The Ego and his Own by Max Stirner (best memoirs of all time TXT) 📖
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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/---- * ----
Copyright, 1907, by
BENJAMIN R. TUCKER
---- * ----
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
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