- Might is Right
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Might Is Right 
Author(s) Ragnar Redbeard Country United States Language English Subject(s) Social Darwinism Genre(s) Philosophy Publisher Dil Pickle Press Publication date 1896 Media type Hardcover, Paperback ISBN 0-9728233-0-1
Might Is Right, or The Survival of the Fittest, is a book by pseudonymous author Ragnar Redbeard. It heavily advocates social Darwinism and was first published in 1890. In Might is Right, Redbeard rejects conventional ideas of human and natural rights and argues that only strength or physical might can establish moral right (à la Callicles).Libertarian historian James J. Martin called it "surely one of the most incendiary works ever to be published anywhere."[1]
Contents
Reaction
Leo Tolstoy discussed the philosophy of Might Is Right in his 1897 essay What Is Art?:
- "The substance of this book, as it is expressed in the editor's preface, is that to measure "right" by the false philosophy of the Hebrew prophets and "weepful" Messiahs is madness. Right is not the offspring of doctrine, but of power. All laws, commandments, or doctrines as to not doing to another what you do not wish done to you, have no inherent authority whatever, but receive it only from the club, the gallows, and the sword. A man truly free is under no obligation to obey any injunction, human or divine. Obedience is the sign of the degenerate. Disobedience is the stamp of the hero. Men should not be bound by moral rules invented by their foes. The whole world is a slippery battlefield. Ideal justice demands that the vanquished should be exploited, emasculated, and scorned. The free and brave may seize the world. And, therefore, there should be eternal war for life, for land, for love, for women, for power, and for gold. (Something similar was said a few years ago by the celebrated and refined academician, Vogüé.) The earth and its treasures is "booty for the bold." The author has evidently by himself, independently of Nietzsche, come to the same conclusions which are professed by the new artists."[2]
Authorship
Some, such as S. E. Parker, suspect Ragnar was a pen name for radical New Zealander Arthur Desmond, a prominent advocate of Henry George's Single Tax.[3] Some see it as hard to reconcile the difference in their politics. Most who believe that Desmond was Redbeard believe the book to have been a work of satire.
Others believe that Jack London wrote Might is Right.[3] As with Desmond the difference in politics is great (London's political activism started in the Marxist Socialist Labor Party and ended in the Socialist Party), and mainstream London-scholars have not supported the assertion that Redbeard was London. Claims that London was Redbeard come, in part, from Satanists[citation needed]; Anton LaVey thought him "the most likely candidate".
Influence
Portions of Might Is Right comprise much of the 'Book of Satan' section of the Satanic Bible, authored by Anton LaVey of the Church of Satan. Though widely thought of as plagiarizing, this is a misconception. The first edition of the Satanic Bible cited sources, and further editions had them taken out without the author's permission.
Today most Satanists, including non-LaVeyans, consider Might is Right to be an important book representing the Satanic view of nature.
Editions
Year Publisher Notes 1890 Auditorium Press 1896 A. Uing Publisher 1903 A. Mueller Publishers 1910 W.J. Robbins Co. Ltd 1921 Ross’ Book Service 1927 Dil Pickle Press 1962 unknown publisher 18-page abridged edition 1969 same unknown publisher Expanded 32-page edition 1972 Revisionist Press Reprint of 1927 Dil Pickle edition. ISBN 0-87700-187-1 1984 Loompanics Unlimited ISBN 0-91517-912-1 1996 M. H. P & Co. Ltd. Centennial edition, with intro by Anton LaVey. 1999 14 Word Press St. Maries, Idaho 2003 Bugbee Books 2005 29 Books Reprint of 1927 Dil Pickle edition. ISBN 0-97485-672-X 2005 Dil Pickle Press Edited and annotated by Darrell W. Conder. ISBN 0-97282-330-1 2008 Zem Books 2009 Edition Esoterick German hardcover edition. ISBN 978-3-936830-31-6 References
- ^ http://www.nonserviam.com/egoistarchive/SidParker/Parker_Ego_06.htm[dead link]
- ^ What is art? Leo Tolstoy
- ^ a b Hypocrisy, Plagiarism and LaVey John Smulo, 2001
External links
- "The Might Is Right text
- "Hypocrisy, Plagiarism and LaVey" by John Smulo, contains side by side comparisons of Might Is Right with The Satanic Bible
Categories:- 1890 books
- Philosophy books
- Works published under a pseudonym
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