Marx's response to Stirner

[JazzRemington]

This is for the more read of Marxists on this forum. How does Marx respond to Max Stirner?

I know this is a short question, but it seems that Marx had a lot to figure out when dealing with Stirner's accusations.

[NovelGentry]

It's a very short question in terms of the spread of the issue. The short answer is by asserting that Stirner has done little but uphold Hegelian thinking from a different perspective. I believe Marx and Engels coined the nickname Saint Max, because of the nature in which he upheld "the Holy" everywhere he looked, in this sense, Marx points out that Stirner has done little to look to the actual material conditions which develop consciousness, but instead has treated the consciousness itself as the driving force; essentially establishing his own superstition.

[Monty Cantsin]

Marx also criticised him (this fits with the above post) for being overly egoistic, he had a specific phase he used which I can’t remember. But he criticised critical criticism for re-inventing the wheel or rather the circles upon circles e.g. Hegelian triatic logic which cut dialectical short and thus was uncritical.

[NovelGentry]

But he criticised critical criticism

Haha... I believe that was his lines on "phrases about phrases" -- Effectively Marx himself took part in this in the criticism itself. Although he did offer something of a resolution to make it more than just "phrases."

[JazzRemington]

I think the main question I have is how does Marx respond to Stirner's assertion that no one has a right to property, that you either have or have it not.

[NovelGentry]

To my understanding Stirner's idea of property was highly abstract, as far as Marx's critique on that, I'm unaware of any specific critique, but if there is to be one, it is probably within the full text of The Germany Ideology.

[Cobra]

Chapter 3: Saint Max

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works...eology/ch03.htm (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/german-ideology/ch03.htm)

Poor Max. :(

[NovelGentry]

Poor Max

Not really... it's his self who dug his own grave... but then again, that's how he wanted it, ahahaha.

That does appear to be the full text, from what I understand it was 300 pages printed, and that link looks like a fairly long portion of it, so it's probably stuck in there somewhere.

[Holocaustpulp]

I think this is a quote from the reply: "Within communist society, the only society in which the genuine and free development of individuals ceases to be a mere phrase, this development is determined precisely by the connection of individuals, a connection which consists partly in the economic prerequisites and partly in the necessary solidarity of the free development of all, and, finally, in the universal character of the activity of individuals on the basis of the existing productive forces." - Marx

- HP