us that different
organisations are possible, by means of which the general agreement of
the whole community in sentiment and views might make itself felt, and
declares that it is rather a question of expediency than of principle
which of the different possible organisations should finally be
accepted (_Principles_, p. 766).

* * * * *

Incomprehensible as it may seem that Spencer, holding such views,
should be regarded as an Anarchist, and that too by men who ought to
have understood him as well as the Anarchists, yet this has been the
case. Therefore we must guard against his lack of Radicalism (as shown
in the foregoing remarks) being regarded by various parties less as a
necessary result of his first premises than as the result of personal
qualities of opportunism, of a lack of courage in facing the ultimate
consequences of his reasoning. We should like, therefore, briefly to
note the wide differences which separate the purely sociological
standpoint of Spencer from the unscientific standpoint of the
Anarchists.

It may be considered as indifferent whether we are accustomed to
regard society as a natural thing or only as a product of my thought,
as something real and concrete or as a mere conception, and yet the
range of this first assumption far surpasses the value of academic
contention. No bridge leads from one of these standpoints to the
other, and as deep a gulf separates the conclusions which are drawn
from these premises. If society is a thing, something actual like the
individual, then it is subject to the same laws as the rest of nature;
it changes and develops, grows and decays, like all else. If, on the
other hand, it is a mere conception, then it stands and falls with
myself, with my wish to set it up or destroy it. Indeed, if society is
nothing but an idea, a child of my thought, what hinders me from
throwing it away as soon as I have recognised its nothingness, since
it is no more use to me? Have not some already done so with the idea
of God, because they thought it merely a product of their own mind?
Here we may remember Stirner's argument, which was only rendered
possible because he placed society upon exactly the same level as the
Deity, _i. e._, regarding both as mere conceptions. But, on the other
hand, if society exists apart from me, apart from my thought about it,
then it will also develop without reference to my personal opinions,
views, ideas, or wishes. In