Philosophical anarchism

As conceived by William Godwin, philosophical anarchism requires individuals to act in accordance with their own judgments and to allow every other individual the same liberty. Conceived as egoistically by Max Stirner, it implies that the unique one who truly owns himself recognizes no duties to others. Within the limit of his might, he does what is right for him.Outhwaite, William & Tourain, Alain (Eds.). (2003). "Anarchism," in The Blackwell Dictionary of Modern Social Thought. (2nd Edition, p. 12). Blackwell Publishing.

Rather than taking up arms to bring down the state, philosophical anarchists "have worked for a gradual change to free the individual from what they thought were the oppressive laws and social constraints of the modern state and allow all individuals to become self-determining and value-creating." Those anarchists may oppose the immediate elimination of the state by violent means out of concern that what remains might be vulnerable to the establishment of a yet more harmful and oppressive state. That is especially true among those anarchists who consider violence and the state as synonymous or that it is counterproductive if public reaction to violence results in increased "law enforcement" efforts.Murphy, Brenda. The Provincetown Players and the Culture of Modernity. Cambridge University Press 2005. pp. 31–32.

Magda Egoumenides writes, "The anarchist criticisms and ideal of legitimacy explain the link between philosophical and political anarchism: they remind us that the enduring deficiency of the state is a position that is initially shared by both forms of anarchism, and the moral criteria of philosophical anarchism are intended to be inherent in the society that political anarchism seeks to create." According to Egoumenides, "A demonstration of the compatibility of political anarchist social visions with the perspective and ideals of legitimacy of critical philosophical anarchism establishes a continuity within the anarchist ideology."{{cite book|last=Egoumenides|first=Magda|year=2014|title=Philosophical Anarchism and Political Obligation|location=New York|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA|page=12|isbn=978-1-4411-2445-6}}

Michael Huemer writes, "In the terminology of contemporary political philosophy, I have so far defended philosophical anarchism (the view that there are no political obligations), but I have yet to defend political anarchism (the view that government should be abolished)." He argues that "the terminology is misleading" since "both kinds of 'anarchism' are philosophical and political claims."{{cite book|last=Huemer|first=Michael|year=2012|title=The Problem of Political Authority: An Examination of the Right to Coerce and the Duty to Obey|location=London|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|page=137|isbn=9781137281647}}

Philosophical anarchism has met the criticism of members of academia following the release of pro-anarchist books such as A. John Simmons' Moral Principles and Political Obligations (1979).{{cite journal|last=Klosko|first=George|title=More than Obligation – William A. Edmundson: Three Anarchical Fallacies: An Essay on Political Authority|journal=The Review of Politics|volume=61|issue=3|year=1999|issn=1748-6858|doi=10.1017/S0034670500028989|pages=536–538|s2cid=144417469 }} In The Problem of Political Authority: An Examination of the Right to Coerce and the Duty to Obey (2013), Michael Huemer defends his interpretation of philosophical anarchism{{cite book|last=Dagger|first=Tristan J.|year=2018|title=Playing Fair: Political Obligation and the Problems of Punishment|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=35|isbn=9780199388837}} and claims that "political authority is a moral illusion".{{cite book|last=Rogers|first=Tristan J.|year=2020|title=The Authority of Virtue: Institutions and Character in the Good Society|location=London|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781000222647}}

The law professor William A. Edmundson authored an essay arguing against three major philosophical anarchist principles that he finds fallacious. Edmundson claims that the individual does not owe a normal state a duty of obedience, but he considers that not to imply that anarchism is the inevitable conclusion and the state is still morally legitimate.{{cite journal|last=Kristjánsson|first=Kristján|title=Three Anarchical Fallacies: An Essay on Political Authority by William A. Edmundson|journal=Mind|volume=109|issue=436|pages=896–900|year=2000|jstor=2660038}}

Another criticism of philosophical anarchism is that it remains purely theoretical. In failing to act out anarchism in the real world, philosophical anarchism is seen as a bourgeois convenience that actually serves the status quo, rather than destroying it.{{Citation |last=Fiala |first=Andrew |title=Anarchism |date=2021 |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2021/entries/anarchism/ |encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |editor-last=Zalta |editor-first=Edward N. |access-date=2023-06-17 |edition=Winter 2021 |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |archive-date=2023-02-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230219065316/https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2021/entries/anarchism/ |url-status=live }}

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• {{cite IEP|url-id=/p/poli-obl.htm#H8|title=Philosophical anarchism|last=Dobos|first=Ned}}
• [https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/political-obligation/#PhiAna Philosophical anarchism] in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

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