anthology texts

Anarchist Beginnings

Félix Pignal, “The Philosophy of Defiance” (1854)

August 29, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur
THE PHILOSOPHY OF DEFIANCE, or, A Pardon for Cain 1854 FELIX P….. Edited by Max Nettlau … Give me any epithets you wish; I accept them all in advance. I have only one thought, and envision only one glory: it is to strike everywhere and always, as much as I can, at the principle of domination. Satan, in his revolt, is my father, and, in his courage, Cain is my brother! … We do not take a single step in society without hearing that human beings must believe in a God, in a sovereign being, master of all things, according […]
Anarchist Beginnings

Anselme Bellegarrigue, “Anarchy is Order” (1850)

August 29, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur
[from Anarchy, A Journal of Order, No. 1] I.—Anarchy is Order. Were I to pay heed to the meaning generally attached to certain words, a common error having made anarchy a synonym of civil war, I should hold in horror the title that I have placed at the head of this publication, for I have a horror of civil war. I both honor and flatter myself in never having belonged to a group of conspirators or to a revolutionary battalion, because it shows, on the one hand, that I have been too honest to dupe the people, and, on the […]