Home > Individualist anarchism
In politics, individualist anarchism is a variety of anarchism that emphasises the importance of the individual.Several classical anarchist thinkers, such as Benjamin Tucker, Lysander Spooner, Max Stirner, Dora Marsden and Albert Jay Nock, are known as individualist anarchists.
Their works argue for the sovereignty of each individual within their own life. Other such writers include Henry David Thoreau and John Henry Mackay.
1 Individualist anarchists and private property
Individualist anarchists are claimed as part of their tradition by libertarian socialists (including the anarcho-communists) as well as by anarcho-capitalists, who criticize differently the works of these authors. In turn, modern individualist anarchists claim many works by anarcho-capitalists and libertarian socialists as part of their tradition, though without forcibly fully adhering to them.
Libertarian socialists insist that many individualist anarchists, after and including Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, rejected essential foundations of capitalism, namely the legalism of private property (as opposed to the mere right to use) and the charging of interest or rent.
Anarcho-capitalists focus on the emphasis given by these thinkers on individual rights and liberty,
and on their opposition to " collectivismFor the descriptive terminology as used in anthropology and psychology, see Collectivist and Individualist cultures. Collectivism in general, is a term used to describe a theoretical or practical emphasis on the group, as opposed to (and seen by its oppon"; they agree
with Frederic Bastiat in his responses to Proudhon.
Max Stirner who is arguably the most philosophicallyPhilosophy literally means 'love of wisdom' from the Greek 'philo' and 'sofia'. It is now widely used to designate the pursuit of knowledge or wisdom about fundamental matters concerning life, death, meaning, reality, being and truth. The term may also re oriented of the individual anarchists, rejected Proudhon's ideas about property as a collective good, but also rejected all kinds of liberalismLiberalism is a political current embracing several historical and present-day ideologies that claim defense of individual liberty as the purpose of government. It typically favors the right to dissent from orthodox tenets or established authorities in po and the idea of rights to personal properties as an illusion or "ghost", clearly stating that there is no divine right to own anything, you only have what you have and that's it. In Stirner's view there are no moralMorality is a complex of principles based on cultural, religious, and philosophical concepts and beliefs, by which an individual determines whether his or her actions are right or wrong. These concepts and beliefs are often generalized and codified by a c obligations attached to property, or anything else for that matter. Thus he deems both Proudhon's concept of "individual property as theft" (paraphrased) and the libertarian idea of property as a natural principle as founded in superstitious beliefs. (In this concept he also explicitly included all "immaterial" or "spiritual" posessions, see The Ego and His Own.)
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