Engels argument in "On Authority" can be summed up as any form of collective activity means co-operating with others and that this means the individual subordinates themselves to others, specifically the group. As such, authority cannot be abolished as organisation means that "the will of a single individual will always have to subordinate itself, which means that questions are settled in an authoritarian way." [Op. Cit., p. 731]

As such, Engels argument proves too much. As every form of joint activity involves agreement and "subordination," then life itself becomes "authoritarian." The only free person, according to Engels' logic, would be the hermit. As George Barrett argues:

"To get the full meaning out of life we must co-operate, and to co-operate we must make agreements with our fellow-men. But to suppose that such agreements mean a limitation of freedom is surely an absurdity; on the contrary, they are the exercise of our freedom.

"If we are going to invent a dogma that to make agreements is to damage freedom, then at once freedom becomes tyrannical, for it forbids men [and women] to take the most ordinary everyday pleasures. For example, I cannot go for a walk with my friend because it is against the principle of Liberty that I should agree to be at a certain place at a certain time to meet him. I cannot in the least extend my own power beyond myself, because to do so I must co-operate with someone else, and co-operation implies an agreement, and that is against Liberty. It will be seen at once that this argument is absurd. I do not limit my liberty, but simply exercise it, when I agree with my friend to go for a walk.

"If, on the other hand, I decide from my superior knowledge that it is good for my friend to take exercise, and therefore I attempt to compel him to go for a walk, then I begin to limit freedom. This is the difference between free agreement and government." [Objections to Anarchism]

So, if we took Engels' argument seriously, then we would have to conclude that living makes freedom impossible! After all by doing any joint activity you "subordinate" yourself to others and, ironically, exercising your liberty by making decisions and associating with others would become a denial of liberty. Clearly Engels argument is lacking something!

Perhaps this paradox can be explained once we recognise that Engels is using a distinctly liberal view of freedom — i.e. freedom from. Anarchists reject this. We see freedom as holistic — freedom from and freedom to. This means that that freedom is maintained by the kind of relationships we form with others, not by isolation. Liberty is denied when we form hierarchical relationships with others not necessarily when we associate with others. To combine with other individuals is an expression of individual liberty, not its denial! We are aware that freedom is impossible outside of association. Within an association absolute "autonomy" cannot exist, but such a concept of "autonomy" would restrict freedom to such a degree that it would be so self-defeating as to make a mockery of the concept of autonomy and no sane person would seek it.

Clearly, Engels "critique" hides more than it explains. Yes, co-operation and coercion both involve people working jointly together, but they are not to be equated. While Bakunin recognised this fundamental difference and tried, perhaps incompletely, to differentiate them (by arguing against "the principle of authority") and to base his politics on the difference, Engels obscures the differences and muddies the water by confusing the two radically different concepts within the word "authority."

Any organisation or group is based on co-operation and co-ordination (Engels' "principle of authority"). How that co-operation is achieved is dependent on the type of organisation in question and that, in turn, specifies the social relationships within it. It is these social relationships which determine whether an organisation is authoritarian or libertarian, not the universal need to make and stick by agreements. Engels is simply confusing obedience with agreement, coercion with co-operation, organisation with authority, objective reality with despotism.

As such, rather than seeing organisation as restricting freedom, anarchists argue that the kind of organisation we create is what matters. We can form relationships with others which are based on equality, not subordination. As an example, we point to the differences between marriage and free love (see next section). Once it is recognised that decisions can be made on the basis of agreements between equals, Engels essay can be seen for what it is — a deeply flawed piece of cheap and inaccurate diatribe.