Question 1

What central claim does the book assess about anarchists and human nature?

Accepted Answer

The book evaluates the argument that anarchists hold an optimistic conception of human nature as a basis for a future stateless society.

Question 2

How does the book connect human nature to arguments for social change?

Accepted Answer

It explains that the concept of human nature is used to justify what is wrong with society and how those wrongs should be corrected, and that ideologies are more persuasive when their human-nature view matches their political prescriptions.

Question 3

Why does the author argue social anarchism faces a fundamental inconsistency?

Accepted Answer

Because social anarchists assume both egoism and sociability, including a permanent egoism that motivates power-seeking actions, making it difficult to reconcile these assumptions with the possibility of a state-free society.