A small great revolution through Bakunin’s phrases

Bakunin’s phrases bring us closer to anarchy as a philosophical position. This is not chaos, disorder or debauchery, but a perspective that seeks to establish the highest possible level of autonomy in society.

Bakunin’s phrases scandalized his contemporaries and, strange as it may seem, continue to cause astonishment in many.. This Russian is considered the father of anarchism and one of the strongest supporters of atheism.

Mijail Bakunin was a very nice philosopher, given to friendships now the bohemian life. Great admirer of Hegel and critic of the despotic actions of the Russian tsar in the 19th century. He, too, was not very fond of the ideas of Karl Marx, whom he considered authoritarian.

In Bakunin’s phrases there are reflections on very diverse human realities. However, it is clear that he places special emphasis on the issue of power. It basically questions the power of the state and religion. These are some of his most interesting statements.

“My freedom, my dignity as a man, my human right, which consists of not obeying any other man and not determining my actions except in accordance with my own convictions.”.

-Mikhail Bakunin-

There is no infallible authority

“I do not recognize infallible authority. Such a faith would be fatal to my reason, to my freedom. It would immediately transform me into a stupid slave and an instrument of the will and interests of others.”.

This is one of Bakunin’s most emblematic phrases. It perfectly sums up his stance towards power. It is also a statement in which he declares his eternal irreverence towards all types of authority absolute.

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If an infallible authority existed, freedom would be no more than a simple word. That infallible authority would be in charge of pointing out what should or should not be done. Why use reason? individual, if the authority already has the truth?

The plurality of gods

“The mere plurality of the gods that the Greeks had is a guarantee against absolutism. Furthermore, there was no such morally monstrous logical contradiction between good and evil.”.

This is one of Bakunin’s phrases that may be somewhat shocking to those who are believers. Beyond religious convictions, what this statement raises can be divided into two parts. In the first, he makes monotheism equivalent and absolutism.

In the second part, he presents the contrast between good and evil as a logical contradiction. Also, morally deplorable. He thus declares that the good and evil are relative concepts and never exist in their pure state. True ethics is reflective and not prescriptive.

Freedom is collective

“Freedom can only be realized in society and only in the closest equality and solidarity of each one with all.”.

In this statement, Bakunin refers to a fundamental fact. Freedom is a good that only exists in society. An isolated individual cannot speak of freedom, as there is no reference point from which to be free.

Freedom is social, because power is also a social phenomenon. Both concepts complement and coexist. One is free to the extent that there is self-determination and that this does not imply exclusion or isolation.

Another of Bakunin’s phrases about freedom

“I am only truly free when all the human beings around me, men and women, are equally free.”.

In this phrase Bakunin insists on the collective meaning of freedom. This means that When individual freedom is based on the oppression or slavery of others, it cannot be called freedom. in a strict sense.

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For someone to be completely free, it is necessary that there be no constraint or curtailment of the freedoms of others. In that sense, A free society is one in which everyone can self-determine, without subjection to others.

The sacred duty

“I have considered that the most sacred of all my duties was to rebel against all oppression, regardless of the author or the victim.”.

This is also one of those Bakunin phrases where his philosophy of anarchism is captured. Unlike what some think, the father of anarchy was not a propagandist of disorder but of autonomy and self-determination.

The word anarchy is currently applied in a sometimes confusing way. It is thought to be synonymous with chaos and debauchery. In its essential sense, what this position does is advocate the abolition of all forms of authoritarianism.

Political freedom and economic freedom

“Political freedom without economic equality is a pretense, a fraud, a lie; and the workers do not want lies”.

This is an idea from the 19th century that remains valid almost two centuries later, although we are very far from seeing its conditionals transformed into reality. He talks about the deep correlation between the political and the economic. particularly in terms of freedom.

Economic equality is one of the ideals of socialism. More than an absolute, refers to that idea around the abolition of exploiters and exploited. Truly, those who depend decisively on others for their support do not have full political freedom.

A blow is a blow

“When the people are being hit with a stick, they are not much happier if that is called the people’s stick.”.

This could be considered one of Bakunin’s most forward-looking quotes.. In his time there were no socialist or supposedly communist regimes. Later they did appear in the world, although only formally on many occasions.

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Bakunin anticipates this and questions the capacity for repression that these supposedly egalitarian regimes have. In many cases they are powers that act in the name of the people, but that are imposed in a similar way to the systems that create or maintain inequality.

Bakunin’s perspective could be more ethical than political or economic as such. Its absolute rejection of all forms of power is more ideal (utopian) than a reality that can be within the reach of the people. Even so, it is still interesting to read and learn about his particular way of thinking.