Max Stirner and Loving Egoistically

Abstract

Max Stirner was a radical philosopher of personal power and extreme individualism. Der Einzige und sein Eigentum, published in English as The Ego and His Own (“Der Einzige”), dedicated “To my sweetheart Marie Dähnhardt”, his second wife, begins and ends with a quote from Goethe: “All things are nothing to me”.¹ Stirner’s philosophy unfolds from this central theme, which places individuals at the center of their world. Individuals wield their power to gain control of their predicaments through acquiring property. They sever ties with everyone and everything, including authorities, religion, morals, values, truth, emotions, and intellect, which he dismissed as abstractions or “spooks”.² Individuals hold nothing sacred and are masters of their own metaphysical universe. Having broken ties with everything, an individual is solitary, or in Stirner’s words, a “unique one”. Stirner’s emphasis on enjoyment, frivolity, and personal interest encourages us to ask: why would one engage in a romantic relationship that lacks these essential ingredients?