism stands for the belief that probabilities are simply degrees-of-belief by rational agents in a certain proposition and which have no objective reality in and of themselves.
Ethical subjectivism stands in opposition to
moral realism, which claims that moral propositions refer to objective facts, independent of human opinion; to
error theory, which denies that any moral propositions are true in any sense; and to
non-cognitivism, which denies that moral sentences express propositions at all. The most common forms of ethical subjectivism are also forms of
moral relativism, with moral standards held to be relative to each culture or society, i.e.
cultural relativism, or even to every individual. The latter view, as put forward by
Protagoras, holds that there are as many distinct scales of good and evil as there are subjects in the world. Moral subjectivism is that species of moral relativism that relativizes moral value to the individual subject.
Horst Matthai Quelle was a Spanish-language German anarchist philosopher influenced by
Max Stirner. Quelle argued that since the individual gives form to the world, he is those objects, the others and the whole universe. One of his main views was a "theory of infinite worlds" which for him was developed by
pre-socratic philosophers.
Solipsism Solipsism is the
philosophical idea that only one's own
mind is sure to exist. The term comes from
Latin solus ("alone") and
ipse ("self"). Solipsism as an
epistemological position holds that
knowledge of anything outside one's own mind is unsure.
The external world and
other minds cannot be known, and might not exist outside the mind. As a
metaphysical position, solipsism goes further to the conclusion that the world and other minds do not exist. Solipsism is the only epistemological position that, by its own
postulate, is both
irrefutable and yet indefensible in the same manner. Although the number of individuals sincerely espousing solipsism has been small, it is not uncommon for one philosopher to accuse another's arguments of entailing solipsism as an unwanted consequence, in a kind of
reductio ad absurdum. In the history of philosophy, solipsism has served as a
skeptical hypothesis. == Economic individualism ==