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Max Stirner | |
|---|---|
 A portrait of Stirner drawn by comrade Engels | |
| Born | Johann Kaspar Schmidt 25 October 1806 Bayreuth, Kingdom of Bavaria |
| Died | 26 June 1856 (aged 49) Berlin, Prussia, German Confederation |
| Known for | Egoism |
Johann Kaspar Schmidt, professionally known as Max Stirner, was a German idealist philosopher and Young Hegelian influential in the development of Nihilism and Anarchism through his theories on Egoism.
Philosophical beliefs
Stirner, in his 1845 book, The Ego and His Own, proposed a viewpoint centered on the self, suggesting that self-awareness drives history. He argued that human ideals and social norms are universal illusions, not relevant to the individual. Stirner considered concepts like morality and law as false ideas imposed on individuals. He rejected societal norms, stating that individuals should rely on their own power and will to determine truth and morality. He advocated for personal freedom over societal structures, claiming that society serves the selfish interests of individuals.[1]
Stirner's anarchistic and nihilistic ideas had some success among the intelligentsia of the petty bourgeoisie in the 1840s and 50s, and he exerted some influence on Mikhail Bakunin and Friedrich Nietzsche.[1] However, Marx and Engels, in their book The German ideology offered a brutal critique of Stirner’s subjective idealism and his petit bourgeois individualism, as well as demonstrating the baselessness of his criticism of communism.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 A. A. Mitiushin (1979). The Great Soviet Encyclopedia: 'Stirner, Max'.
- ↑ Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels (1932). The German Ideology. [MIA]