Stirner on the Internet

Stirner on the Internet - Non Serviam

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"Non serviam!" - "I will not serve", is known from literature as Satan's declaration of his rebellion against God. We wish to follow up on this tradition of insurrection. In modern times, the philosophy of the individual's assertion of himself against gods, ideals and human oppressors has been most eloquently expressed by Max Stirner in his book Der Einzige und Sein Eigentum. Stirner, whose real name was Johann Kaspar Schmidt [1806-56], lived in a time dominated by German Idealism, with Hegel as its prominent figure. It is against this background of fixation of ideas that Stirner makes his rebellion. Stirner takes down these ideas from their fixed points in the starry sky of Spirit, and declares all ideas to be the ideas of an Ego, and the realm of spirits and ideas to be the mind of the thinker himself. His heaven-storming is total. Even the idealist tool - dialectic, and the supreme ghost of Idealism, [Absolute] Spirit - are stripped of their status of intrinsic existence, and are taken back into the Ego himself. This is most clearly seen in Stirner's main triad: Materialist - Idealist - Egoist. And the triad stops at its last link. Any further progress cannot negate Egoism, for - progress has been taken back into the individual, as his - property. For Stirner, the solution to the "alienation", or "self-alienation" of Idealism, is in self-expression, or - ownership. What cannot be one's own cause, the cause that is not one's own, is not worth pursuing. As Stirner says "Away then, with every cause that is not altogether my cause!"

Now, this is the philosophical starting point of Non Serviam and Nonserv. For the more formal part, though the letter is centered on philosophy and ideas, articles on topics relevant to true egoists will also be admitted. The prime requirement is that the articles are not on-line ranting, but serious attempts to convey something of interest and relevance. Articles on literature through the ages will be very fine, stories will be welcomed if I see them fit, and I even think I might fall for an article on french cuisine made easy ... However: If in doubt whether the article will be accepted, contact me by personal mail first. A waste of time is a waste of time. I hope to be able to make each of the issues of the newsletter thematic, that is we have one main theme in each issue. The main theme is not meant to be the sole content, however, but more an inspiration for writing.

English title: The Ego and Its Own.
"Ego" = Einziger - single individual.

The practical matters

The list Nonserv and the newsletter Non Serviam were created together, the first for quicker exchanges, and the latter for longer articles. Subscriptions are independent; to subscribe to non serviam, send email to solan@nonserviam.com indicating your email address; to subscribe to nonserv, send email to majordomo@etext.orgo with the text subscribe nonserv in the body of the message. If you are interested in subscribing to the paper version, that is also an option.

People subscribing to this Non Serviam and Nonserv range from self-taught amateurs to professors of philosophy, and so the interest ranges from academic interest in ideas to the more practical and applied. Nothing more will come out from this list and newsletter than is put into it. The only synergistic effect we can hope for, is that of inspiration through an environment of people discussing the same ideas. Because this newsletter tries to address both professional and amateur alike, I would appreciate it if submitted entries took this into consideration. In practice, this means that claims should be supported by reasoned arguments, so that the opposite part has something to hold on to. References are fine, as long as they do not substitute argument. The newsletter Non Serviam is not primarily aimed at confrontation, though this surely is not barred, but at exchange of information. That means that if anyone finds something [s]he thinks will be of interest to the readers of the newsletter, [s]he should feel free to post it. Examples of what is relevant are articles on how Nietzsche, Rand, Hegel and Feuerbach relate to the primary subject matter of this newsletter. Likewise articles on the relation to the basis of anarchism, and on the relation to sciences - in particular psychology. As examples of what is non-relevant, we have: Election issues, flames, issues in philosophy not even touching the main subject, academic small-talk, and nuisance mail. I would also appreciate minimization of quoting from other posters.

Current and back issues of Non Serviam, together with some material relevant to Stirner, are available from The Etext archives. If you want to go straight to the archives, here are links directly to the Non Serviam archves and the Nonserv discussion archives. The Etext archives also have retrievable copies of The Ego and Its Own - ascii or MSWord .