Max Stirner
Max Stirner, born Johann Kaspar Schmidt in 1806 in Bayreuth, Germany, was a significant figure in philosophy and literature. Known for his radical ideas, he adopted the pen name "Stirner," which reflects a personal characteristic. Coming from a lower middle-class background, he faced early family hardships, including the death of his father and the later institutionalization of his mother. Stirner studied philosophy at the University of Berlin under notable philosophers like Hegel, eventually becoming a literature teacher.
His most influential work, "Der Einzige und sein Eigentum" (The Ego and Its Own), published in 1844, challenges conventional values by placing the ego above all else, sparking considerable debate and controversy. Despite his intellectual contributions, Stirner experienced personal difficulties, including financial instability and a tumultuous marriage. He continued to write until his death in 1856, producing notable translations and responses to critiques of his work. Stirner's ideas remain of interest to scholars, particularly in discussions of individualism and radical philosophy, prompting ongoing dialogue about his legacy.
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Max Stirner
Philosopher
- Born: October 25, 1806
- Birthplace: Bayreuth, Germany
- Died: June 25, 1856
Biography
German writer, philosopher, and translator Max Stirner was born Johann Kaspar Schmidt in Bayreuth, Germany, in 1806. He acquired the name Stirner early on as a nickname because he had a large forehead, known as a stirn in German. The name became both his preferred form of address and the pen name he published under.
His parents belonged to the lower middle class, and his father died when Stirner was a baby. Shortly thereafter, his mother married a pharmacist and moved the family to western Prussia, but Stirner returned to Bayreuth at the age of thirteen to live with an aunt and attend school. Seven years later, he began studying philosophy at the University of Berlin, under the tutelage of several renowned philosophers, including Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. After spending 1929 at the University of Erlangen and the two years following at the University of Königsberg, Stirner returned to Berlin and graduated in 1834.
Shortly after his graduation, Stirner’s mother entered an insane asylum, and Stirner himself struggled with health issues. He did not excel in his oral examinations for teaching and was not able to secure a teaching appointment until 1839, when he became a literature teacher at a Berlin girls’ school. He had married the daughter of his landlady in 1937, but she died the following year in childbirth with a stillborn child.
Stirner met his second wife, the affluent and well-educated Marie Dähnhardt, in 1841 when he joined a group of left- leaning Hegelians. They married two years later, after the publication of Stirner’s first two monographs: Das unwahre Prinzip unserer Erziehung (the false principle of our education) and Kunst und Religion (art and religion). Stirner’s most significant literary and philosophical achievement, Der Einzige und sein Eigentum (the ego and its own), was published in 1844, the year after his marriage, and Stirner resigned his teaching position that same year. He invested and lost his wife’s inheritance, and she left him in 1846.
Despite his personal and financial problems during this time, Stirner continued to write, producing the first German translation of Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations in 1847. He also wrote numerous responses to critiques of Der Einzige und sein Eigentum, which was highly controversial in its day. Stirner’s critiques continue to arouse debate for his valuation of the ego above all else and his challenge to conventional values. His published responses from this period are valued by scholars of his philosophy as they develop and clarify the ideas in his earlier books. His last published work was 1852’s Geschichte der Reaktion (history of the reaction).
Beginning in 1853, Stirner’s personal life took an even worse turn, and he spent two months in late 1853 and early 1854 in debtors’ prison. Historians are unclear about his finances. Some assert that he died in poverty, running from his creditors; others believe that he had learned enough during his life to manage the inheritance he received from his mother to pay off his debts and keep him comfortable. He was a frequent guest during this period at the salon of Baroness von der Golz; he continued to espouse the radical ideas regarding the rejection of conventional values which had been on display in his earlier work. Stirner was stung by a flying insect in 1856 and died shortly after from the resulting fever.