The Soul of Man

The Soul of Man is an 1891 essay by Oscar Wilde in which he expounds a libertarian socialist worldview and a critique of charity. The writing of The Soul of Man followed Wilde's conversion to anarchist philosophy, following his reading of the works of Peter Kropotkin.

Published originally as The Soul of Man Under Socialism, this is not so much a work of sober political analysis; rather it can be summed up as a rhapsodic manifesto on behalf of the Individual. Socialism having deployed technology to liberate the whole of humanity from soul-destroying labor, the State obligingly withers away to allow the free development of a joyful, anarchic hedonism...

Far from abandoning the epigram in favor of the slogan, Wilde wittily assails several of his favorite targets: the misguided purveyors of philanthropy; life-denying ascetics of various kinds; the army of the half-educated who constitute themselves the enemies of Art - and those venal popular journalists who cater to them...

E-Book, ePUB, length 14,600 words, average reading time 1 hour, 15 min. Unabridged full version. Also available as audiobook, read by Martin Geeson, running time 2 hours, 1 min.