Individualist anarchism

From Libertarian Wiki

Jump to: navigation, search

Individualist Anarchism is a philosophical tradition that opposes collectivism and has a particularly strong emphasis on the supremacy and autonomy of the individual. An amoral radical form of individualist anarchism is found in the writings of Max Stirner. However, a different form centered around free markets began in the United States with Josiah Warren as its originater. In turn, the Americans influenced Europeans such as Emile Armand and John Henry Mackay who also adopted the individualist philosophy. Other individualists include Benjamin Tucker, Lysander Spooner, Ezra Heywood, Stephen Pearl Andrews, and Murray Rothbard. Individualist anarchism is sometimes seen as an evolution of classical liberalism, and hence, has been called "liberal anarchism" [1]. The key difference between the individualist anarchists and social anarchists is that the individualists support private property and distribution through markets while communist anarchists oppose that, instead supporting collective ownership of land and goods and distribution to according to "need." "While social anarchists seek to abolish the state as the source of private property, the individualists want to eliminate it because they see it as an obstacle to private property." <ref>Heider, Ulrike. Anarchism: Left, Right and Green San Francisco: City Lights Books, 1994.</ref>

Contents

[edit] Stirnerite individualist anarchism

Max Stirner was one of the first individualist anarchists. Around the same time as Proudhon's most famous work was published, Max Stirner argued in The Ego and Its Own, considered to be "a founding text in the tradition of individualist anarchism."<ref>Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Max Stirner</ref> Stirner believs that most commonly accepted social institutions - including the notion of State, property as a right, natural rights in general, and the very notion of society - were mere illusions or ghosts in the mind, saying of society that "the individuals are its reality." He advocated egoism and a form of amoralism, in which individuals would unite in 'associations of egoists' only when it was in their self interest to do so. For him, property simply comes about through might: "Whoever knows how to take, to defend, the thing, to him belongs property." And, "What I have in my power, that is my own. So long as I assert myself as holder, I am the proprietor of the thing."

Stirner never called himself an anarchist - he accepted only the label 'egoist'. Nevertheless, he is considered by most to be an anarchist because of his rejection of the state, law and government, and his ideas influenced many anarchists, although interpretations of his thought are diverse.

[edit] Individualist anarchism in America

Main article:Individualist anarchism in the United States

Individualist anarchism in the United States is noted for its strong advocacy of private property in the product of labor, and a competitive free market economy <ref name="Madison"/><ref name="Madison2">Template:Cite journal</ref>. The 19th century individualist anarchists in America were opposed to capitalism, in the sense of profit-making. Since World War II, however, the individualism has been reborn and modified in the United States as anarcho-capitalism or libertarianism.<ref>Levy, Carl. "Anarchism", under the "Anarcho-individualism" heading, Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2006</ref> So, "there are individualist anarchists who are most certainly not anti-capitalist and there are those who may well be.<ref>Tormey, Simon. Anti-Capitalism: A Beginner's Guide, One World, 2004</ref> "Today individualist anarchists in the US call themselves anarcho-capitalists or libertarians."<ref>Heider, Ulrike. Anarchism: Left, Right and Green, San Francisco: City Lights Books, 1994. p. 3<ref>

[edit] 19th century

Josiah Warren, who is the first individualist anarchist in the American tradition, had participated in a failed collectivist experiment headed by Robert Owen called "New Harmony" and came to the conclusion that such a system is inferior to one based in individualsm where individuals are allowed to own the produce of their labor rather than requiring collective ownership. In Practical Details, he discusses his conclusions in regard to the experiment. In a cited quotation from that text, he makes a vehement assertion of individual negative liberty: {{cquote|Society must be so converted as to preserve the sovereignty of every individual inviolate. That it must avoid all combinations and connections of persons and interests, and all other arrangements which will not leave every individual at all times at liberty to dispose of his or her person, and time, and property in any manner in which his or her feelings or judgment may dictate without involving the persons or interests of others.

While Warren based his philosophy on natural law, Benjamin Tucker grew to accept egoism as a result of his reading of Max Stirner. Many individualists followed in his footsteps in this respect. Tucker maintained that there were two rights, "the right of might" and "the right of contract" and that moral rights do not exist until they are devised by contract initiated out of the self-interest of the contracting parties. However, this was a source of conflict among the individualists as many continued to assert natural law.

The early individualists' economic theory (mutualism) is based on the labor theory of value. Accepting that the value of a good is related to the amount of labor undertaking in producing it, they concluded that it is unethical to charge a higher price for a commodity than the cost of producing or acquiring and bringing it to market (Cost the limit of price). To ensure that labor receives its "full produce" they advocate that a commodity should be purchased with an amount of labor that is equivalent to the amount of labor undertaken in producing that commodity. As a result, equal amounts, type, and degree of labor would receive equal pay; those that did not labor would not be paid. In the area of employment, this would obviate the possibility of an employer profiting from the labor of an employee, which they opposed as being exploitative, since the employee must receive the "full produce" of his labor. With the exception of Warren, this led to their position that private ownership of land should be supported only if the possessor of that land is using it, otherwise, the possessor would be able to charge rent to others without laboring to produce anything (Warren does not oppose ownership of land but does advocate that it be sold at cost). Profiting from lending money for interest is generally seen as usurious as this income is seen as being derived without labor. To the individualists, profit from interest, profit from wages, and rental of land is only made possible by "monopoly" and "privilege" that restricts competition in the marketplace and concentrates wealth in the hands of a few.

Only a few individual anarchists, such as Kevin Carson, continue to adhere to the labor theory of value. Most have adopted the subjective theory of value and marginalist economics, and as a result do not believe profit is exploitation. This newer form of individualist anarchism is called anarcho-capitalism

[edit] 20th Century

Main articles: Anarcho-capitalism, Individualist anarchism and anarcho-capitalism

Anarcho-capitalism is a form of individualist anarchism[2] [3] [4] [5] that differs from the form that was begun in the 19th century in that it does not accept the labor theory of value. As a result, anarcho-capitalists do not regard profit as exploitative. Also, whereas most of the classical individualists oppose titles to unused land, anarcho-capitalists support it as long as it was acquired by the possessor through labor (in the case of unowned land) or trade --it need not be in continual use to retain title.

As economic theory advanced, the popularity of the labor theory of value of classical economics was superceded by much greater acceptance of the subjective theory of value of neo-classical economics. This marginalist revolution influenced the thoughts of some radical individualists, whose theories were eventually termed anarcho-capitalism. Most anarcho-socialists do not accept anarcho-capitalism as a "true" form of anarchist thought, as anarchism as been traditionally opposed to capitalism.

[edit] References

^  Outhwaite, William. The Blackwell Dictionary of Modern Social hought, Anarchism entry, p. 13-14, 2002. ^  Bottomore, Tom. Dictionary of Marxist Thought, Anarchism entry, p.21 1991 ^  Heider, Ulrike. Anarchism: Left, Right and Green, San Francisco: City Lights Books, 1994, pp. 3. ^  Tormey, Simon. Anti-Capitalism, One World, 2004. ^  Raico, Ralph. Authentic German Liberalism of the 19th Century, Ecole Polytechnique, Centre de Recherce en Epistemologie Appliquee, Unité associée au CNRS, 2004.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://libertarianwiki.org/Individualist_anarchism"
Personal tools