James J. Martin – Union Of Egoists

Announcing Der Geist, Issue 6. A Braille Stirner for Helen Keller and Ragnar Redbeards secret Canadian life!

Kevin I. Slaughter — Mon, 23 Oct 2023 13:22:05 +0000

An anthology of rare and never-before-seen essays and images from the history of egoism. Over two hundred pages of original translations, bibliographies, art, ephemera and more.

Discover rare photographic glimpses of pioneering egoists such as Dora Marsden and Benjamin R. Tucker, and delve into the visionary project to produce a Braille edition of Max Stirner’s magnum opus for the indomitable Helen Keller. Unearth a plethora of fascinating artifacts pertaining to Malfew Seklew, and be riveted by the astonishing revelation of Ragnar Redbeard’s brief yet impactful foray as a Canadian Socialist Provocateur.

This sixth issue of Der Geist is sure to delight and offend, but most of all, serve as an essential philosophical reference work for centuries to come.

DER GEIST: The Journal of Egoism from 1845 – 1945 | ISSUE 6 | Winter 2023
Paperback, 212 pages, $15
ISBN 978-1-944651-29-9, ISSN 2639-5339

Der Geist, (Trevor Blake, editor; Kevin I. Slaughter, co-editor) is an English-language journal for an international audience, publishing original scholarship on the philosophy of egoism. The journal is descriptive of the first century of egoism in print (from the 1845 publication of Der Einzige und sein Eigentum by Max Stirner to the end of 1945), not prescriptive in advocacy of egoism.

Introduction by the Editor 2

1. Max Stirner 7

2. Malfew Seklew 29

3. Ragnar Redbeard 51

4. Dora Marsden 95

Dora Marsden for the Prosecution | The Freewomen of New York | Dora Marsden, unser aller Mutter | Dora Marsden Ephemera | Rare Portraits

5. Benjamin DeCasseres 107

Emmeline Pankhurst | Pyrrhonism and Acatalepsy | Balzac | The Borrowed Mirror

6. Friedrich Nietzsche 117

Nietzsche and a Braille Stirner for Hellen Keller | “Will Nietzsche Come Into Vogue…” | The Works of Friedrich Nietzsche | Alexander Tille Reads Egoism

7. Enzo Martucci 135

A Sketch of Martucci | An Excerpt from The Red Sect | Martucci on Stirner

8. Free Spirits 159

Who wants to be “Free”? by James M. Martin (UoE ArticleCast)

Kevin I. Slaughter — Sun, 14 May 2023 14:21:20 +0000

The following essay by historian James J. Martin was printed in Sidney E. Parker’s egoist journal Minus One in February, 1971. It was reprinted from an unspecified 1948 issue of The Interpreter. It was recorded in May 2023. Grazie MAM.

WHO WANTS TO BE “FREE”?

by James J. Martin

I am indicting a society which has no more concept of freedom and responsibility than it has of a twelve-legged dog. Is it ‘free enterprise’ which is to occupy the trial seat before socialism and communism?

Is there anyone engaged in making profits by the present system who is willing to face the consequences of complete free enterprise– the reduction of all price through the most rigorous competition? Why no, he merely wishes the free-enterprise system to operate in his favor, and is as willing as the collectivist to employ the fantastic superstructure of law and police in prohibiting any freedom of action which endangers his privileged position.

Who wants ‘free enterprise’ in the steel and other heavy industries? Who wants ‘free competition’ with the producers of the rest of the world? What banker is willing to tolerate any concept but that of the ‘national’ system? Would he willingly face the competition of free banking?

The free enterprise of which special interest groups bray is that of the right to open a banana stand or shoe shine parlor, and function within the rigid rules of the atrophied system about them… Witness the struggle of a Tucker in penetrating the automobile manufacturing priesthood. Where can one turn to escape the hurdles of merely obtaining credit in order to enter the economy on a level higher than thread-peddling? Advocates of free enterprise are hypocrites until a breach is made in the above mentioned closed circles.

The farmer is always cited as an example of unregenerate free enterprise, but where is there any campaign against the state crutch of subsidies, shouldering of the mortgage structure, protection with law and police of land monopoly for the perpetuation of tenantry, and other serious deviations from the principle of freedom!

The great majority of people accept the current game and its rules without query, though there is a strong case to show the legal origin of the inequity in the system. With most people the complaint is the way the score is being compiled. This they want their politicians to bring into balance. Thus the politician has rapidly been acquiring a non-propertied power-holding stock in the ‘system’.

The great dodge of our time is “society”, a sociological dream-concept, in whose name we dump our responsibility as individuals. “Society”, we say, is to blame. for any evils which beset people, yet an investigation would reveal a number of real humans with much guilt attached. Our spirit-sickness also calls on the government as the Hebrews called upon Jehovah in the desert, and denies the fact of individual life, liberty of action and its consequence, responsibility.

Perhaps a few will embrace decentralism, but the vast majority will, when the time comes, quietly crawl under a warm blanket of collectivism in their delusion that this is the way to security. Yet ‘salvation’ is even an individual matter, and those to whom freedom and responsibility still mean something can even now construct for themselves a passably satisfying existence in this indifferent environment.

FAQ: Best version of “Einzige” in English

Kevin I. Slaughter — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 12:43:23 +0000

Someone asked:

hello! I heard about max stirner and (want to know) best version of that work. I see it is out of stock and was just curious if there was any plans for another run? thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this!

We responded:

The “best version” depends on a few things. Some people don’t like the Byington translation first issued under the title The Ego and His Own. I’ve seen some people say some pretty ill-informed things about it, but Byington’s work was more than competent and I don’t think anyone reading it would be led astray. That being said, Wolfi Landstreicher’s more recent translation, under the more literal title The Unique and Its Property, is excellent. He does make some distinctions that Byington didn’t.

If you were just wanting an English version to understand, I think either translation will serve you well.

If you are looking for an annotated edition, then the Cambridge edition of the Byington translation is, without question, the most scholarly.

If you are looking for a well produced, inexpensive edition, Verso Books nicely retypset and redesigned the Libertarian Book Club edition that was based on Byington and edited by James J. Martin. It is around $14: https://amzn.to/3AbCDJX

If Wolfi’s work is what you want, the in-print edition is available from Little Black Cart: https://littleblackcart.com/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=672 . The LBC edition is based on the out-of-print Underworld Amusements first edition. They redesigned it, added an index but deleted a footnote (for reasons unknown to me).

It is difficult to recommend any of the other in-print editions published in the last few years. There is a ton of garbage flooding the online market. They’re mostly ugly and ineptly put together.

Jeff Riggenbach reads “The Ego and His Own” by Max Stirner | 19 of 20 (10A)

Kevin I. Slaughter — Sun, 13 Jun 2021 11:00:53 +0000

The Ego and His Own Podcast
Cassette tape 10, side A, episode 19 of 20.

Jeff Riggenbach (1947-2021) reads The Ego and His Own by Max Stirner (1806-1856).
Translated by Steven T. Byington (1869-1957), edited and introduced by James J. Martin (1916-2004).
Edition read is based on the 1963 Libertarian Book Club edition.