Max Stirner’s Dialectical Egoism

This book interprets Max Stirner's The Ego and Its Own as a critique of modernity and traces the basic elements of his dialectical egoism through the writings of Benjamin Tucker, James L. Walker, and Dora Marsden. Stirner's concept of 'ownness' is the basis of his critique of the dispossession and homogenization of individuals in modernity and is an important contribution to the research literature on libertarianism, dialectics, and post-modernism.

Max Stirner (1806-1856) is recognized in the history of political thought because of his egoist classic The Ego and Its Own. Stirner was a student of Hegel, and a critic of the Young Hegelians and the emerging forms of socialist and communist thought in the 1840s. Max Stirner's Dialectical Egoism: A New Interpretation examines Stirner's thought as a critique of modernity, by which he meant the domination of culture and politics by humanist ideology. In Stirner's view, 'humanity' is the supreme being of modernity and 'humanism' is the prevailing legitimation of social and political domination. Welsh traces Stirner's thought from his early essays to The Ego and Its Own and Stirner's responses to his critics. He also examines how Benjamin Tucker, James L. Walker, and Dora Marsden applied Stirner's dialectical egoism to the analysis of (a) the transformations of capitalism, (b) culture, ethics, and mass psychology, and (c) feminism, socialism, and communism. All three viewed Stirner as a champion of individuality against the collectivizing and homogenizing forces of the modern world. Welsh also takes great care to dissociate Stirner's thought from that of the other great egoist critic of modernity, Friedrich Nietzsche. He argues that the similarities in the dissidence of Stirner and Nietzsche are superficial. The book concludes with an interpretation of Stirner's thought as a form of dialectical egoism that includes (a) a multi-tiered analysis of culture, society, and individuality; (b) the basic principles of Stirner's view of the relationship between individuals and social organization; and (c) the forms of critique he employs. Stirner's critique of modernity is a significant contribution to the growing literature on libertarianism, dialectical analysis, and post-modernism.

1 Acknowledgements
Part 2 Part One. Max Stirner and Dialectical Egoism
Chapter 3 Chapter 1. Max Stirner: "The Peaceful Enemy of All Constraint"
Chapter 4 Chapter 2. Humanity - The New Supreme Being: Stirner's Summation of the Rise of Modernity
Chapter 5 Chapter 3. Ownness and Modernity: The Political Meaning of Dialectical Egoism
Part 6 Part Two. Stirner's Influence: Three Encounters with Dialectical Egoism
Chapter 7 Chapter 4. The Political Economy of Modernity: Benjamin R. Tucker and the Critique of the Capitalist State
Chapter 8 Chapter 5. Reciprocity and Predation in Everyday Life: The Egoist Thought of James L. Walker
Chapter 9 Chapter 6. Beyond Feminism, Beyond Anarchism: Dora Marsden and the Politics of Egoism
Part 10 Part Three. Max Stirner and the Critique of Modernity
Chapter 11 Chapter 7. Two Who Made an Insurrection: Stirner, Nietzsche, and the Revolt Against Modernity
Chapter 12 Chapter 8. Dialectical Egoism: Elements of a Critique of Modernity
Part 13 Selected Bibliography
Part 14 About the Author