The Ego and Its Own

The Ego and Its Own is a seminal piece of anarchist work and one of the most interesting political and social philosophy works to criticize religiosity, morality, property rights, and many other things interconnected to oneself and their relation to society. Though "ego" as a word didn't yet exist in Stirner's time of writing, his work -- particularly his philosophy, has been inextricably tied to the word in history, creating the anarchist philosophy of egoism. The concept being that actions begin in self-interest and what is moral is not objective due to this fact which is dependent on the subject. The original book was written in 1844 and it wasn't until the 1900's that it was translated into English. Similar to other German philosophers, Stirner's meaning has become lost in translation often, which can result in minor differences in the use of "ego" versus "unique" or in major differences of whether egoism is compatible with Left or Right political ideology (often cited as being Post-Left). Over its century-long existence, The Ego and Its Own has become known as Max Stirner's magnum opus and one of the precursors to postmodern philosophy and with the accessible nature of the work, egoism shows no sign of dying off as a philosophical concept.