The Most Brutal Philosophy Ever
The most interesting philosophers are those you hate to agree with.
And among such thinkers, Max Stirner sits rightfully at the top.
His philosophy, egoism, is a slap in the face of the 2000+ years of philosophical tradition that preceded it and a full-on disregard for any subsequent philosophies after it.
“But what makes his philosophy so brutal?” You might ask? Here’s what.
What Egoism is all about
Stirner argues for the following position in his book .
All humans are naturally egoistic animals, with the only difference being in our levels of awareness of that fact. In this regard, the Egoist is fully aware of that fact.
In other words, the thing that all humans ultimately care about the most is themselves, and every action we do is just a way of satisfying our ego.
When I first heard these arguments, I was appalled that someone could develop such a selfish philosophy… but then I continued reading.
What I realized when I finished the book was that Stirner was right. He was right, not because of his arguments for egoism, but because he attacked the social conventions that we’ve created to hide away our egoistic tendencies.
Stirner believed that all human cultures ultimately try to create social conventions to limit the individual’s ego and that, ironically, the greatest egoists are those who create these conventions.
Stirner’s view of history is that primordial man was absolutely free to pursue his ego and the powers it granted him, but, being a savage, he could not fully maximize his potential. That is, until the moment the first social conventions were created: society, standards of etiquette, religion, government, etc…
Stirner noticed that these types of social conventions are always founded by a select group of individuals seeking to increase their power further. And that they are nothing more than illusions that keep the masses unaware and in line.
Some examples of the previous point
- Why is it always the case that religious institutions claim that their goal is helping the poor, and yet those very same institutions have countless amounts of wealth in their vaults?
- Why do some laws affect certain people in society differently than others? Why do members of the political and economic elite get better treatment than minorities and the poor?
- Why do some countries routinely break international laws with impunity? Aren’t we all supposed to be beholden to those laws?
- Why can the government take my property and my freedom whenever it wants to? Isn’t my property mine by right?
These are just some examples of what Stirner calls “spooks,” abstract ideas that allow us to control our lives simply by believing in them. However, the reality is that these concepts stop existing the moment we collectively agree to deny their power.
A rather famous example of this is the question. “What would the government do if we suddenly stopped paying our taxes?”
In that situation, the government would either cease to exist or seize all of our assets, thus effectively stealing from the people and showing its true colors.
This is Stirner’s entire point. The egoists in charge of these institutions are aware that what they’re selling is a lie to keep them in power and that the only reason they’re still in power is because the masses haven’t become aware of this dynamic yet.
And why is this philosophy so brutal?
If you read between the lines of Stirner’s philosophy, you’ll come to one undeniable conclusion. We only have the beliefs we have because we like them.
Think about it. Do you believe that you don’t like or find agreeable in any way? Probably not. Don’t you think that’s strange? If beliefs are truly objective, then we should be able to have them even if we don’t like them or find them agreeable, but that isn’t the case.
The reason why this philosophy is brutal is because it’s a big fuck you to every other philosopher and thinker out there. Stirner is implying with his philosophy that every other philosophical idea that has ever existed is wrong and that the only reason they exist is because their authors liked them and managed to convince others of that idea.
The reality of the world is that your ideas don’t exist outside of you, and any social conventions you believe in are an illusion you willingly participate in. The only real thing is your ego and your capabilities to satisfy your ego’s desires.
Thank you for satisfying my ego if you’ve made it this far! I’d appreciate it greatly if you could and a comment. It motivates me to keep writing these philosophical inquiries ❤.
