Saturday, September 17, 2016

Anarchy, Anarchism, Self-Determination

Literally, 'anarchy' means 'rulelessness'.  Thus, the common use, signifying 'chaos', is etymologically accurate.  In contrast, the doctrine 'Anarchism' is not.  It is so superficially, insofar as it connotes the rejection, in either practice or principle, of a 'State'.  But, that rejection is, more precisely, that of Heteronomy, i. e. of external rule, so it does not preclude Autonomy, i. e. self-determination, which, upon closer examination, is often endorsed by Anarchists.  Thus, for example, Wolff, in his "defense of Anarchism", recognizes the systematic relation between that doctrine and Kantian Autonomy.  Accordingly, any social organization that is fundamentally produced and maintained by voluntary arrangements can be classified as 'Anarchistic' in this sense, though not as literally 'anarchic'.

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