Lisp is anything goes because of macros. Hire ten different Lisp programmers and you’ll get ten different domain specific languages and no one will understand what everyone else has done. If there is a unifying philosophy of Lisp, it’s probably “don’t use macros” and yet so many ignore it!
For all its faults, C is quite easy to read and understand, even by beginner C programmers. Yes, C also has macros but their clumsiness helps to discourage their use.
I'm a Common Lisp programmer. I don't really know how to respond to that except to say, what you describe is not the case at all. Reading others' Common Lisp code is a joy compared to reading others' code in any other language.
Why do you think that Lisp is an "anything goes" language? What's your baseline? I think that C is no less an "anything goes" language, but with a much less pleasant UI.
> with no philosophy every programmer becomes an island unto themselves
Some people actually think that Lispers tend to be too philosophical