 Josiah Warren is commonly regarded as the first American individualist anarchist Individualist anarchism, while being advocated among some European philosophers in various forms, has a distinctive flavor in The United States of America. Whereas as some individualists, such as Germany's Max Stirner, oppose all forms of property, American individualist anarchism is particularly noteable for its strong advocacy private property and equally strong opposition to collectivism. The American form of individualist anarchism is sometimes called "liberal-anarchism" [1], as it is often seen as a more radicalized version of classical liberalism. Whereas Thomas Jefferson says "That government is best which governs the least," individualist anarchist Henry David Thoreau modifies the phrase to state "That government is best which governs not at all." The copyright status of this old image is undetermined; it may still be copyrighted. ...
The copyright status of this old image is undetermined; it may still be copyrighted. ...
Individualist anarchism is a philosophical tradition, appearing primarily in the United States, that emphasises the autonomy of the individual, most notably in regard to its advocacy of private property rather than collective property. ...
For other uses, see United States (disambiguation) and US (disambiguation). ...
Johann Kaspar Schmidt (October 25, 1806 – June 26, 1856), better known as Max Stirner (the nom de plume he adopted from a schoolyard nickname he had acquired as a child because of his high brow [Stirn]), German philosopher, who ranks as one of the literary grandfathers of nihilism, existentialism and...
This page deals with property as ownership rights. ...
Collectivism, in general, is a term used to describe a theoretical or practical emphasis on the group, as opposed to (and seen by many of its opponents to be at the expense of) the individual. ...
Order: 3rd President Vice President: Aaron Burr; George Clinton Term of office: March 4, 1801 – March 4, 1809 Preceded by: John Adams Succeeded by: James Madison Date of birth: April 13, 1743 Place of birth: Shadwell, Virginia Date of death: July 4, 1826 Place of death: Charlottesville, Virginia First Lady...
Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862; born David Henry Thoreau) was an American author, pacifist, tax resister and philosopher who is most famous for his essays Walden on appreciation of nature and Civil Disobedience (available at wikisource) on civil disobedience. ...
Traditional individualist anarchism
Theorists in traditional American individualism (historically called "Boston anarchism" at times, often derogatorily) include Josiah Warren, Ezra Heywood, William B. Greene, Benjamin Tucker, Lysander Spooner,Stephen Pearl Andrews, and Henry David Thoreau. Josiah Warren is commonly regarded as the first individualist anarchist in the American tradition. He had participated in a failed collectivist experiment called "New Harmony" and came to the conclusion that such a system is inferior to one where individualism and private property is respected. He details his conclusions in regard to this collectivist experiment in Equitable Commerce. In a quote from that text that illustrates his radical individualism, he says: "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" (Tucker's emphasis). Warren coined the phrase "Cost the limit of price" to refer to his interpretation of Adam Smith's labor theory of value. The labor theory holds that the value of a commodity is equal to the amount of labor required to produce or acquire it. Warren maintains, therefore, that the price of labor of one individual must be equal to the production of the equivalent amount of labor of every other individual. And, consequently, that an employer who labors not, but retains a portion of the produce of an employee as profit is guilty of violating the "cost principle" --he recieves payment without cost to himself. Warren regards this practice as "invasive." If an employer is to be paid, he must not be paid unless he labors. In 1827, Warren put his theories into practive by starting a business that he called a "labor for labor store" in Cincinatti, Ohio. Warren, like all the American individualists, that followed was a strong supporter of the right of individuals to retain the product of their labor as private property. Josiah Warren (1799-1874) was an American social reformer and commonly regarded as the first individualist anarchist. ...
Ezra Heywood was a 19th century North American individualist anarchist, slavery abolitionist, and feminist. ...
Benjamin Tucker (April 17, 1854 - 1939) was Americas leading proponent of individualist anarchism in the 19th century. ...
Lysander Spooner (January 19, 1808 - May 14, 1887) was an American political philosopher, abolitionist, and legal theorist of the 19th century. ...
Stephen Pearl Andrews (March 22, 1812 - May 21, 1886) was an anarchist. ...
Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862; born David Henry Thoreau) was an American author, pacifist, tax resister and philosopher who is most famous for his essays Walden on appreciation of nature and Civil Disobedience (available at wikisource) on civil disobedience. ...
New Harmony is a town located in Posey County, Indiana. ...
His Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations was one of the earliest attempts to study the historical development of industry and commerce in Europe. ...
The labor theory of value (LTV) is a theory in economics and political economy concerning a market-oriented or commodity-producing society: the theory equates the value of an exchangeable good or service (i. ...
Thomas Jefferson, a minarchist, says: "Whenever there is any country uncultivated lands and unemployed poor it is clear that the laws of property have been so far extended as to violate natural rights. The earth is given as a common stock for man to labor and live on." In accordance with the philosophies of classical liberals of the time (such as Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, Adam Smith, and John Locke), Warren holds that raw land cannot be looked at as property in the same way that the product of labor can be. As the production of land itself is not the result of human labor, he proposes that raw land should not be owned, bought, and sold. However, land may be privately put to use, with the results of cultivating it being regarded as private property. Raw land may also may be appropriated to establish homes and businesses; vacant land should not be protected. This aversion to ownership of raw land is a constant among the 19th century American individualist anarchists. In civics, Minarchism, sometimes called minimal statism, is the view that government should be as small as possible. ...
Thomas Paine Thomas Paine (January 29, 1737–June 8, 1809), intellectual, scholar, and idealist, is widely recognized as one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. ...
Order: 3rd President Vice President: Aaron Burr; George Clinton Term of office: March 4, 1801 – March 4, 1809 Preceded by: John Adams Succeeded by: James Madison Date of birth: April 13, 1743 Place of birth: Shadwell, Virginia Date of death: July 4, 1826 Place of death: Charlottesville, Virginia First Lady...
His Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations was one of the earliest attempts to study the historical development of industry and commerce in Europe. ...
John Locke John Locke (August 29, 1632–October 28, 1704) was a 17th-century philosopher concerned primarily with society and epistemology. ...
Ezra Heywood is another individualist anarchist, influenced by Warren and other classical liberals, who was a ardent slavery abolitionist and feminist. He wrote one of the first feminist anarchist essays. Heywood saw what he believed to be the disproportionate concentration of capital in the hands of a few to be the result of government-backed priveleges to certain individuals and organizations. He says: "Government is a northeast wind, drifting property into a few aristocratic heaps, at the expense of altogether too much democratic bare ground. Through cunning legislation, . . . privileged classes are allowed to steal largely according to law." Ezra Heywood was a 19th century North American individualist anarchist, slavery abolitionist, and feminist. ...
Benjamin Tucker, being influenced by Warren, Heywood, Proudhon's mutualism, and Stirner's egoism, is probably the most famous of the Americans. Tucker, also follows this tradition of opposing government-backed privilege, opposing profit, and supporting private property as being essential to liberty. He says that the idea that profit is exploitative since it violates the labor theory of value "was Proudhon's position before it was Marx's, and Josiah Warren's before it was Proudhon's" (Liberty or Authority). In addition, Tucker makes clear his opposition to collectivist notions such as economic egalitarianism [2]. Tucker published a periodical called Liberty that was instrumental for the development of individualist anarchist theory. Tucker describes his philosophy as "unterrified Jeffersonianism." He advocates private defense forces to protect individual liberty and property [3]. Benjamin Tucker (April 17, 1854 - 1939) was Americas leading proponent of individualist anarchism in the 19th century. ...
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (pronounced Pruood-on, not prowd-hon) (January 15, 1809 - January 19, 1865) was a French anarchist of the 19th century. ...
Mutualism is an economic theory based on a labor theory of value that advocates that equal amounts of labor should receive equal pay. ...
Egoism is the ethical doctrine that the pursuit of one’s self-interest is the basis of morality. ...
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (pronounced Pruood-on, not prowd-hon) (January 15, 1809 - January 19, 1865) was a French anarchist of the 19th century. ...
Lysander Spooner is an individualist anarchist who apparently worked without association with the other individualists of the time except for brief periods later in his life, but came to approximately the same conclusions. Lysander Spooner, like his compatriots, strongly emphasizes private property. He says that "...the principle of individual property... says that each man has an absolute dominion, as against all other men, over the products and acquisitions of his own labor." However, unlike Tucker, he also maintains that the ideas of an individuals should be considered their private property; he supports intellectual property rights. He says: "So absolute is an author's right of dominion over his ideas that he may forbid their being communicated even by human voice if he so pleases." Lysander Spooner (January 19, 1808 - May 14, 1887) was an American political philosopher, abolitionist, and legal theorist of the 19th century. ...
American individualist anarchists were not without influence outside U.S. borders. John Henry Mackay is a German individualist anarchist who was heavily influenced by Benjamin Tucker. John Henry Mackay (Greenock, Scotland, 1864 - Stahnsdorf 1933). ...
Contemporary American individualist anarchists include Robert Anton Wilson, Joe Peacott, Wendy McElroy (an anarcho-capitalist), and James J. Martin. Robert Anton Wilson Robert Anton Wilson or R. A. W. (born January 18, 1932) is a futurologist, libertarian, and novelist. ...
Wendy McElroy is a Canadian disciple of Murray Rothbard. ...
James J. Martin is an American author. ...
Anarcho-capitalism Anarcho-capitalism differs from traditional individualist anarchism in that it supports profit, ownership of raw land, and hence, stateless capitalism. While individual anarchists of the anti-capitalist tradition are still active today, most individualist anarchists refer to themselves as anarcho-capitalists [4]. Anarcho-capitalism refers to an anti-statist philosophy that embraces capitalism as one of its foundational principles. ...
See also Josiah Warren (1799-1874) was an American social reformer and commonly regarded as the first individualist anarchist. ...
Ezra Heywood was a 19th century North American individualist anarchist, slavery abolitionist, and feminist. ...
Benjamin Tucker (April 17, 1854 - 1939) was Americas leading proponent of individualist anarchism in the 19th century. ...
Lysander Spooner (January 19, 1808 - May 14, 1887) was an American political philosopher, abolitionist, and legal theorist of the 19th century. ...
Stephen Pearl Andrews (March 22, 1812 - May 21, 1886) was an anarchist. ...
Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862; born David Henry Thoreau) was an American author, pacifist, tax resister and philosopher who is most famous for his essays Walden on appreciation of nature and Civil Disobedience (available at wikisource) on civil disobedience. ...
Benjamin Tucker is the most famous traditional individualist anarchist Murray Rothbard is the most noted anarcho-capitalist After the first generation of American individualist anarchists had passed away, another philosophy arose and claimed the influence of individualist anarchism. ...
Anarcho-capitalism refers to an anti-statist philosophy that embraces capitalism as one of its foundational principles. ...
Individualist anarchism is a philosophical tradition, appearing primarily in the United States, that emphasises the autonomy of the individual, most notably in regard to its advocacy of private property rather than collective property. ...
External links |
Feeds |
Contact