The Great Anarchists: Ideas and Teachings of Seven Major Thinkers

by Paul Eltzbacher, Steven T. Byington (Translation)

This classic comparative study examines the thoughts of seven major writers on the subject of anarchy, using their own words to define the concept of anarchism, with subsidiary investigations of their ideology on the subjects of law, the state, and property. Three-quarters of this book consists of classified quotations from the seven writers — Godwin, Proudhon, Stirner, Bakunin, Kropotkin, Tucker, and Tolstoy; the author’s incisive commentary on each forms the balance of the text.
An excellent introduction to anarchist theory and a convenient reference, this volume features a chronological presentation that clearly illustrates the theory’s historical development. The author selects the most important aspects of doctrine and matches them with revealing quotations. His choice of apt illustrations makes this compilation consistently interesting and enlightening, leaving readers with vivid and definite impressions of anarchistic teachings.

Genres: Politics, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Anarchism, Essays

320 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1900

About the author

Paul Eitzbacher was a lawyer, law professor, and later Bolshevik, whose doctoral thesis, focused on anarchism, is the work for which he is most remembered.

Reviews

[JJ Jesus · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well presented anthology of Anarchist thought. Rather than paraphrasing or simplifying, Eltzbacher presents seven monumental Anarchist philosophers' ideas using well organized quotations directly from the source. He presents each author's school of thought by introducing the author, the basis for the author's philosophies, and then expounding upon their philosophies on Law, State, Property, and the way in which the resulting principles can be realized. Though Eltzbacher seems to have a miniscule bias toward what he calls Indoministic Anarchist teachings, as opposed to Doministic Anarchist teachings, this bias manifests itself only in extra enthusiam for the former, not in expressed distaste for the latter. For those unfamiliar with Anarchist thought, this serves as a great introduction to its variations, and for those who are familiar, it serves as a great organization of quotes and an easy way to keep track of ideas. Kropotkin himself calls it "The best work on Anarchism, and in fact the only one written with a full knowledge of the Anarchist literature, and quite fairly, is by a German judge, Dr. Paul Eltzbacher, Der Anarchismus."

[Zane Akers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been interested in the subject for a long time, but have not actually done much heavy reading about it. So when I espied this book on the library shelf I figured I should pick it up.
It's a generally well done book analyzing the teachings of seven figures society has dubbed anarchists, though few of them identify with the term, through extended quotations from their own writings. Eltzbacher has strung the various writings of each thinker together with his own words into an easy to follow sketch of what each believes regarding the law, the State, and property, what each believes needs to change in society, and how they propose to make it happen. Eltzbacher is looking for a common thread running through all species of Anarchist thought, and in the end, he finds nothing universally held among all seven thinkers.
For me, the most enlightening parts were: finding out that Stirner, who has become something of a nebulous meme in the amateur philosopher community, was basically a "selfishness is good" Egoist who believed "might makes right" (not appealing to me); learning that Kropotkin, whose Wikipedia page portrays him as largely ambivalent about violence, was in his own writings pretty keen on violence as a means to an end; and finally the discovery, which I think I should've found out before now, that Tolstoy isn't a Christian in the typical sense of the word, but rather a denier of all supernatural aspects of the religion who insists Christ's teaching is the most rational and logical teaching ever produced and should be followed on that merit alone (kind of a bonkers opinion, if you ask me).
"The Great Anarchists" loses a star for the following reasons: the introductory chapter is pure gobbledygook, almost unreadable with its overly technical philosophical grasping; the repetitive nature of some of the chapters, perhaps a necessary byproduct of Eltzbacher's thoroughness; and the final chapter, which contains mostly helpful analysis but never really reaches a conclusion about the questions posed in the unreadable introduction.
The final drawback is that the book was apparently first published in 1908, which means there is nothing about Emma Goldman and her influential body of work (a quick googling reveals "Anarchism and Other Essays" was not published until 1910.)

[Willard Brickey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Satisfactory when the author is summarizing the thinking of others, and thus a useful brief introduction to the thinking of the best-known nineteenth-century anarchists. When he is speaking for himself, the writing is muddled and inconsequential.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

Anarchism as the plain orthodoxy of the prophets leading the Central Committee.

[E. Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good anthology of historical anarchists.

[Trey]

This is a reprinted edition of a book originally published in the first decade of the 20th century. Maybe at the time it was insightful and interesting, but I think a lot of this information can be found in more accessible and entertaining venues these days. The only thing that really stood out for me was a chapter devoted to a guy named Benjamin Tucker. I'd never heard of this fellow before and this is a subject that I spend a lot of time immersed in. So that was interesting.

[Rakan · Rating 3 out of 5]

كتاب رائع يُفصل في أفكار أشهر الفلاسفة اللاسلطويين (أناركيين) أمثال غودوين وبرودون وشتيرنر وباكونين وغيرهم. يستهل الكاتب كتابه بتعريف المفاهيم الثلاثة الأساسية: القانون، الدولة، والملكية. ثم يقوم بعدها بجمع وتلخيص آراء هؤلاء الفلاسفة فيما يتعلق بهذه المفاهيم.

الكتاب ثقيل جداً ورتيب ويكاد يقتله التكرار، ربما لأن طريقة كتابته قديمة (كتب في بداية القرن العشرين!) لكنه حتما يحمل قيمة معرفية عظيمة.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anarchists have been around for a long time. The book mainly focuses on seven writers of anarchy, with their ideology towards property, law and the state.

[Craig Bolton]

The Great Anarchists: Ideas and Teachings of Seven Major Thinkers by Paul Eltzbacher (2004)

[Rafal Pruszynski · Rating 3 out of 5]

The passages by the 7 anarchists were interesting, but the contributions by Eltzbacher can be skipped. He brings nothing interesting to the book.

[Glenn Steinke · Rating 3 out of 5]

a good overview of differing ideas though it sometimes felt as if reading a law school text. wordy to the point of annoying.