What I Learned from Max Stirner

I struggled to understand this particular essay. Maybe it's because of the translation, or because of the style of writing, I'm not sure. However, this is my understanding of the first few pages of chapter 3 of "The Anarchist Hadbook" organized by Michael Malice. The essay is by Max Stirner, taken from his book "The Ego and His Own" written in 1844.

This essay uses the word ‘right’ in many different contexts. It can mean ‘correct’ or ‘moral’, as well as to describe ‘entitlement’ or ‘privilege’. Additionally, the author uses it to mean ‘restoring to a justice’. It is difficult to differentiate which one he is talking about throughout the text. I do my best to understand how it’s used in each situation.

What is ‘right’? Is it sovereignty and individual will? Aristotle says that justice is right, and is the benefit of living in civilized society. But does society determine what is right and what is wrong, or is right and wrong objective, even when society disagrees? If I believe I am right, or in the right, or have the right, and society disagrees, how can there be justice? 

Who determines right from wrong; who determines what is justice? If someone of high intelligence determines what is right, must I agree? If I disagree, am I to be considered wrong? If others disagree, who is right? Can one judge me right while another judge me wrong? 

Should we leave decisions of right and wrong to the law? Should a judge in a court decide for us, whether we are right, have the right to life, or deserve justice?

Is power or authority the determining factor for judging right from wrong? What if I have power over another and judge them to be wrong? What if those with power over me disagree? Who is right? The one with the most power? What if we are of equal power? What is power?

If another is to decide right and wrong for me, doesn’t that make me a slave? Since I am not allowed to determine right and wrong for myself, I must be submissive to another’s ideals. If I am not allowed the right to my own thoughts, then I am merely a cog in a machine, with no allowance for individual determination.

“Whether I am in the right or not, there is no judge but myself. Others can judge only whether they endorse my right and whether it exists as right for them, too.”