POST MODERNISM - Post-modernism is a movement in philosophy, literature, art, architecture,

music etc. I'll attempt to answer this question in the context of literature. You can easily extrapolate it to the
field of your choice.

Post-modernism is what comes after modernism. Not just in time, but as a logical succession to the
movement that was modernism. So, to understand post modernism, I think it becomes necessary to
understand the kinds of questions raised (and answered) by modernism.

In the beginning, there was realism, which dealt with the hard reality of the times. People wrote, painted
and thought about life as it was. Take for example Charles Dickens' novels. All of them were grounded in
reality, and addressed questions and problems faced by the common man in his day to day life. This was
called realism.

The 20th century brought with it the world wars, and a huge amount of uncertainty. This provoked the
question - "What is reality?" Is there an absolute reality? Or does it depend on perception. What you might
think of as invasion, might just be reclaiming my territory for me. Read Akutagawa's short story In a Grove
[1] as an example. In literature, this translated to a lack of causality, linearity and logic. Things were
unconnected. Some things just were. And what do you mean "they were"? They were, as I saw them to be.
The overall flavour was that life lacks meaning. Things are what you make them out to be. As such, a heavy
burden was placed on the reader as well. It was not just necessary for a writer to write a good story, but for
a reader to read them "intelligently" and to derive meaning out of it. This was modernism.

What followed, in the post-war period was post-modernism. We've dealt with objective reality, we've dealt
with reality as a matter of perception. What else remains to be thought of now? Post-modernists think of
reality as a matter of construct, as opposed to perception or being. In literature, this translates to the novel
being self-referential, self-reflexive. It talks about itself. It involves the reader. Words are no longer set in
stone, or set forth for the reader to interpret. The reader now has to look past the obvious meaning. Why do
you associate the word "tree" with the image of a tree? What else can it mean? These are examples of
questions thrown up by post modernism. Post-modernist fiction evokes plays with the genre, crosses the
boundaries of the novel (which is basically breaking the fourth wall in drama and involves the reader in
making the choices that shape the novel. Overall, there is a good deal of self-reflexivity involved.
Conventional boundaries are destroyed, and attention is drawn to the reader's process of processing the
information presented.
The overall effect is to destabilize the reader. You do not get what you came for. Read for example the short
story The Enigma, by John Fowles.

So yeah, that's what post modernism is about? A little confusing, but hey, that's what post-modernism is
about :).

MODERNISM - Modernist philosophy can be dated back to many philosophers and event : Descartes,
Luther, the Renaissance, the Italian Renaissance etc.

The core of modern philosophy is basically to refuse traditions, socio-historical biases and to question one's
own experience of things. This is what Kant and the Enlightments consider to be a "critical" point of view :
to take a step back and judge with as less biases as possible.

Philosophers like Loewith and Schmitt consider that modernist philosophy is about the secularisation of
religious concepts. For example, Schmitt tries to prove that the concept of "State" in modern phiilosophy is
inherited from the concept of "God" in theology.
The so-called "critical" point of view, therefore, would merely be an atheist version of the theological logic
and would, consequently, be lacking its core concepts (God, the Principle etc.)

Philosophers like Hans Blumenberg have questionned this theory of "secularisation" saying that modern
philosophy is more about inheriting questions from pre-Renaissance's traditions but giving new answers to
these questions while raising others. For example, the concept of "progress" would be a extrapolation made
to explain the whole course of history based on the concept of "scientifical progress". Therefore, "progress"
would be the new answer to "where are we going ?"
But at the same time, the idea of a perpetual critical point of view raises new questions and is, in itself,
absolutely new in the course of history. Consequently, modernity, according to Blumenberg, would not be a
mere "secularisation" of theological concepts. Modernism is the aesthetic and philosophical reaction to the
effects of the industrial revolution in the western world.

Modernism reveled against the traditions of art, architecture, social order, religion and philosophy which
seemed insufficient to explain and satisfy the existence of man in the new reality created by industrial
societies where individuals were rendered trivial and meaningless in the face of the grander insensitive
scale of cities, wars, factories, governments, etc.

Modernists experimented with the possibilities brought by industrial materials, technologies and radical
thinking to shape a new reality that fueled the human progress and re empowered the individuals.

Ironically modernism found it's ultimate expression in the materialist consumer culture of developed
countries where the push to constantly renew consumer goods by means of new industrial materials,
technologies and radical thinking constantly pushes individuals into trivial meaningless existence

CONSTRUCTIVISM ART- a style or movement in which assorted mechanical objects

are combined into abstract mobile structural forms. The movement originated in Russia in
the 1920s and has influenced many aspects of modern architecture and design.
Constructivism is a philosophical viewpoint about the nature of knowledge. Specifically, it represents
an epistemological stance.[1] There are many "flavors" of constructivism, but one prominent theorist known for his
constructivist views is Jean Piaget, who focused on how humans make meaning in relation to the interaction
between their experiences and their ideas. He considered himself to be a genetic epistemologist, which means
he considered this interaction in relation to how humans are set up by their genetic make up to develop
intellectually. His views tended to focus on human development in relation to what is occurring with an individual
as opposed to development that is influenced by other humans

ESSENTIALISM - Essentialism is the view that for any specific entity there is a set of attributes
which are necessary to its identity and function. In Western thought the concept is found in the work of
Plato and Aristotle.

SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISTS SAY ANYTHING WHICH IS A GIVEN MATERIAL

OBJECTIVE REALITY IS DISMISSED

ONTOLOGY - Ontology is the philosophical study of the nature of being, becoming, existence or reality as
well as the basic categories of being and their relations.[1] Traditionally listed as a part of the major branch of
philosophy known as metaphysics, ontology often deals with questions concerning what entities exist or may be
said to exist and how such entities may be grouped, related within a hierarchy, and subdivided according to
similarities and differences. Although ontology as a philosophical enterprise is highly theoretical, it also has
practical application in information science and technology, such as ontology engineering.

EPISTEMOLOGY - Epistemology ( /pstmldi/; from Greek , epistm, meaning

i

"knowledge", and , logos, meaning "logical discourse") is the branch of philosophy concerned with the
theory of knowledge.[1]

Epistemology studies the nature of knowledge, justification, and the rationality of belief. Much of the debate in
epistemology centers on four areas: (1) the philosophical analysis of the nature of knowledge and how it relates
to such concepts as truth, belief, and justification,[2][3] (2) various problems of skepticism, (3) the sources and
scope of knowledge and justified belief, and (4) the criteria for knowledge and justification.
SOCIAL SETUP ALL ALONG CONSTRUCTS ONTOLOGY SO SOCIAL
CONSTRUCTIVISM

MICHEL FOUCALT HISTORY OF SEXUALITY

Liberalism tenets individualism individual comes before the society;

rationality; public and personal spheres

Locke rosseau hobbes theory of property and social contract

Mary Wollstonecraft women being able to make rational decisions

Different Types of Feminist Theories

Feminism is the organized movement which promotes equality for

men and women in political, economic and social spheres.
Feminists believe that women are oppressed simple due to their
sex based on the dominant ideology of patriarchy. Ridding society
of patriarchy will result in liberation for women, men, minorities,
and gays.

Patriarchy is the system which oppresses women through it's

social, economic and political institutions. Throughout history men
have had greater power in both the public and private spheres. To
maintain this power, men have created boundaries and obstacles
for women, thus making it harder for women to hold power. There
is an unequal access to power. Patriarchy also includes the
oppression of minorities and homosexuals.

Feminism ideology can take many different forms. In the 1970's,

women started developing a theory which helped to explain their
oppression. Pockets of resistance began to organize and challenge
patriarchy. By the 1980's, however, feminists started disagreeing
on particular issues linked to feminism. What was once one
theory, began to branch out into many theories that focused on
different feminist issues. Today, there are as many definitions of
feminism as there are feminists. Each definition of feminism
depends on a number of factors including ones own beliefs,
history and culture.

Advocates of Radical Feminism:

Mary Daly

Radical feminism promotes the basis for many of the ideas of

feminism. They usually clash with the ideals of the liberal
feminist, because radical feminists believe that society must be
changed at its core in order to dissolve patriarchy, not just
through acts of legislation. Unfortunately, this type of feminism
also attracts a lot of negative media attention creating a backlash
of feminism. Radical feminists believe that the domination of
women is the oldest and worst kind of oppression in the world.
They believe this because it spans across the world oppressing
women of different races, ethnicities, classes and cultures. Radical
feminists want to free both men and women from the rigid gender
roles that society has imposed upon them. It is this sex-gender
system that has created oppression and radical feminist's mission
is to overthrow this system by any possible means. Sometimes
radical feminists believe that they must rage a war against men,
patriarchy, and the gender system which confines them to rigid
social roles. They completely reject these roles, all aspects of
patriarchy, and in some cases, they reject men as well.

Radical feminists emphasize their difference from men. They form

groups that exclude males completely. This type of feminist
highlights the importance of individual feelings, experiences and
relationships. Radical feminists have divided into two groups with
very different views.
Radical-Libertarian Feminism

Radical-Libertarian feminists believe that femininity and

reproduction limit women's capacity to contribute to society.
Women should essentially be androgynous. Radical-Libertarian
feminists like to violate sexual norms and believe that women
should control every aspect of their sexuality. They also advocate
artificial means of reproduction so that less time is devoted to
pregnancy and more time is devoted to worthwhile things. They
are strong promoters of abortion, contraceptives and other forms
of birth control.

Radical-Cultural Feminism

Radical-Cultural feminist views are dramatically different from

Radical-Libertarian feminists views. The Radical-Cultural feminists
believe that women should encompass their femininity because it
is better than masculinity. Mary Daly advocates finding the wild
female within. This type of radical feminist sees sex and
penetration as male dominated. They see a link between sex,
female subordination, porn, rape and abuse. These must be
eliminated, according to Cultural-Radical feminists. Yet another
opposing view is that reproduction is the source of power for
women. They believe that men are jealous of women, and that
they try to control reproduction through means of technology.

Advocates of Liberal Feminism:

Betty Friedan

National Organization for Women

Liberal feminism was most popular in the 1950's and 1960's when
many civil rights movements were taking place. The main view of
liberal feminists are that all people are created equal by God and
deserve equal rights. These types of feminists believe that
oppression exists because of the way in which men and women
are socialized, which supports patriarchy and keeps men in power
positions. Liberal feminists believe that women have the same
mental capacity as their male counterparts and should be given
the same opportunities in political, economic and social spheres.
Women should have the right to choose, not have their life chosen
for them because of their sex. Essentially, women must be like
men.

Liberal feminists create and support acts of legislation that

remove the barriers for women. These acts of legislation demand
equal opportunities and rights for women, including equal access
to jobs and equal pay. Liberal feminists believe that removing
these barriers directly challenges the ideologies of patriarchy, as
well as liberates women.

Liberal feminists are responsible for many important acts of

legislation that have greatly increased the status of women,
including reforms in welfare, education and health. Unfortunately.
Liberal feminism has been known to only concentrate on the
legislation aspect in the fight against patriarchy. It has been
criticized for not breaking down the deeper ideologies of society
and patriarchy. Also, it has been criticized for ignoring race and
class issues.

Advocate for Socialist Feminism:

Alison Jaggar

Socialist feminists believe that there is a direct link between class

structure and the oppression of women. Western society rewards
working men because they produce tangible, tradable goods. On
the other hand, women's work in the domestic sphere is not
valued by western society because women do not produce a
tangible, tradable good. This gives men power and control over
women. Socialist feminists reject the idea that biology
predetermines ones gender. Social roles are not inherent and
women's status must change in both the public and private
spheres.

Socialist feminists like to challenge the ideologies of capitalism

and patriarchy. Much like the views of radical feminists, socialist
feminists believe that although women are divided by class, race,
ethnicity and religion, they all experience the same oppression
simply for being a woman. Socialist feminist believe that the way
to end this oppression is to put an end to class and gender.
Women must work side by side men in the political sphere. In
order to get anything accomplished, women must work with men,
as opposed to ostracizing them. There must be a coalition
between the two and they must see each other as equals in all
spheres of life. In contrast to ideals of liberal feminism, which
tend to focus on the individual woman, the socialist feminist
theory focuses on the broader context of social relations in the
community and includes aspects of race, ethnicity and other
differences.

Advocate of Cultural Feminism:

Carol Gilligan

Cultural feminists believe that there are fundamental, biological

differences between men and women, and that women should
celebrate these differences. Women are inherently more kind and
gentle. Cultural feminists believe that because of these
differences, if women ruled the world there would be no more war
and it would be a better place. Essentially, a women's way is the
right and better way for everyone. Western society values male
thought and the ideas of independence, hierarchy, competition
and domination. Females values ideas such as interdependence,
cooperation, relationships, community, sharing, joy, trust and
peace. Unfortunately, says the cultural feminist, these ideas are
not valued in contemporary western societies.

Cultural feminists are usually non-political, instead focusing on

individual change and influencing or transforming society through
this individual change. They usually advocate separate female
counter-cultures as a way to change society but not completely
disconnect.

Advocate of Ecofeminism:
 Vandana Shiva

Ecofeminists believe that patriarchy and male domination is

harmful to women, as well as the environment. There is a link
between a male's desire to dominate unruly women and
wilderness. Men feel as though they must tame and conquer both
in order to have complete power. Ecofeminists say that it is this
desire that destroys both women and the Earth.

Ecofeminists believe that women have a central role in preserving

nature because woman understand and are one with nature.
There is a deep connection that men cannot understand between
the Earth and women, hence the terms Mother Nature or Mother
Earth. Women need to use their superior insight to reveal how
humans can live in harmony with each other and with nature.

Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that emphasizes the moral
worth of the individual.[1][2] Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and so
value independence and self-reliance[3] and advocate that interests of the individual should achieve precedence
over the state or a social group,[3]while opposing external interference upon one's own interests
by society or institutions such as the government.[3] Individualism is often defined in contrast
to totalitarianism, collectivism and more corporate social forms.[4][5]

Individualism makes the individual its focus[1]and so starts "with the fundamental premise that the human
individual is of primary importance in the struggle for liberation."[6] Classical liberalism, existentialism,
and anarchism are examples of movements that take the human individual as a central unit of analysis.
[6]
Individualism thus involves "the right of the individual to freedom and self-realization".[7]

It has also been used as a term denoting "The quality of being an individual; individuality"[3]related to possessing
"An individual characteristic; a quirk."[3] Individualism is thus also associated with artistic and bohemian interests
and lifestyles where there is a tendency towards self-creation and experimentation as opposed to tradition or
popular mass opinions and behaviors[3][8] as so also with humanist philosophical positions and ethics.[9][10]

Contents

[hide]

1Etymology

2The individual
 3Individualism and society

o 3.1Individuation theories

o 3.2Methodological individualism

4Political individualism

o 4.1Liberalism

o 4.2Anarchism

4.2.1Individualist anarchism

5Philosophical individualism

o 5.1Ethical egoism

5.1.1Egoist anarchism

o 5.2Existentialism

o 5.3Freethought

o 5.4Humanism

o 5.5Hedonism

o 5.6Libertinism

o 5.7Objectivism

o 5.8Philosophical anarchism

o 5.9Subjectivism

5.9.1Solipsism

6Economic individualism

o 6.1Liberalism

o 6.2Individualist anarchism and economics

6.2.1Mutualism

o 6.3Libertarian socialism

o 6.4Left-libertarianism

o 6.5Right-libertarianism

7As creative independent lifestyle

8See also
 9References

10Notes

11Further reading

12External links

Etymology[edit]

In the English language, the word "individualism" was first introduced, as a pejorative, by the Owenites in the late
1830s, although it is unclear if they were influenced by Saint-Simonianism or came up with it independently.[11] A
more positive use of the term in Britain came to be used with the writings of James Elishama Smith, who was
a millenarian and a Christian Israelite. Although an early Owenite socialist, he eventually rejected its collective
idea of property, and found in individualism a "universalism" that allowed for the development of the "original
genius." Without individualism, Smith argued, individuals cannot amass property to increase one's happiness.
[11]
William Maccall, another Unitarian preacher, and probably an acquaintance of Smith, came somewhat later,
although influenced by John Stuart Mill, Thomas Carlyle, and German Romanticism, to the same positive
conclusions, in his 1847 work "Elements of Individualism".[12]

The individual[edit]

Main article: Individual

An individual is a person or any specific object in a collection. In the 15th century and earlier, and also today
within the fields of statistics and metaphysics, individual means "indivisible", typically describing any numerically
singular thing, but sometimes meaning "a person." (q.v. "The problem of proper names"). From the 17th century
on, individual indicates separateness, as in individualism.[13] Individuality is the state or quality of being an
individual; a person separate from other persons and possessing his or her own needs, goals, and desires.

Individualism and society[edit]

Individualism holds that a person taking part in society attempts to learn and discover what his or her own
interests are on a personal basis, without a presumed following of the interests of a societal structure (an
individualist need not be an egoist). The individualist does not follow one particular philosophy, rather creates an
amalgamation of elements of many, based on personal interests in particular aspects that she/he finds of use. On
a societal level, the individualist participates on a personally structured political and moral ground. Independent
thinking and opinion is a common trait of an individualist. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, claims that his concept of
"general will" in the "social contract"[14] is not the simple collection of individual wills and that it furthers the
interests of the individual (the constraint of law itself would be beneficial for the individual, as the lack of respect
for the law necessarily entails, in Rousseau's eyes, a form of ignorance and submission to
one's passions instead of the preferred autonomy of reason).

Societies and groups can differ in the extent to which they are based upon predominantly "self-regarding"
(individualistic, and/or self-interested) behaviors, rather than "other-regarding" (group-oriented, and group, or
society-minded) behaviors. Ruth Benedict made a distinction, relevant in this context, between "guilt"
societies (e.g., medieval Europe) with an "internal reference standard", and "shame" societies (e.g., Japan,
"bringing shame upon one's ancestors") with an "external reference standard", where people look to their peers
for feedback on whether an action is "acceptable" or not (also known as "group-think").[15]

Individualism is often contrasted[5] either with totalitarianism or with collectivism, but in fact, there is a spectrum of
behaviors at the societal level ranging from highly individualistic societies through mixed societies to collectivist.

Individuation theories[edit]
Main article: Individuation

The principle of individuation , or principium individuationis,[16] describes the manner in which a thing is identified
as distinguished from other things.[17] For Carl Jung, individuation is a process of transformation, whereby the
personal and collective unconscious is brought into consciousness (by means of dreams, active
imagination or free association to take some examples) to be assimilated into the whole personality. It is a
completely natural process necessary for the integration of the psyche to take place.[18] Jung considered
individuation to be the central process of human development.[19] In L'individuation psychique et collective, Gilbert
Simondon developed a theory of individual and collective individuation in which the individual subject is
considered as an effect of individuation rather than a cause. Thus, the individual atom is replaced by a never-
ending ontological process of individuation. Individuation is an always incomplete process, always leaving a "pre-
individual" left-over, itself making possible future individuations.[20] The philosophy of Bernard Stiegler draws upon
and modifies the work of Gilbert Simondon on individuation and also upon similar ideas in Friedrich
Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud. For Stiegler "the I, as a psychic individual, can only be thought in relationship
to we, which is a collective individual. The I is constituted in adopting a collective tradition, which it inherits and in
which a plurality of I 's acknowledge each other's existence."[21]

Methodological individualism[edit]
Methodological individualism is the view that phenomena can only be understood by examining how they result
from the motivations and actions of individual agents.[22] In economics, people's behavior is explained in terms of
rational choices, as constrained by prices and incomes. The economist accepts individuals' preferences as
givens. Becker and Stigler provide a forceful statement of this view:[23]

On the traditional view, an explanation of economic phenomena that reaches a difference in tastes
between people or times is the terminus of the argument: the problem is abandoned at this point to
whoever studies and explains tastes (psychologists? anthropologists? phrenologists? sociobiologists?).
On our preferred interpretation, one never reaches this impasse: the economist continues to search for
differences in prices or incomes to explain any differences or changes in behavior.

Political individualism[edit]

With the abolition of private property, then, we shall have true, beautiful, healthy Individualism. Nobody will waste his life in
accumulating things, and the symbols for things. One will live. To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.

Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man under Socialism, 1891

Individualists are chiefly concerned with protecting individual autonomy against obligations imposed by
social institutions (such as the state or religious morality). For L. Susan Brown "Liberalism and anarchism
are two political philosophies that are fundamentally concerned with individual freedom yet differ from one
another in very distinct ways. Anarchism shares with liberalism a radical commitment to individual freedom
while rejecting liberalism's competitive property relations."[6]

Civil libertarianism is a strain of political thought that supports civil liberties, or which emphasizes the
supremacy of individual rights and personal freedoms over and against any kind of authority (such as
a state, a corporation, social norms imposed through peer pressure, etc.).[24] Civil libertarianism is not a
complete ideology; rather, it is a collection of views on the specific issues of civil liberties and civil rights.
Because of this, a civil libertarian outlook is compatible with many other political philosophies, and civil
libertarianism is found on both the right and left in modern politics.[25] For scholar Ellen Meiksins Wood "there
are doctrines of individualism that are opposed to Lockean individualism ... and non-lockean individualism
may encompass socialism".[26]

Liberalism[edit]
Main article: Liberalism
 Part of a series on

Liberalism

Schools[show]

Ideas[hide]

Cultural liberalism

Democratic capitalism

Democratic education

Economic liberalism

Free market

Egalitarianism

Free trade

Harm principle

Individualism

Laissez-faire

Liberal democracy

Liberal neutrality

Market economy

Negative / positive liberty

Open society

Permissive society
 Political freedom

Popular sovereignty

Rights (individual)

Secularism

Separation of church and state

Variants[show]

People[show]

Organizations[show]

Related topics[show]

Liberalism portal

Politics portal

Liberalism (from the Latin liberalis, "of freedom; worthy of a free man, gentlemanlike, courteous, generous")
[27]
is the belief in the importance of individual freedom. This belief is widely accepted in the United States,
Europe, Australia and other Western nations, and was recognized as an important value by many Western
philosophers throughout history, in particular since the Enlightenment. It is often rejected by collectivist,
Islamic, or confucian societies in Asia or the Middle East (though Taoists were and are known to be
individualists).[28] The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote praising "the idea of a polity administered with
regard to equal rights and equal freedom of speech, and the idea of a kingly government which respects
most of all the freedom of the governed".[29]

Modern liberalism has its roots in the Age of Enlightenment and rejects many foundational assumptions that
dominated most earlier theories of government, such as the Divine Right of Kings, hereditary status,
and established religion. John Locke is often credited with the philosophical foundations of classical
liberalism. He wrote "no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions."[30]

In the 17th century, liberal ideas began to influence governments in Europe, in nations such as The
Netherlands, Switzerland, England and Poland, but they were strongly opposed, often by armed might, by
those who favored absolute monarchy and established religion. In the 18th century, in America, the first
modern liberal state was founded, without a monarch or a hereditary aristocracy.[31] The
American Declaration of Independence includes the words (which echo Locke) "all men are created equal;
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness; that to insure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their
just powers from the consent of the governed."[32]

Liberalism comes in many forms. According to John N. Gray, the essence of liberalism is toleration of
different beliefs and of different ideas as to what constitutes a good life.[33]

Anarchism[edit]
Main article: Anarchism

Part of the Politics series on

Anarchism

Schools of thought[show]

Theory

Practice

[hide]

Anarchy

Anarchist Black Cross

Anationalism

Anti-authoritarianism

Anti-militarism

Affinity group

Black bloc

Classless society

Class struggle

Communes

Consensus democracy

Conscientious objector

Counter-economics

Decentralization

Deep ecology

Direct action
 Direct democracy

Dual power

Especifismo

Expropriative anarchism

Free association

Free love

Free school

Freethought

Horizontalidad

Illegalism

Individualism

Individual reclamation

Isocracy

Law

Mutual aid

Participatory politics

Permanent autonomous zone

Prefigurative politics

Proletarian internationalism

Propaganda of the deed

Refusal of work

Revolution

Rewilding

Self-ownership

Social center

Social ecology

Social insertion

Somatherapy

Spontaneous order

Squatting

Temporary Autonomous Zone

Union of egoists

People[show]

Issues[show]

History[show]

Culture[show]
 Economics[show]

By region[show]

Lists[show]

Related topics[show]

Anarchism portal

Politics portal

Anarchism is a set of political philosophies that hold the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, or harmful,[34]
[35]
and often advocate stateless societies.[36][37][38][39] While anti-statism is central, some argue[40] that anarchism
entails opposing authority or hierarchical organisation in the conduct of human relations, including, but not
limited to, the state system.[41][42][43][44][45][46][47]

For influential Italian anarchist Errico Malatesta "All anarchists, whatever tendency they belong to, are
individualists in some way or other. But the opposite is not true; not by any means. The individualists are
thus divided into two distinct categories: one which claims the right to full development for all human
individuality, their own and that of others; the other which only thinks about its own individuality and has
absolutely no hesitation in sacrificing the individuality of others. The Tsar of all the Russias belongs to the
latter category of individualists. We belong to the former."[48]

Individualist anarchism[edit]

Main article: Individualist anarchism

Individualist anarchism refers to several traditions of thought within the anarchist movement that emphasize
the individual and their will over any kinds of external determinants such as groups, society, traditions, and
ideological systems.[49][50] Individualist anarchism is not a single philosophy but refers to a group of
individualistic philosophies that sometimes are in conflict.

In 1793, William Godwin, who has often[51] been cited as the first anarchist, wrote Political Justice, which
some consider to be the first expression of anarchism.[52][53] Godwin, a philosophical anarchist, from
a rationalist and utilitarian basis opposed revolutionary action and saw a minimal state as a present
"necessary evil" that would become increasingly irrelevant and powerless by the gradual spread of
knowledge.[52][54] Godwin advocated individualism, proposing that all cooperation in labour be eliminated on
the premise that this would be most conducive with the general good.[55][56]

An influential form of individualist anarchism, called "egoism,"[57] or egoist anarchism, was expounded by one
of the earliest and best-known proponents of individualist anarchism, the German Max Stirner.
[58]
Stirner's The Ego and Its Own, published in 1844, is a founding text of the philosophy.[58] According to
Stirner, the only limitation on the rights of the individual is their power to obtain what they desire, [59] without
regard for God, state, or morality.[60] To Stirner, rights were spooks in the mind, and he held that society does
not exist but "the individuals are its reality".[61] Stirner advocated self-assertion and foresaw unions of egoists,
non-systematic associations continually renewed by all parties' support through an act of will,[62] which Stirner
proposed as a form of organization in place of the state.[63] Egoist anarchists claim that egoism will foster
genuine and spontaneous union between individuals.[64] "Egoism" has inspired many interpretations of
Stirner's philosophy. It was re-discovered and promoted by German philosophical anarchist
and LGBT activist John Henry Mackay.

Josiah Warren is widely regarded as the first American anarchist,[65] and the four-page weekly paper he
edited during 1833, The Peaceful Revolutionist, was the first anarchist periodical published.[66] For American
anarchist historian Eunice Minette Schuster "It is apparent...that Proudhonian Anarchism was to be found in
the United States at least as early as 1848 and that it was not conscious of its affinity to the Individualist
Anarchism of Josiah Warren and Stephen Pearl Andrews...William B. Greene presented this Proudhonian
Mutualism in its purest and most systematic form.".[67] Henry David Thoreau (18171862) was an important
early influence in individualist anarchist thought in the United States and Europe.[68] Thoreau was an
American author, poet, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, philosopher, and
leading transcendentalist. He is best known for his books Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural
surroundings, and his essay, Civil Disobedience, an argument for individual resistance to civil government in
moral opposition to an unjust state. Later Benjamin Tucker fused Stirner's egoism with the economics of
Warren and Proudhon in his eclectic influential publication Liberty.

From these early influences individualist anarchism in different countries attracted a small but diverse
following of bohemian artists and intellectuals,[69] free love and birth control advocates (see Anarchism and
issues related to love and sex),[70][71] individualist naturists nudists (see anarcho-naturism),[72][73]
[74]
freethought and anti-clerical activists[75][76] as well as young anarchist outlaws in what came to be known
as illegalism and individual reclamation[77][78](see European individualist anarchism and individualist anarchism
in France). These authors and activists included Oscar Wilde, Emile Armand, Han Ryner, Henri Zisly, Renzo
Novatore, Miguel Gimenez Igualada, Adolf Brand and Lev Chernyi among others. In his important
essay The Soul of Man under Socialism from 1891 Oscar Wilde defended socialism as the way to guarantee
individualism and so he saw that "With the abolition of private property, then, we shall have true, beautiful,
healthy Individualism. Nobody will waste his life in accumulating things, and the symbols for things. One will
live. To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all."[79] For anarchist historian George
Woodcock "Wilde's aim in The Soul of Man under Socialism is to seek the society most favorable to the
artist ... for Wilde art is the supreme end, containing within itself enlightenment and regeneration, to which all
else in society must be subordinated ... Wilde represents the anarchist as aesthete."[80] Woodcock finds that
"The most ambitious contribution to literary anarchism during the 1890s was undoubtedly Oscar Wilde The
Soul of Man under Socialism" and finds that it is influenced mainly by the thought of William Godwin.[80]

Philosophical individualism[edit]

Ethical egoism[edit]
Main article: Ethical egoism

Ethical egoism (also called simply egoism)[81] is the normative ethical position that moral agents ought to do
what is in their own self-interest. It differs from psychological egoism, which claims that people do only act in
their self-interest. Ethical egoism also differs from rational egoism, which holds merely that it is rational to act
in one's self-interest. However, these doctrines may occasionally be combined with ethical egoism.

Ethical egoism contrasts with ethical altruism, which holds that moral agents have an obligation to help and
serve others. Egoism and altruism both contrast with ethical utilitarianism, which holds that a moral agent
should treat one's self (also known as the subject) with no higher regard than one has for others (as egoism
does, by elevating self-interests and "the self" to a status not granted to others), but that one also should not
(as altruism does) sacrifice one's own interests to help others' interests, so long as one's own interests (i.e.
one's own desires or well-being) are substantially-equivalent to the others' interests and well-being. Egoism,
utilitarianism, and altruism are all forms of consequentialism, but egoism and altruism contrast with
utilitarianism, in that egoism and altruism are both agent-focused forms of consequentialism (i.e. subject-
focused or subjective), but utilitarianism is called agent-neutral (i.e. objective and impartial) as it does not
treat the subject's (i.e. the self's, i.e. the moral "agent's") own interests as being more or less important than
if the same interests, desires, or well-being were anyone else's.

Ethical egoism does not, however, require moral agents to harm the interests and well-being of others when
making moral deliberation; e.g. what is in an agent's self-interest may be incidentally detrimental, beneficial,
or neutral in its effect on others. Individualism allows for others' interest and well-being to be disregarded or
not, as long as what is chosen is efficacious in satisfying the self-interest of the agent. Nor does ethical
egoism necessarily entail that, in pursuing self-interest, one ought always to do what one wants to do; e.g. in
the long term, the fulfilment of short-term desires may prove detrimental to the self. Fleeting pleasance,
then, takes a back seat to protracted eudaemonia. In the words of James Rachels, "Ethical egoism [...]
endorses selfishness, but it doesn't endorse foolishness."[82]

Caricature of Max Stirner taken from a sketch by Friedrich Engels. Egoist philosopher Max Stirner has been called a proto-

existentialist philosopher while at the same time is a central theorist of individualist anarchism

Ethical egoism is sometimes the philosophical basis for support of libertarianism or individualist anarchism
as in Max Stirner, although these can also be based on altruistic motivations.[83] These are political positions
based partly on a belief that individuals should not coercively prevent others from exercising freedom of
action.
Egoist anarchism[edit]

Main article: Egoist anarchism

Egoist anarchism is a school of anarchist thought that originated in the philosophy of Max Stirner, a
nineteenth-century Hegelian philosopher whose "name appears with familiar regularity in historically
orientated surveys of anarchist thought as one of the earliest and best-known exponents of individualist
anarchism."[58] According to Stirner, the only limitation on the rights of the individual is their power to obtain
what they desire,[59] without regard for God, state, or morality.[60] Stirner advocated self-assertion and
foresaw unions of egoists, non-systematic associations continually renewed by all parties' support through
an act of will,[62] which Stirner proposed as a form of organisation in place of the state.[63] Egoist
anarchists argue that egoism will foster genuine and spontaneous union between individuals.[64] "Egoism"
has inspired many interpretations of Stirner's philosophy but within anarchism it has also gone beyond
Stirner. It was re-discovered and promoted by German philosophical anarchist and LGBT activist John
Henry Mackay. John Beverley Robinson wrote an essay called "Egoism" in which he states that "Modern
egoism, as propounded by Stirner and Nietzsche, and expounded by Ibsen, Shaw and others, is all these;
but it is more. It is the realization by the individual that they are an individual; that, as far as they are
concerned, they are the only individual."[84]Nietzsche (see Anarchism and Friedrich Nietzsche) and Stirner
were frequently compared by French "literary anarchists" and anarchist interpretations of Nietzschean ideas
appear to have also been influential in the United States.[85] Anarchists who adhered to egoism
include Benjamin Tucker, mile Armand, John Beverley Robinson, Adolf Brand, Steven T. Byington, Renzo
Novatore, James L. Walker, Enrico Arrigoni, Biofilo Panclasta, Jun Tsuji, Andr Arru and contemporary ones
such as Hakim Bey, Bob Black and Wolfi Landstreicher.

Existentialism[edit]
Main article: Existentialism

Existentialism is a term applied to the work of a number of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite
profound doctrinal differences,[86][87] generally held that the focus of philosophical thought should be to deal
with the conditions of existence of the individual person and his or her emotions, actions, responsibilities,
and thoughts.[88][89] The early 19th century philosopher Sren Kierkegaard, posthumously regarded as the
father of existentialism,[90][91] maintained that the individual solely has the responsibilities of giving one's own
life meaning and living that life passionately and sincerely,[92][93] in spite of many existential obstacles and
distractions including despair, angst, absurdity, alienation, and boredom.[94]

Subsequent existential philosophers retain the emphasis on the individual, but differ, in varying degrees, on
how one achieves and what constitutes a fulfilling life, what obstacles must be overcome, and what external
and internal factors are involved, including the potential consequences of the existence[95][96] or non-
existence of God.[97][98] Many existentialists have also regarded traditional systematic or academic philosophy,
in both style and content, as too abstract and remote from concrete human experience.[99][100] Existentialism
became fashionable in the post-World War years as a way to reassert the importance of human individuality
and freedom.[101]

Freethought[edit]
Main article: Freethought

Freethought holds that individuals should not accept ideas proposed as truth without recourse to knowledge
and reason. Thus, freethinkers strive to build their opinions on the basis of facts, scientific inquiry,
and logical principles, independent of any logical fallacies or intellectually limiting effects of
authority, confirmation bias, cognitive bias, conventional wisdom, popular
culture, prejudice, sectarianism, tradition, urban legend, and all other dogmas. Regarding religion,
freethinkers hold that there is insufficient evidence to scientifically validate the existence
of supernatural phenomena.[102]
Humanism[edit]
Main article: Humanism

Humanism is a perspective common to a wide range of ethical stances that attaches importance to human
dignity, concerns, and capabilities, particularly rationality. Although the word has many senses, its meaning
comes into focus when contrasted to the supernatural or to appeals to authority.[103][104] Since the 19th century,
humanism has been associated with an anti-clericalism inherited from the 18th-century
Enlightenment philosophes. 21st century Humanism tends to strongly endorse human rights,
including reproductive rights, gender equality, social justice, and the separation of church and state. The
term covers organized non-theistic religions, secular humanism, and a humanistic life stance.[105]

Hedonism[edit]
Main article: Hedonism

Philosophical hedonism is a meta-ethical theory of value which argues that pleasure is the only intrinsic
good and pain is the only intrinsic bad.[106] The basic idea behind hedonistic thought is that pleasure (an
umbrella term for all inherently likable emotions) is the only thing that is good in and of itself or by its very
nature. The normative implications of this are evaluating character or behavior as morally good to the extent
that one is concerned with pleasure/pain qua pleasure/pain or an action leads to a greater balance of
pleasure over pain than any other would.

Libertinism[edit]
Main article: Libertine

A libertine is one devoid of most moral restraints, which are seen as unnecessary or undesirable, especially
one who ignores or even spurns accepted morals and forms of behaviour sanctified by the larger society.[107]
[108]
Libertines place value on physical pleasures, meaning those experienced through the senses. As a
philosophy, libertinism gained new-found adherents in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, particularly
in France and Great Britain. Notable among these were John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, and
the Marquis de Sade. During the Baroque era in France, there existed a freethinking circle of philosophers
and intellectuals who were collectively known as libertinage rudit and which included Gabriel Naud, lie
Diodati and Franois de La Mothe Le Vayer.[109][110] The critic Vivian de Sola Pinto linked John Wilmot, 2nd Earl
of Rochester's libertinism to Hobbesianmaterialism.[111]

Objectivism[edit]

Part of a series on

Libertarianism

Concepts[show]

Schools[show]

People[show]
 Aspects[show]

Organizations[show]

Related topics[show]

Outline of libertarianism

Libertarianism portal

e
Main article: Objectivism (Ayn Rand)

Objectivism is a system of philosophy created by philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand (19051982) that
holds: reality exists independent of consciousness; human beings gain knowledge rationally from perception
through the process of concept formation and inductive and deductive logic; the moral purpose of one's life
is the pursuit of one's own happiness or rational self-interest. Rand thinks the only social system consistent
with this morality is full respect for individual rights, embodied in pure laissez fairecapitalism; and the role
of art in human life is to transform man's widest metaphysical ideas, by selective reproduction of reality, into
a physical forma work of artthat he can comprehend and to which he can respond emotionally.
Objectivism celebrates man as his own hero, "with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with
productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute."[112]

Philosophical anarchism[edit]
Main article: Philosophical anarchism

Benjamin Tucker, American individualist anarchist who focused on economics calling them "Anarchistic-Socialism" [113] and adhering

to the mutualist economics of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and Josiah Warren

Philosophical anarchism is an anarchist school of thought[114] which contends that the State lacks moral
legitimacy and in contrast to revolutionary anarchism does not advocate violent revolution to eliminate it
but advocate peaceful evolution to superate it.[115] Though philosophical anarchism does not necessarily
imply any action or desire for the elimination of the State, philosophical anarchists do not believe that they
have an obligation or duty to obey the State, or conversely, that the State has a right to command.

Philosophical anarchism is a component especially of individualist anarchism.[116] Philosophical anarchists of

historical note include Mohandas Gandhi, William Godwin, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Max Stirner,
[117]
Benjamin Tucker,[118] and Henry David Thoreau.[119] Contemporary philosophical anarchists include A. John
Simmons and Robert Paul Wolff.

Subjectivism[edit]
Main article: Subjectivism

Subjectivism is a philosophical tenet that accords primacy to subjective experience as fundamental of all
measure and law. In extreme forms like Solipsism, it may hold that the nature and existence of every object
depends solely on someone's subjective awareness of it. For example, Wittgenstein wrote in Tractatus
Logico-Philosophicus: "The subject doesn't belong to the world, but it is a limit of the world" (proposition
5.632). Metaphysical subjectivism is the theory that reality is what we perceive to be real, and that there is
no underlying true reality that exists independently of perception. One can also hold that it
is consciousness rather than perception that is reality (subjective idealism). In probability, a subjectivism
stands for the belief that probabilities are simply degrees-of-belief by rational agents in a certain proposition,
and which have no objective reality in and of themselves.

Ethical subjectivism stands in opposition to moral realism, which claims that moral propositions refer to
objective facts, independent of human opinion; to error theory, which denies that any moral propositions are
true in any sense; and to non-cognitivism, which denies that moral sentences express propositions at all.
The most common forms of ethical subjectivism are also forms of moral relativism, with moral standards
held to be relative to each culture or society (c.f. cultural relativism), or even to every individual. The latter
view, as put forward by Protagoras, holds that there are as many distinct scales of good and evil as there
are subjects in the world. Moral subjectivism is that species of moral relativism that relativizes moral value to
the individual subject.

Horst Matthai Quelle was a Spanish language German anarchist philosopher influenced by Max Stirner.
[120]
He argued that since the individual gives form to the world, he is those objects, the others and the whole
universe.[120] One of his main views was a "theory of infinite worlds" which for him was developed by pre-
socratic philosophers.[120]

Solipsism[edit]

Main article: Solipsism

Solipsism is the philosophical idea that only one's own mind is sure to exist. The term comes
from Latin solus (alone) and ipse (self). Solipsism as an epistemological position holds that knowledge of
anything outside one's own mind is unsure. The external world and other minds cannot be known, and might
not exist outside the mind. As a metaphysical position, solipsism goes further to the conclusion that the
world and other minds do not exist. As such it is the only epistemological position that, by its own postulate,
is both irrefutable and yet indefensible in the same manner. Although the number of individuals sincerely
espousing solipsism has been small, it is not uncommon for one philosopher to accuse another's arguments
of entailing solipsism as an unwanted consequence, in a kind of reductio ad absurdum. In the history of
philosophy, solipsism has served as a skeptical hypothesis.

Economic individualism[edit]
The doctrine of economic individualism holds that each individual should be allowed autonomy in making his
or her own economic decisions as opposed to those decisions being made by the state, the community, the
corporation etc. for him or her.

Liberalism[edit]
Main article: Liberalism

Classical liberalism is a political ideology that developed in the 19th century in England, Western Europe,
and the Americas. It followed earlier forms of liberalism in its commitment to personal freedom and popular
government, but differed from earlier forms of liberalism in its commitment to free markets and classical
economics.[121] Notable classical liberals in the 19th century include Jean-Baptiste Say, Thomas Malthus,
and David Ricardo. Classical liberalism was revived in the 20th century by Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich
Hayek, and further developed by Milton Friedman, Robert Nozick, Loren Lomasky, and Jan Narveson.
[122]
The phrase classical liberalism is also sometimes used to refer to all forms of liberalism before the 20th
century.

Individualist anarchism and economics[edit]

Influential French individualist anarchist Emile Armand

In regards to economic questions within individualist anarchism there are adherents to mutualism (Pierre
Joseph Proudhon, Emile Armand, early Benjamin Tucker); natural rights positions (early Benjamin
Tucker, Lysander Spooner, Josiah Warren); and egoistic disrespect for "ghosts" such as private property and
markets (Max Stirner, John Henry Mackay, Lev Chernyi, later Benjamin Tucker, Renzo Novatore, illegalism).
Contemporary individualist anarchist Kevin Carson characterizes American individualist anarchism saying
that "Unlike the rest of the socialist movement, the individualist anarchists believed that the natural wage of
labor in a free market was its product, and that economic exploitation could only take place when capitalists
and landlords harnessed the power of the state in their interests. Thus, individualist anarchism was an
alternative both to the increasing statism of the mainstream socialist movement, and to a classical
liberal movement that was moving toward a mere apologetic for the power of big business." [123]

Mutualism[edit]

Main article: Mutualism (economic theory)

Mutualism is an anarchist school of thought which can be traced to the writings of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon,
who envisioned a society where each person might possess a means of production, either individually or
collectively, with trade representing equivalent amounts of labor in the free market.[124] Integral to the scheme
was the establishment of a mutual-credit bank which would lend to producers at a minimal interest rate only
high enough to cover the costs of administration.[125] Mutualism is based on a labor theory of value which
holds that when labor or its product is sold, in exchange, it ought to receive goods or services embodying
"the amount of labor necessary to produce an article of exactly similar and equal utility".[126] Receiving
anything less would be considered exploitation, theft of labor, or usury.

Libertarian socialism[edit]

Part of a series on

Libertarian socialism

Concepts[show]

People[show]

Philosophies / Tendencies[show]

Significant events[show]

Related topics[show]

Anarchism portal

Socialism portal

Libertarianism portal

Philosophy portal
 Politics portal

e
Main article: Libertarian socialism

Libertarian socialism (sometimes dubbed socialist libertarianism,[127] or left-libertarianism[128][129]) is a group

of anti-authoritarian[130] political philosophies inside the socialist movement that rejects socialism as
centralized state ownership and control of the economy,[131] as well as the state itself.[132] It criticizes wage
labour relationships within the workplace.[133] Instead, it emphasizes workers' self-management of the
workplace[132] and decentralized structures of political organization.[134][135][136] It asserts that a society based on
freedom and justice can be achieved through abolishing authoritarian institutions that control certain means
of production and subordinate the majority to an owning class or political and economic elite.[137] Libertarian
socialists advocate for decentralized structures based on direct
democracy and federal or confederal associations such as libertarian municipalism, citizens'
assemblies, trade unions, and workers' councils.[138][139] All of this is generally done within a general call
for libertarian[140][141] and voluntary human relationships[142] through the identification, criticism, and practical
dismantling of illegitimate authority in all aspects of human life.[41][45][143][144][145][146][147][148] As such libertarian
socialism, within the larger socialist movement, seeks to distinguish itself both
from Leninism/Bolshevism and from social democracy.[149][150]

Past and present political philosophies and movements commonly described as libertarian socialist
include anarchism (especially anarchist communism, anarchist collectivism, anarcho-syndicalism,
[151]
and mutualism[152]) as well as autonomism, communalism, participism, guild socialism,[153] revolutionary
syndicalism, and libertarian Marxist[154] philosophies such as council communism[155] and Luxemburgism;[156] as
well as some versions of "utopian socialism"[157] and individualist anarchism.[158][159][160][161]

Left-libertarianism[edit]
Main article: Left-libertarianism

Left-libertarianism (or left-wing libertarianism)[note 1] names several related but distinct approaches to politics,
society, culture, and political and social theory, which stress both individual freedom and social justice.
Unlike right-libertarians, they believe that neither claiming nor mixing one's labor with natural resources is
enough to generate full private property rights,[162][163] and maintain that natural resources (land, oil, gold,
trees) ought to be held in some egalitarian manner, either unowned or owned collectively.[163] Those left-
libertarians who support private property do so under the condition that recompense is offered to the local
community.

Left-libertarianism can refer generally to three related and overlapping schools of thought:

Anti-authoritarian varieties of left-wing politics and, in particular, the socialist movement, usually known
as libertarian socialism.[164]

Geolibertarianism: a synthesis of libertarianism and geoism (or Georgism)[165][166]

The Steiner-Vallentyne school, whose proponents draw conclusions from classical liberal or market
liberal premises.[167]

Left-wing market anarchism, which stresses the socially transformative potential of non-aggression
and anticapitalist, freed markets.[168]
Right-libertarianism[edit]
Main article: Right-libertarianism

Right-libertarianism or right libertarianism is a phrase used by some to describe either non-collectivist forms
of libertarianism[169] or a variety of different libertarian views some label "right" of mainstream libertarianism
including "libertarian conservatism".

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy calls it "right libertarianism" but states: "Libertarianism is often thought
of as 'right-wing' doctrine. This, however, is mistaken for at least two reasons. First, on socialrather than
economicissues, libertarianism tends to be 'left-wing'. It opposes laws that restrict consensual and private
sexual relationships between adults (e.g., gay sex, non-marital sex, and deviant sex), laws that restrict drug
use, laws that impose religious views or practices on individuals, and compulsory military service. Second, in
addition to the better-known version of libertarianismright-libertarianismthere is also a version known as
'left-libertarianism'. Both endorse full self-ownership, but they differ with respect to the powers agents have
to appropriate unappropriated natural resources (land, air, water, etc.)."[170]

As creative independent lifestyle[edit]

Oscar Wilde, famous Irish anarchist writer of the decadent movement and famous dandy

The anarchist[171] writer and bohemian Oscar Wilde wrote in his famous essay The Soul of Man under
Socialism that "Art is individualism, and individualism is a disturbing and disintegrating force. There lies its
immense value. For what it seeks is to disturb monotony of type, slavery of custom, tyranny of habit, and the
reduction of man to the level of a machine."[172] For anarchist historian George Woodcock "Wilde's aim in The
Soul of Man under Socialism is to seek the society most favorable to the artist...for Wilde art is the supreme
end, containing within itself enlightenment and regeneration, to which all else in society must be
subordinated...Wilde represents the anarchist as aesthete."[173] The word individualism in this way has been
used to denote a personality with a strong tendency towards self-creation and experimentation as opposed
to tradition or popular mass opinions and behaviors[3][8]

Anarchist writer Murray Bookchin describes a lot of individualist anarchism as people who "expressed their
opposition in uniquely personal forms, especially in fiery tracts, outrageous behavior, and aberrant lifestyles
in the cultural ghettos of fin de sicle New York, Paris, and London. As a credo, individualist anarchism
remained largely a bohemian lifestyle, most conspicuous in its demands for sexual freedom ('free love') and
enamored of innovations in art, behavior, and clothing."[69]

In relation to this view of individuality, French Individualist anarchist Emile

Armand advocates egoistical denial of social conventions and dogmas to live in accord to one's own ways
and desires in daily life since he emphasized anarchism as a way of life and practice. In this way he
manifests "So the anarchist individualist tends to reproduce himself, to perpetuate his spirit in other
individuals who will share his views and who will make it possible for a state of affairs to be established from
which authoritarianism has been banished. It is this desire, this will, not only to live, but also to reproduce
oneself, which we shall call "activity".[174]

In the book Imperfect garden : the legacy of humanism, humanist philosopher Tzvetan Todorov identifies
individualism as an important current of socio-political thought within modernity and as examples of it he
mentions Michel de Montaigne, Franois de La Rochefoucauld, Marquis de Sade, and Charles
Baudelaire[175] In La Rochefoucauld, he identifies a tendency similar to stoicism in which "the honest person
works his being in the manner of a sculptor who searches the liberation of the forms which are inside a block
of marble, to extract the truth of that matter."[175] In Baudelaire he finds the dandy trait in which one searches
to cultivate "the idea of beauty within oneself, of satisfying one's passions of feeling and thinking."[175]

The Russian-American poet Joseph Brodsky once manifested that "The surest defense against Evil is
extreme individualism, originality of thinking, whimsicality, evenif you willeccentricity. That is, something
that can't be feigned, faked, imitated; something even a seasoned imposter couldn't be happy with."[176] Ralph
Waldo Emerson famously declared", "Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist"a point of view
developed at length in both the life and work of (Henry David) Thoreau. Equally memorable and influential
on Walt Whitman is Emerson's idea that "a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds, adored by
little statesmen and philosophers and divines."...Emerson opposes on principle the reliance on social
structures (civil, religious) precisely because through them the individual approaches the divine second
hand, mediated by the once original experience of a genius from another age: "An institution," as he
explains, "is the lengthened shadow of one man." To achieve this original relation one must "Insist on one's
self; never imitate" for if the relationship is secondary the connection is lost."[177]