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Union of Egoists is a historical, biographical, and bibliographical resource on egoism, launched on April 1, 2016.
- Articles — read essays, interviews, and excerpts.
- Journals — browse periodicals and their tables of contents, including our house journals Stand Alone and Der Geist.
- Books — find books to read online and catalog entries for print editions.
- Authors and Archivists — find work by and about the people in the collection.
Visit News for announcements and weekly library roundups.
What is a Union of Egoists?
“We two, the State and I, are enemies. I, the egoist, have not at heart the welfare of this ‘human society,’ I sacrifice nothing to it, I only utilize it; but to be able to utilize it completely I transform it rather into my property and my creature; i. e., I annihilate it, and form in its place the Union of Egoists.”
—Max Stirner, The Ego and His Own
What is Egoism?
“Egoism is the claim that the Individual is the measure of all things. In ethics, in epistemology, in aesthetics, in society, the Individual is the best and only arbitrator. Egoism claims social convention, laws, other people, religion, language, time and all other forces outside of the Individual are an impediment to the liberty and existence of the Individual. Such impediments may be tolerated but they have no special standing to the Individual, who may elect to ignore or subvert or destroy them as He can. In egoism the State has no monopoly to take tax or to wage war.”
—Trevor Blake, Confessions of a Failed Egoist
“Die Eigenheit hat aber auch keinen fremden Massstab, wie sie denn überhaupt keine Idee ist, gleich der Freiheit, Sittlichkeit, Menschlichkeit u. dgl.: sie ist nur eine Beschreibung des—Eigners.”
—Max Stirner, Der Einzige und sein Eigentum
“But ownness has not any alien standard either, as it is not in any sense an idea like freedom, morality, humanity, etc.: it is only a description of the—owner.”
—Max Stirner, The Ego and His Own (trans. by Byington)
“The stars that we know and that guide our path are only the ones that—like it or not—they have allowed us to know. But there are many others, kept in the shadows because (they have been) judged discomforting, because they might make us deviate from our course. Isn’t now the time to start overshadowing the stars agreeable to those in power, by lighting up the black suns of freedom?”
—from The Great Challenge (trans. by Apio Ludd)