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Max Stirner's idea of the "union of egoists" (German: Verein von Egoisten) was first expounded in The Ego and Its Own. A union of egoists is understood as a voluntary and non-systematic association which Stirner proposed in contradistinction to the state.[1] Each union is understood as a relation between egoists which is continually renewed by all parties' support through an act of will.[2] The Union requires that all parties participate out of a conscious egoism. If one party silently finds themselves to be suffering, but puts up and keeps the appearance, the union has degenerated into something else.[2] This union is not seen as an authority above a person's own will, but a voluntary relation subordinate to the wills of its members. This idea has received interpretations for politics, economics, romance and sexual relations.
- ^ Thomas, Paul (1985). Karl Marx and the Anarchists. London: Routledge/Kegan Paul. pp. 142. ISBN 0-7102-0685-2.
- ^ a b Nyberg, Svein Olav, "The union of egoists" (PDF), Non Serviam, 1, Oslo, Norway: Svein Olav Nyberg: 13–14, OCLC 47758413, archived from the original (PDF) on 7 December 2010, retrieved 1 September 2012