Johann Caspar Schmidt(1806-1856) is a German philosopher that used the pen name Max Stirner. His penn name that allegedly originated from his large forehead(“Max” for maximal, “Stirner” for the German word “Stirn”, meaning forehead) is not the only characteristic that makes him a unique figure in philosophy. When thinking about ethics in philosophy most people will immeadeatly think of altruism but Max Stirner is on the complete opposite site.

The main thesis

In his opus magnum “The Ego and Its Own”(1844) which is the only comprehensive work he has published in his lifetime he develops a philosophy that the world has never seen before. It is among the most extreme rejections of ideologies that aim to spread as much as possible like Christianity or political ideologies ever written. Instead of just attacking individual ideologies he disagrees with he is against the concept of ideologies itself. His central thesis is that everyone’s most precious belonging is themselves. Therefore one should cleanse himself from all outside factors that distort your personality, in his eyes personality is intrinsic to every human which is why he thinks that the personality is not created by your surroundings but is only distorted by them. Another consequence he draws from his main thesis is that no ideals, morals or beliefs should be placed above your own self. The real self is what is left when you strip a person of all of their high ideals and beliefs.

The king of individualism?

Stirner is often seen as the god and his book “The Ego and Its Own“ as the bible of the extreme individualist. But he would respond to this that individualism is just another “ism” that just like every other ideal shouldn’t be elevated to a higher level than yourself. As far as Stirner is concerned you shouldn’t put any ideal above yourself which would also be the case for individualism. This common belief is an inaccurate and misleading description of Stirner’s main message and is the complete opposite of his intention.

His intention: political change?

When reading the works of Stirner one might wonder: What is his intention? What did he want to achieve? His individualism and anti ideology ethos may give the impression that Max Stirner is an advocate for libertarianism or anarchism. While it might be the case that Max Stirner was against totalitarian governments his intention was not political. The transformation of mindset that he wants to provoke has to come from within the individual because you are the owner of yourself not. This means that your own mind has to be controlled by only you impartial to the current political situation.

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