Anarchism: Its philosophy and ideal

Author- Peter Kropotkin is a  Russian revolutionist and political philosopher. He is also known as a geographer and biologist.

Context- He was born in 1842, and he became a naval officer. When he was around twenty years old, he brought a progress in Russia through his geographical field research around Russia. After he quits a naval officer, he came to strengthen the power as an anarchist.

Language- His writing often includes inquiries about his idea. In particular, he uses some question marks in the middle of each paragraphs.

Audience- He tries to give his idea to ordinary people.

Intention: He tries to argue the necessity of anarchism.

Message- He tries to argue that how much the idea of anarchism is necessary in the society around 1890s. He would like ordinary people to notice that society can be better with the abolishment of social organization such as polices and prisons because they did not play crucial roles in achieving safe society and improvement of men.

 

3 thoughts on “Anarchism: Its philosophy and ideal

  1. While Kropotkin was a proponent of anarchism and served as a prominent critic of capitalism, it is important to note that he did recognize and acknowledge the competitive compulsion in humans. Rather than attributing these competitive desires to natural tendencies, Kropotkin argued that these urges were a product of historical environments. Kropotkin sought for cooperative and voluntary relationships among workers, rather than individual competition.

  2. I think it is interesting to throw out this word “necessary” with anarchy. Most people do not look at anarchy as something that society needs but Kropotkin has made an incredibly compelling argument. You mentioned in the audience section that he was applying to all people but he wasn’t just speaking to them he was trying to convince them. The writing is impressive because he was able to pose such a threatening idea and in a convincing way.

  3. I find it interesting as well that anarchy can be labeled as such. I feel that sometimes a movement’s leader will try to apply his idea to everything, however, and while Kropotkin thinks everyone would embrace anarchy, it probably wouldnt be the best idea.

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