Max Stirner's individualist anarchism

Abstract

This article analyzes the concept of freedom in the thought of Max Stirner, particularly through his work The Ego and Its Own. The study seeks to understand the meaning attributed by the German philosopher to freedom, examining its relationship with the concepts of property, individuality, egoism, and power. The research demonstrates that Stirner criticizes both freedom understood merely as the absence of constraints and the partial forms of emancipation promoted by political, religious, and social institutions. According to Stirner, true freedom is achieved only when the individual becomes the owner of himself and guides his existence from the perspective of the self, rejecting abstractions such as the State, religion, morality, and society whenever they stand above individuality. The article also highlights the similarities and differences between Stirner and Nietzsche, especially regarding the notion of the will to power and the critique of traditional values. It concludes that Stirner’s conception of freedom is grounded in the radical affirmation of the individual and personal autonomy, although it ultimately leads to a worldview marked by egoism, conflict, and a tendency toward nihilism, raising important reflections on the condition of contemporary humanity.