non serviam #0
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                           WELCOME


Contents:    Welcoming letter from the editor
             Advertisement
             On the next issue

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   Welcome to "non serviam". You have probably read the
advertisement, which, in any case, is appended below. At the present
time, the newsletter is handled solely through my personal
mail-address  solan@math.uio.no,  so all letters and request should
be sent to that address.
   People subscribing to this list range from self-taught amateurs
to professors of philosophy, and so the interest ranges from
academic interest in ideas to the more practical and applied.
Nothing more will come out from this newsletter than is put into it.
The only synergistic effect we can hope for, is that of inspiration
through an environment of people discussing the same ideas.
   Because this newsletter tries to address both professional and
amateur alike, I would appreciate it if submitted entries took this
into consideration. In practice, this means that claims should be
supported by reasoned arguments, so that the opposite part has
something to hold on to. References are fine, as long as they do
not substitute argument.
   The newsletter is not primarily aimed at confrontation, though
this surely is not barred, but at exchange of information. That
means that if anyone finds something [s]he thinks will be of interest
to the readers of the newsletter, [s]he should feel free to post it.
Examples of what is relevant are articles on how Nietzsche, Rand, Hegel
and Feuerbach relate to the primary subject matter of this newsletter.
Likewise articles on the relation to the basis of anarchism, and on
the relation to sciences - in particular psychology. As examples of
what is non-relevant, we have: Election issues, flames, issues in
philosophy not even touching the main subject, academic small-talk,
and nuisance mail. I would also appreciate minimization of quoting
from other posters.
   Current and back issues of Non Serviam, together with some material
relevant to Stirner, are available via anonymous ftp from
        red.css.itd.umich.edu and ftp.css.itd.umich.edu.
The files are stored in /poli/Non.Serviam on both sites.  If you
have problems retrieving the files, send email to pauls@umich.edu.

Sincerely,
        Svein Olav Nyberg (editor)
        (solan@math.uio.no)

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Advertisement:

   "Non serviam!" - "I will not serve", is known from literature as
Satan's declaration of his rebellion against God. We wish to follow
up on this tradition of insurrection.
   In modern times, the philosophy of the individual's assertion of
himself against gods, ideals and human oppressors has been most
eloquently expressed by Max Stirner in his book "Der Einzige und
Sein Eigentum"[1].
   Stirner, whose real name was Johann Kaspar Schmidt [1806-56],
lived in a time dominated by German Idealism, with Hegel as its
prominent figure. It is against this background of fixation of ideas
that Stirner makes his rebellion. Stirner takes down these ideas
from their fixed points in the starry sky of Spirit, and declares
all ideas to be the ideas of an Ego[2], and the realm of spirits and
ideas to be the mind of the thinker himself. His heaven-storming is
total. Even the idealist tool - dialectic, and the supreme ghost of
Idealism, [Absolute] Spirit - are stripped of their status of
intrinsic existence, and are taken back into the Ego himself. This
is most clearly seen in Stirner's main triad:  Materialist -
Idealist - Egoist. And the triad stops at its last link. Any further
progress cannot negate Egoism, for - progress has been taken back
into the individual, as his - property.
   For Stirner, the solution to the "alienation", or
"self-alienation" of Idealism, is in self-expression, or -
ownership. What cannot be  one's own cause, the cause that is not
one's own, is not worth pursuing. As Stirner says "Away then, with
every cause that is not altogether my cause!"

   Now, this is the philosophical starting point of this newsletter.
For the more formal part, though the letter is centered on
philosophy and ideas, articles on topics relevant to true egoists
will also be admitted. The prime requirement is that the articles
are not on-line ranting, but serious attempts to convey something of
interest and relevance. Articles on literature through the ages will
be very fine, stories will be welcomed if I see them fit, and I even
think I might fall for an article on french cuisine made easy ...
However: If in doubt whether the article will be accepted, contact
me by personal mail first. A waste of time is a waste of time.
   I hope to be able to make each of the issues of the newsletter
thematic, that is we have one main theme in each issue. The main
theme is not meant to be the sole content, however, but more an
inspiration for writing.

Editor & List owner: solan@math.uio.no


[1] English title: "The Ego and Its Own".
[2] Einziger - single individual.

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Next issue:

   By asserting oneself - by insurrection - one is an egoist, one
who puts himself first. For the next issue of "non serviam", #1, I
would therefore appreciate articles about "what egoism means" in
general. Both questions of the type "is hedonism the real egoism",
and articles pondering the status of egoism in ethics are appreciated.
Psychological angles of attack are also appreciated.

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* "Whoever is a complete person does not need - to be an authority!"  *
*                        From +The False Principle of Our Education+  *
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