Anarchism is the doctrine or theory that the state is immoral and unjustified and that society may flourish without any coercive governmental institutions. Anarchism (from the Greek an archos, without a ruler) is not a synonym for chaos or violence but a critique of the state and a theory of how voluntary interaction and organization allows individuals to flourish freely. As a philosophy, anarchism has arisen in the modern period, though one may discern anarchistic suggestions in the ancient Greek Stoic Zeno of Citium (fourth to third century BCE) and in the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tse (sixth century BCE). There is no single anarchist doctrine, and many anarchists have been antitheoretical, but all anarchists agree on the illegitimacy of the state and emphasize the ...