critiques of individualism
Jul 18 2008
I'm looking for any interesting, in depth critiques of individualism to put together. Egoism specifically, not so much all the "libertarian" market type stuff. PDF's preferred. Anyone know anything good?
Jul 19 2008
#2
"Misleading" is probably the most generous thing that could be said about Bookchin's scurrilous screed. I'd prefer dishonest, bad faith, absurd, internally contradictory, incoherent, and approaching self-parody. Marx's dismissals of Saint Max are almost in the same category, clearly showing that Marx either misunderstood or willfully distorted Stirner -- a combination of the two being more likely, as it was then even easier to score rhetorical points against a defenseless opponent.
Jul 19 2008
#3
Social Anarchism or Lifestyle Anarchism is a classic: http://libcom.org/library/social-anarchism--lifestyle-anarchism-murray-bookchin
Jul 19 2008
#4
A "classic" of bad faith bullshit.
Jul 21 2008
#5
Black Badger wrote:
Marx's dismissals of Saint Max are almost in the same category, clearly showing that Marx either misunderstood or willfully distorted Stirner -- a combination of the two being more likely, as it was then even easier to score rhetorical points against a defenseless opponent.
Can you give an example of Marx misunderstanding or distorting Stirner?
Jul 21 2008
#6
here's an interesting article
http://www.scribd.com/doc/2224111/Alexander-Green-Stirner-and-Marx
Jul 21 2008
#7
"A "classic" of bad faith bullshit."
most definitely
down with big brother murray
Jul 22 2008
#8
Crap, you mean I have to go back and re-read those 300 pages of The German Ideology? Gadzooks! Can't I just stick to my unsubstantiated assertions? Oh yeah, that's right, I'm not a professor. Seriously, though, I can't do it now since I'm tied down to a brutal work schedule. But I'll try to go back and get some stuff when I can. Off hand, I have to say that Stirner's Der Einzige... is not a measured philosophical work; it's a rant, overflowing with puns (mostly neologisms that are difficult to translate adequately out of German--and mid-19th century German at that!), tongue-in-cheek humor, and constant tweaking of the noses of the Left Hegelians. That Marx and Engels took it seriously as being on a par with the other German Ideologists they hammer in the rest of their book is entirely the fault of Marx and Engels. Not that I think Stirner's magnum opus is not serious, but any response to it must take into account the way it's written. He was clearly trying to provoke scandal among his erstwhile peers and colleagues, and judging by the response he got from M&E, he succeeded--up to a point.
Jul 27 2008
#9
Ha. Bookchin owned by the left, post-left and anti-left. Too bad Murray didn't quit while he was ahead.
I think the most in depth, though awfully turgid, critique of (Stirner's) "egoism" remains Marx's The German Ideology, the 'Saint Max' part (often excluded in translations). For a less in depth but more misleading critique of individualism, you might check out Bookchin's Social Anarchism or Lifestyle Anarchism.