Individualists or Autonomists
The terms “autonomist” and “independent individualist,” as I use them, have the same essential meaning and refer to any individual who is totally self- directed and self-controlled. I think “autonomist” is the better word, but, though redundant, I chose to use the two word term “independent individualist”to emphasize individualism.
“The Autonomist,” was the earlier publication, and remains a sub-publication of the “Independent Individualist.” One of the earliest publications of “The Autonomist,” was “The Autonomist’s Notebook.” The introduction to The Autonomist’s Notebooks says:
The Autonomist’s Notebook is a semi-satirical collection of aphorisms, epigrams, and comments on politics, philosophy, and religion. While illustrative of autonomist thought, they are not meant to be instructive. They are meant primarily for the edification and entertainment of autonomists as pleasant reminders of the clear and essential principles by which we live our lives and which make them worth living.
These are the principles of individual freedom, without which neither human life, in it fullest and noblest sense, nor the fulfillment of its purpose is possible. [Emphasis added.]
The Notebook is divided into categories, with several entries under each. If you’ve never used The Autonomist’s Notebook, you may be unaware there are two levels under each category. There are the entries themselves listed under each category, but linked to each category is a “Commentary” for that category which delves into some of the philosophy and thinking behind the more cryptic entries.
For example, one entry under Social Relationships is the following:
“Be courteous to everyone. The inferior declare their inferiority by insulting those they perceive to be their superiors.”
If you click “Commentary” beside “Social Relationships” you will discover the commentary makes clear the quoted quip is actually about etiquette:
“Etiquette, or manners, are a recognition of the rational nature of others. Good manners are nothing more than an objective attempt to deal with others rationally and decently. Discourtesy is simply ignorance of how to deal with others or the intentional lowering of one’s self to an irrational level. Almost nothing is more affective when dealing with the irrational than to maintain one’s self-control and remain courteous, without condescension. It is personally very rewarding and frequently overcomes the most obtusely ignorant behavior of others.”
If you are an individualist you may enjoy The Autonomist’s Notebook. It is not meant to instruct or even to suggest what anyone else ought to think, but to stimulate one’s own thinking, which is the only thinking that matters to an independent individualist.
The Autonomist’s Notebook is based loosely on the plan of George Bernard Shaw’s own “Maxims for Revolutionists,” from Man and Superman. This may shock those who know Shaw was a socialist. He was, but a very strange one. He had no use for the “academic” class. He wrote, for example, “A fool’s brain digests philosophy into folly, science into superstition, and art into pedantry. Hence University education.” And he understood why true freedom is despised: “Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.”
There is also a strange connection between George Bernard Shaw, Frederick Nietzsche, and Ayn Rand, which perhaps I’ll address at another time.
I’d like emphasize the fact The Autonomist’s Notebook is not instructions on or principles about how to be and autonomist, or independent individualist, but a stimulus for thought for those who already are individualists.