Stirner’s Political Atheism

In this chapter, we delve into a comprehensive politico-theological analysis of Max Stirner’s works, which exposes his view of modern secular politics as a continuation of Christianity through a transposition of faith. Indeed, Stirner sees the history of philosophy as nothing more than a persistence of faith redirected upon different objects. Stirner posits that because the world cannot satisfy our psychological need for ‘metaphysical security,’ a philosophical crisis of meaning emerges, which is then answered, through involuntary egoism, by a fabricated metaphysical system based on the deification of an otherwise mundane political concept that is imposed upon the world to absolve ourselves of any ethical responsibility. The concept, in turn, is perceived as the highest good and the system is presented as objective truth. The chapter will further explore the logical implications of Stirner’s analysis of political theology, including the persistent futurity of the deified political concept, which forever beckons us but can never be attained, the total self-renunciation that the deified concept demands, and the Manichean division it imposes on secular politics.