Schools of Philosophy

Anarchism

Citation Formats

General Reference

Philosophy Atlas. "Anarchism." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://philosophy.interactiveatlas.org/schools/anarchism.

APA Style

Philosophy Atlas. (n.d.). Anarchism. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://philosophy.interactiveatlas.org/schools/anarchism

BibTeX

@misc{philosophyatlas-anarchism,
  author = {Philosophy Atlas},
  title = {Anarchism},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://philosophy.interactiveatlas.org/schools/anarchism},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

A theoretical political stance skeptical of the justification of state authority, grounded in moral claims about individual liberty and freedom from domination. Philosophical anarchism focuses on the theoretical rejection of political legitimacy rather than on practical activism, asking whether any government can be morally justified at all, and does not by itself carry a strong imperative to actively oppose or eliminate existing states.

Facts

Disputed

Start Year

1840 2

1840 marks Pierre-Joseph Proudhon's What Is Property?, in which he became the first person known to call himself an anarchist. William Godwin's 1793 Enquiry Concerning Political Justice is commonly cited as an earlier systematic precursor that did not use the label, and anarchist sentiment has ancient roots older than either; no single founding year commands full agreement.

Region

Europe and North America 1

Cross-Tradition Connections