Steiner's relationship to Max Stirner
Steiner appears to have been introduced to the philosophy of Max Stirner by John Henry Mackay, whom Steiner met while in Weimar and with whom he became close friends after moving to Berlin.* Mackay was a self-professed 'individualistic anarchist' and had edited Stirner's writing for a new edition. Steiner was attracted to the individualist thrust of Stirner’s work, comparing it to his own philosophical individualism as expressed in Philosophy of Freedom, Steiner’s 1894 book.
*Hemleben, Johannes. Rudolf Steiner, An Illustrated Biography. London: Sophia, 2000. Page 81.
