Ideology
Anarcho-Egoism
Places the individual self at the center, holding that each person should pursue their own interests free from imposed duties, rules, or institutions, and rejecting authority, collective claims, and abstract moral demands.
Core ideas
- The individual self is the starting point and the goal.
- No person owes duties to imposed rules, institutions or abstract moral demands.
- Authority and collective claims are rejected as constraints on the will.
- Moral judgments are examined as means of control rather than accepted as given.
- Autonomy and non-restriction are the values most highly affirmed.
Where it sits on the 12 axes
The economy axis (Collectivize to Privatize) is 40, a little toward Privatize. The government axis (Security to Freedom) is 0, the extreme Freedom end. Diplomacy (Internationalism to Nationalism) is 50 and society (Progressive to Traditional) is 50, both exactly in the middle. The match is the ideology with the nearest four values by straight distance on those axes alone, so only the anti-authority side of egoism is measured.
The bar shows the position on each of the four axes an ideology is matched on; the middle mark is the centre.
History
Anarcho-egoism draws on Max Stirner (1806-1856), a German philosopher and Young Hegelian whose The Ego and Its Own (1844) is the best-known work of egoist anarchism. Stirner began as a left-Hegelian atheist, rejecting the 'spirit' of religion and politics, including the 'spook' of humanity. He is often seen as a forerunner of individualist anarchism, nihilism and existentialism. Individualist anarchism stresses the individual and their will over groups, society and traditions. It began with Warren in the 1860s and drew on Stirner's egoist anarchism and Proudhon's mutualism. Stirner's life and work are known largely through a biography by John Henry Mackay.
Associated thinkers
- Max Stirner
Common misunderstandings
- Egoism is not necessarily a licence to dominate others. Egoism as Stirner held it affirms non-restriction and autonomy as the highest values, though other egoist theories can favour domination.
- It is not the whole of individualist anarchism. That is a wider set of currents, including American mutualist and free-market ones, that put the individual over groups and traditions.
Related ideologies
Is Anarcho-Egoism your closest ideology?
Take the test and see which of the ideologies your answers sit closest to.
Questions
What is Anarcho-Egoism?
An anarchist outlook built on egoism, which makes the individual self the motivation and goal of action. It holds that each person should pursue their own interests free from imposed duties, rules or institutions, and it rejects authority, collective claims and abstract moral demands.
Is Anarcho-Egoism left or right?
Neither cleanly. This site files it as other, because both left and right individualist anarchists claim it. The four axes show the extreme Freedom end on government, a slight Privatize lean on economy, and the middle on diplomacy and society.
Anarcho-Egoism vs anarcho-individualism?
Individualist anarchism is the wider family: currents that put the individual and their will above groups, society and tradition. Egoist anarchism, drawing on Stirner, is one of them. American individualist anarchism also drew on Proudhon's mutualism and was often economic in focus.
How does the 12 Axes test decide I am Anarcho-Egoism?
Your economy, government, diplomacy and society scores are compared with the four values stored for each of the 38 ideologies. The smallest straight-line distance gives your match. The other eight axes are not used.