Might Is Right | |
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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 |
Leo Tolstoy discussed the philosophy of Might Is Right in his 1897 essay What Is Art?:
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; Anton LaVey thought him "the most likely candidate".
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.
Year | Publisher | Notes |
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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 |