Anarchist rejection of authority has application in epistemology and in philosophical and literary theory One significant usage of the term shows up in American pragmatism William James described his pragmatist philosophical theory as a kind of anarchism “A radical pragmatist is a happygolucky anarchistic sort of creature” James 1907 1981 116 James had anarchist sympathies connected to a general critique of systematic philosophy see Fiala 2013b Pragmatism like other antisystematic and postHegelian philosophies gives up on the search for an arché or foundation Anarchism thus shows up as a general critique of prevailing methods An influential example is found in the work of Paul Feyerabend whose Against Method provides an example of “theoretical anarchism” in epistemology and philosophy of science Feyerabend 1975 1993 Feyerabend explains Science is an essentially anarchic enterprise theoretical anarchism is more humanitarian and more likely to encourage progress than its lawandorder alternatives Feyerabend 1975 1993 9 His point is that science ought not be constrained by hierarchically imposed principles and strict rule following Poststructuralism and trends in postmodernism and Continental philosophy can also be anarchistic see May 1994 Socalled “postanarchism” is a decentered and freeflowing discourse that deconstructs power questions essentialism and undermines systems of authority Following upon the deconstructive and critical work of authors such as Derrida Deleuze Foucault and others this critique of the arché goes all the way down If there is no arché or foundation then we are left with a proliferation of possibilities Emerging trends in globalization cyberspace and posthumanism make the anarchist critique of “the state” more complicated since anarchism’s traditional celebration of liberty and autonomy can be critically scrutinized and deconstructed see Newman 2016 Traditional anarchists were primarily interested in sustained and focused political activism that led toward the abolition of the state The difference between freeflowing postanarchism and traditional anarchism can be seen in the realm of morality Anarchism has traditionally been critical of centralized moral authority—but this critique was often based upon fundamental principles and traditional values such as autonomy or liberty But poststructuralism—along with critiques articulated by some feminists critical race theorists and critics of Eurocentrism—calls these values and principles into question