ENGL 298 B: Intermediate Writing Social Sciences   Autumn 2011, University of Washington

It cannot be repudiated that Emma Goldman advocates for the thin self.  She does, however, make some
contradictory statements, but ultimately stands for the idea of the thinself.  The thin self is an individual who
chooses his own commitments and sees a clear distinction between “the real me”and “my roles”.  She says “Anarchism is
the only philosophy which brings to man the consciousness of himself; whichmaintains that God, the State, and the society are non-existent, that theirpromises are null and void, since they can be fulfilled only by man’ssubordination”, showing her emphasis on the individual and her view of the importance of each individual making his own way in the world.

The thick self, in another light, is not an individual, is defined by his commitments, and furthermore has no distinction between “the real me” and “my roles”.  Goldman says “It matters not whether it is government by divine right or majority rule. In every instance
its aim is the absolute subordination of the individual”.  I do not think she would react kindly to the
idea of the thick self; she has much more an individualist approach of the thin self than the collectivist approach of the thick self.  Here Goldman even says “the individual is the heart of society”.  She is against anything that subordinates oneself, and thus would not approve of the idea of the thick self.

Assuming Goldman is a definite advocate for the thin self, I would still like to question her possible reaction. This may be a stretch, but if everyone in an anarchist society was a thin self, at some point wouldn’t they evolve into a thick self? If everyone becomes the same, what makes everyone in the society an individualist? At some point I feel as though anarchism in a society could create a collectivist society; it seems to me that no religion, no government, or no sense of subordination would eventually bring people together.  However, this is just my personal thought.  Overall, I think Goldman without a doubt would advocate for the thin self, and I think she herself models the characteristics of the thin self.