The Ego and his Own by Max Stirner (most read books txt) 📕

THE EGO AND HIS OWN

by

MAX STIRNER

A Reproduction of the First English Edition.

Translated from the German by

Steven T. Byington

With an Introduction by

J. L. Walker

New York

BENJ. R. TUCKER, Publisher

1907

Brought to you through the cooperative efforts of

Larry Schiereck, Svein Olav Nyberg, and Daniel T. Davis

This transcription is a copy intended for electronic reading. Page numbering

etc are not consistent to that of the original text. This electronic edition

was created by Linus Walleij the year 2001, for supporting electronic books,

PDF file generation and the like, to serve the casual reader. For this reason,

and others, there is no index available in this version. The scientifically

intresested are recommended to consult the HTML version originally created by

Schiereck, Nyberg and Davis.

Version 0.1

Article:

Cathegory: anarchism Language: English Description: The Ego and His Own Author: Max Stirner Keywords: Max Stirner, Johann Caspar Schmidt, Der einzige und sein eigentum, The Ego and Its Own, Egoism, Anarchism, Nihilism, Friedrich Nietzsche, Individualism, Stephen T. Byington, Benjamin R Tucker, J. L. Walker Published: 1910-12-31 00:00 Document created by Yelah XMLTOTXT converter Find us at: http://www.yelah.net/

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Copyright, 1907, by

BENJAMIN R. TUCKER

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TO MY SWEETHEART

MARIE DÄHNHARDT

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PUBLISHER'S PREFACE

For more than twenty years I have entertained the design of publishing an

English translation of "Der Einzige und Sein Eigentum." When I formed this

design, the number of English-speaking persons who had ever heard of the book

was very limited. The memory of Max Stirner had been virtually extinct for an

entire generation. But in the last two decades there has been a remarkable

revival of interest both in the book and in its author. It began in this

country with a discussion in the pages of the Anarchist periodical, "Liberty,"

in which Stirner's thought was clearly expounded and vigorously championed by

Dr. James L. Walker, who adopted for this discussion the pseudonym "Tak Kak."

At that time Dr. Walker was the chief editorial writer for the Galveston

"News." Some years later he became a practicing physician in Mexico, where he

died in 1904. A series of essays which he began in an Anarchist periodical,

"Egoism," and which he lived to complete, was published after his death in a

small volume, "The Philosophy of Egoism." It is a very able and convincing

exposition of Stirner's teachings, and almost the only one that exists in the

English language. But the chief instrument in the revival of Stirnerism was

and is the German poet, John Henry Mackay. Very early in his career he met

Stirner's name in Lange's "History of Materialism," and was moved thereby to

read his book. The work made such an impression on him that he resolved to

devote a portion of his life to the rediscovery and rehabilitation of the lost

and forgotten genius. Through years of toil and correspondence and travel, and

triumphing over tremendous obstacles, he carried his task to completion, and

his biography of Stirner appeared in Berlin in 1898. It is a tribute to the

thoroughness of Mackay's work that since its publication not one important

fact about Stirner has been discovered by anybody. During his years of

investigation Mackay's advertising for information had created a new interest

in Stirner, which was enhanced by the sudden fame of the writings of Friedrich

Nietzsche, an author whose intellectual kinship with Stirner has been a

subject of much controversy. "Der Einzige," previously obtainable only in an

expensive form, was included in Philipp Reclam's Universal-Bibliothek, and

this cheap edition has enjoyed a wide and ever-increasing circulation. During

the last dozen years the book has been translated twice into French, once into

Italian, once into Russian, and possibly into other languages. The

Scandinavian critic, Brandes, has written on Stirner. A large and appreciative

volume, entitled "L'Individualisme Anarchiste: Max Stirner," from the pen of

Prof Victor Basch, of the University of Rennes, has appeared in Paris. Another

large and sympathetic volume, "Max Stirner," written by Dr. Anselm Ruest, has

been published very recently in Berlin. Dr. Paul Eltzbacher, in his work,

"Der Anarchismus," gives a chapter to Stirner, making him one of the seven

typical Anarchists, beginning with William Godwin and ending with Tolstoi, of

whom his book treats. There is hardly a notable magazine or a review on the

Continent that has not given at least one leading article to the subject of

Stirner. Upon the initiative of Mackay and with the aid of other admirers a

suitable stone has been placed above the philosopher's previously neglected

grave, and a memorial tablet upon the house in Berlin where he died in 1856;

and this spring another is to be placed upon the house in Bayreuth where he

was born in 1806. As a result of these various efforts, and though but little

has been written about Stirner in the English language, his name is now known

at least to thousands in America and England where formerly it was known only

to hundreds.

Therefore conditions are now more favorable for the reception of this volume

than they were when I formed the design of publishing it, more than twenty

years ago.

The problem of securing a reasonably good translation (for in the case of a

work presenting difficulties so enormous it was idle to hope for an adequate

translation) was finally solved by entrusting the task to Steven T. Byington,

a scholar of remarkable attainments, whose specialty is philology, and who is

also one of the ablest workers in the propaganda of Anarchism. But, for

further security from error, it was agreed with Mr. Byington that his

translation should have the benefit of revision by Dr. Walker, the most

thorough American student of Stirner, and by Emma Heller Schumm and George

Schumm, who are not only sympathetic with Stirner, but familiar with the

history of his time, and who enjoy a knowledge of English and German that

makes it difficult to decide which is their native tongue. It was also agreed

that, upon any point of difference between the translator and his revisers

which consultation might fail to solve, the publisher should decide. This

method has been followed, and in a considerable number of instances it has

fallen to me to make a decision. It is only fair to say, therefore, that the

responsibility for special errors and imperfections properly rests on my

shoulders, whereas, on the other hand, the credit for whatever general

excellence the translation may possess belongs with the same propriety to Mr.

Byington and his coadjutors. One thing is certain: its defects are due to no

lack of loving care and pains. And I think I may add with confidence, while

realizing fully how far short of perfection it necessarily falls, that it may

safely challenge comparison with the translations that have been made into

other languages.

In particular, I am responsible for the admittedly erroneous rendering of the

title. "The Ego and His Own" is not an exact English equivalent of *"Der

Einzige und Sein Eigentum."* But then, there is no exact English equivalent.

Perhaps the nearest is "The Unique One and His Property." But the unique one

is not strictly the Einzige, for uniqueness connotes not only singleness but

an admirable singleness, while Stirner's Einzigkeit is admirable in his eyes

only as such, it being no part of the purpose of his book to distinguish a

particular Einzigkeit as more excellent than another. Moreover, "The Unique

One and His Property " has no graces to compel our forgiveness of its slight

inaccuracy. It is clumsy and unattractive. And the same objections may be

urged with still greater force against all the other renderings that have been

suggested, -- "The Single One and His Property," "The Only One and His

Property," "The Lone One and His Property," "The Unit and His Property," and,

last and least and worst, "The Individual and His Prerogative." " The Ego and

His Own," on the other hand, if not a precise rendering, is at least an

excellent title in itself; excellent by its euphony, its monosyllabic

incisiveness, and its telling -- Einzigkeit. Another strong argument in its

favor is the emphatic correspondence of the phrase "his own" with Mr.

Byington's renderings of the kindred words, Eigenheit and Eigner.

Moreover, no reader will be led astray who bears in mind Stirner's

distinction: "I am not an ego along with other egos, but the sole ego; I am

unique." And, to help the reader to bear this in mind, the various renderings

of the word Einzige that occur through the volume are often accompanied by

foot-notes showing that, in the German, one and the same word does duty for

all.

If the reader finds the first quarter of this book somewhat forbidding and

obscure, he is advised nevertheless not to falter. Close attention will master

almost every difficulty, and, if he will but give it, he will find abundant

reward in what follows. For his guidance I may specify one defect in the

author's style. When controverting a view opposite to his own, he seldom

distinguishes with sufficient clearness his statement of his own view from his

re-statement of the antagonistic view. As a result, the reader is plunged into

deeper and deeper mystification, until something suddenly reveals the cause of

his misunderstanding, after which he must go back and read again. I therefore

put him on his guard. The other difficulties lie, as a rule, in the structure

of the work. As to these I can hardly do better than translate the following

passage from Prof. Basch's book, alluded to above: "There is nothing more

disconcerting than the first approach to this strange work. Stirner does not

condescend to inform us as to the architecture of his edifice, or furnish us

the slightest guiding thread. The apparent divisions of the book are few and

misleading. From the first page to the last a unique thought circulates, but

it divides itself among an infinity of vessels and arteries in each of which

runs a blood so rich in ferments that one is tempted to describe them all.

There is no progress in the development, and the repetitions are

innumerable... The reader who is not deterred by this oddity, or rather

absence, of composition gives proof of genuine intellectual courage. At first

one seems