Authority ultimately rests solely on power, regardless of whether that power is open or transparent, as it still has the ability to coerce people
Another anarchist argument against states is that the people constituting a government, even the most altruistic among officials, will unavoidably seek to gain more power, leading to corruption
Anarchists consider the idea that the state is the collective will of the people to be an unachievable fiction due to the fact that the ruling class is distinct from the rest of society
Specific anarchist attitudes towards the state vary
Robert Paul Wolff believed that the tension between authority and autonomy would mean the state could never be legitimate
Bakunin saw the state as meaning "coercion, domination by means of coercion, camouflaged if possible but unceremonious and overt if need be." A
John Simmons and Leslie Green, who leaned toward philosophical anarchism, believed that the state could be legitimate if it is governed by consensus, although they saw this as highly unlikely
Beliefs on how to abolish the state also differ
Sexuality was not often discussed by classical anarchists but the few that did felt that an anarchist society would lead to sexuality naturally developing
Sexual violence was a concern for anarchists such as Benjamin Tucker, who opposed age of consent laws, believing they would benefit predatory men
A historical current that arose and flourished during 1890 and 1920 within anarchism was free love
In contemporary anarchism, this current survives as a tendency to support polyamory, relationship anarchy, and queer anarchism
Free love advocates were against marriage, which they saw as a way of men imposing authority over women, largely because marriage law greatly favoured the power of men
The notion of free love was much broader and included a critique of the established order that limited women's sexual freedom and pleasure
Those free love movements contributed to the establishment of communal houses, where large groups of travelers, anarchists and other activists slept in beds together
Free love had roots both in Europe and the United States; however, some anarchists struggled with the jealousy that arose from free love
Anarchist feminists were advocates of free love, against marriage, and pro-choice (utilising a contemporary term), and had a similar agenda
Anarchist and non-anarchist feminists differed on suffrage but were supportive of one another
During the second half of the 20th century, anarchism intermingled with the second wave of feminism, radicalising some currents of the feminist movement and being influenced as well
With the third wave of feminism, sexual identity and compulsory heterosexuality became a subject of study for anarchists, yielding a post-structuralist critique of sexual normality
Some anarchists distanced themselves from this line of thinking, suggesting that it leaned towards an individualism that was dropping the cause of social liberation
Education 

The interest of anarchists in education stretches back to the first emergence of classical anarchism
Anarchists consider proper education, one which sets the foundations of the future autonomy of the individual and the society, to be an act of mutual aid
Ferrer's approach was secular, rejecting both state and church involvement in the educational process whilst giving pupils large amounts of autonomy in planning their work and attendance
Ferrer aimed to educate the working class and explicitly sought to foster class consciousness among students
The school closed after constant harassment by the state and Ferrer was later arrested
Nonetheless, his ideas formed the inspiration for a series of modern schools around the world
Neill founded what became the Summerhill School in 1921, also declaring being free from coercion
Contemporary anarchists such as Ward claim that state education serves to perpetuate socioeconomic inequality
In literature, anarchism was mostly associated with the New Apocalyptics and the neo-romanticism movement
In music, anarchism has been associated with music scenes such as punk
Other anarchists advocated for or used art as a means to achieve anarchist ends
Three overlapping properties made art useful to anarchists
It could depict a critique of existing society and hierarchies, serve as a prefigurative tool to reflect the anarchist ideal society and even turn into a means of direct action such as in protests
As it appeals to both emotion and reason, art could appeal to the whole human and have a powerful effect
The 19th-century neo-impressionist movement had an ecological aesthetic and offered an example of an anarchist perception of the road towards socialism
In Les chataigniers a Osny by anarchist painter Camille Pissarro, the blending of aesthetic and social harmony is prefiguring an ideal anarchistic agrarian community
Criticism 
The most common critique of anarchism is the assertion that humans cannot self-govern and so a state is necessary for human survival
Another criticism of anarchism is the belief that it is inherently unstable: that an anarchist society would inevitably evolve back into a state
Thomas Hobbes and other early social contract theorists argued that the state emerges in response to natural anarchy in order to protect the people's interests and keep order
Anarchists reject these criticisms by arguing that humans in a state of nature would not just be in a state of war
Secondly, anarchism is evaluated as unfeasible or utopian since the state cannot be defeated practically
This line of arguments most often calls for political action within the system to reform it
The third argument is that anarchism is self-contradictory as a ruling theory that has no ruling theory
Anarchism also calls for collective action whilst endorsing the autonomy of the individual, hence no collective action can be taken
Lastly, Fiala mentions a critique towards philosophical anarchism of being ineffective (all talk and thoughts) and in the meantime capitalism and bourgeois class remains strong
Philosophical anarchism has met the criticism of members of academia following the release of pro-anarchist books such as A
John Simmons' Moral Principles and Political Obligations
Edmundson authored an essay to argue against three major philosophical anarchist principles which he finds fallacious
Edmundson says that while the individual does not owe the state a duty of obedience, this does not imply that anarchism is the inevitable conclusion and the state is still morally legitimate