Max Stirner, the Lunatic and Donald Trump
Michael McAnear, PhD

Abstract
German philosopher Max Stirner (1806-1856) published his major work, Der Einzige und sein Eigentum (‘The Ego and His Own’) in 1844, and it attracted short-lived critical acclaim. A half century or so later there was revival of interest and then again in the 1970s, enough so that his name and work is generally recognized to casual students of philosophy. This paper presents the basic elements of Stirner’s thought and explores them against the backdrop of an academic article published in 1903 by a German psychiatrist who compared the ravings of an asylum inmate to Stirner’s ideas. The paper concludes with Stirner’s insight applied to the political success of Donald Trump, whose bombastic and contentious style bears resemblance to Stirner’s musings about political strategy.

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