Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessarily limited to, governments, nation states, and capitalism. Anarchism advocates for the replacement of the state with stateless societies or other forms of free associations. As a historically left-wing movement, this reading of anarchism is placed on the fa...

Statism and Anarchy is a complete English translation of the last work by the great Russian anarchist Michael Bakunin, written in 1873. Then he assails the Marxist alternative, predicting that a 'dictatorship of the proletariat' will in fact be a dictatorship over the proletariat, and will produce a new class of socialist rulers. Instead, he outlines his vision of an anarchist society and identifies the social forces he believes will achieve an anarchist revolution. Statism and Anarchy had...

Among the 19th-century founders of modern philosophical anarchism, none is more important than Michael Bakunin (1814–76). Born into the Russian nobility, he renounced his hereditary rank in protest against Czarist oppression and fled to Western Europe. A colorful, charismatic personality, Bakunin quickly became central to the anarchism movement, and everyone involved either built upon or reacted to his ideas. Yet Bakunin, despite the power of his ideas, was primarily a man of action, and h...

THE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF BAKUNIN. Scientific Anarchism. Compiled and Edited by G. P Maximoff. Mikhail Bakunin is one of the key anarchist thinkers and revolutionary activists of the 19th century. Building upon the federalist and libertarian socialist ideas of his friend Pierre-Joseph Proudhon as well as those in the European labour movement, Bakunin shaped anarchism into its modern form. His revolutionary, class-struggle-based anarchis...

Russian anarchist Mikhail Bakunin on the Paris Commune, government and the state: "This work, like all my published work, of which there has not been a great deal, is an outgrowth of events. It is the natural continuation of my Letters to a Frenchman (September 1870), wherein I had the easy but painful distinction of foreseeing and foretelling the dire calamities which now beset France and the whole civilized world, the only cure for which is the Social Revolution. &qu...

Bakunin's classic and highly influential atheist text setting out the anarchist critique of religion as bound up in legitimising the state.The keynote of God and the State is Bakunin’s repudiation of authority and coercion in every form. In a withering passage he vents his fury, on “all the tormentors, all the oppressors, and all the exploiters of humanity — priests, monarchs, statesmen, soldiers, public and private financiers, officials of all sorts, poli...

Mikhail Bakunin (1814-1876) was a Russian revolutionary and theorist, and has often been called the father of anarchist theory. Bakunin studied philosophy, finding himself drawn to works by Fichte and Hegel, eventually converting himself entirely to Hegelianism. Bakunin gained criminal status after being deported from France where he met George Sand, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and Karl Marx and later being arrested for his involvement in the Czech rebellion of 1848. His unfinished 1871 work, "...

By one of the most profoundly influential thinkers of our century, The Rebel is a classic essay on revolution that resonates as an ardent, eloquent, and supremely rational voice of conscience for our tumultuous times.For Albert Camus, the urge to revolt is one of the "essential dimensions" of human nature, manifested in man's timeless Promethean struggle against the conditions of his existence, as well as the popular uprisings against established orders th...

Nietzsche left no systematic exposition of his philosophy, and so it remains the subject of intense scholarly dispute and interpretation. Because of Nietzsche's evocative style and often outrageous claims, his philosophy generates strong reactions of passionate love and disgust. The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche by Henry Louis Mencken was the first, and many believe the best book on the subject. Mencken was known for his attention to detail. This book is a must read for anyone who wish...

Describing Tolstoy's crisis of depression and estrangement from the world, A Confession (1879) is an autobiographical work of exceptional emotional honesty. By the time he was fifty, Tolstoy had already written the novels that would assure him of literary immortality; he had a wife, a large estate and numerous children; he was 'a happy man' and in good health - yet life had lost its meaning. In this poignant confessional fragment, he records a period of his life when he began to turn away ...

During the first two months of 1917 Russia was still a Romanov monarchy. Eight months later the Bolsheviks stood at the helm. They were little known to anybody when the year began, and their leaders were still under indictment for state treason when they came to power. You will not find another such sharp turn in history especially if you remember that it involves a nation of 150 million people. It is clear that the events of 1917, whatever you think of them, deserve study.”--Leon ...

These celebrated lectures constitute one of Isaiah Berlin's most concise, accessible, and convincing presentations of his views on human freedom—views that later found expression in such famous works as "Two Concepts of Liberty" and were at the heart of his lifelong work on the Enlightenment and its critics. When they were broadcast on BBC radio in 1952, the lectures created a sensation and confirmed Berlin’s reputation as an intellectual who could speak to the public in an appealing and c...