Individualism
Individualism is the moral, philosophical, political or ideological position that "emphasizes the moral dignity of the individual". Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and in so far as independence and self-sufficiency while opposing most external interventions on personal choices, be they social, state, or any other type of group or institution. On the opposite side we find collectivism.
Individualism makes the individual its center and thus begins “with the fundamental premise that the human individual is of primary importance in the struggle for liberation. Human rights and freedom are the substance of these theories. Liberalism, existentialism, and individualist anarchism are examples of movements that take the human individual as the central unit of analysis."
It has also been used as a term denoting “the quality of being an individual; a quirk". Individualism is also associated with artistic and bohemian interests and lifestyles where there is a tendency towards self-creation and experimentation contrary to or avoidance of tradition or popular or mass opinions and behaviors and therefore with a humanist philosophical-ethical position.
Origin and development of individualism
The first ideas of individualism arose from the cynical school, a school that advocated the total freedom of the individual through the detachment of material goods, satire and decision-making according to one's own being. In the Middle Ages the concept of the individual human soul and individual salvation is developed. These were the basis for the more elaborate concept of individualism that we know today. These ideas were drastically modified during the industrial revolution. When it went from being an individual salvation to being a whole system of individual work and individual profit with the rise of capitalism. This new concept is closer to that of today, but it had to undergo a great series of changes to reach its current form. In the centuries XX and XXI individualism has been gaining strength over collectivism; Many of the countries that had opted for collectivism switched to more individualistic systems, as was the case in Germany and China. These countries went through and are still going through a process of adaptation to this new system. This is because of the globalized economy that supports capitalist systems of individualism but also because of government failures to implement the ideals of collectivism, which in turn could have been influenced by the fall of the Soviet Union. These factors make individualism the dominant ideology today (early XXI century). Most of the world's countries have adapted an individualistic system, which makes it difficult for other alternate ideologies to emerge. Although collectivism remains existing in some countries.
International Cultural Differences
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Cultural differences between individualism and collectivism are differences in level, not in kind. All cultures have individualistic and collectivistic traits. There is a strong relationship between economic development and individualism - cultural collectivism. Globally, economically developed regions such as Western Europe, Australia, North America and Japan have more individualistic cultures while developing regions such as the Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, India, Southeast Asia, and Central America have more collectivist cultures.
Methodological individualism
Methodological individualism is a widely used method in the social sciences. He maintains that all social phenomena —structure and changes— are in principle explicable by individual elements, that is, by the properties of individuals, such as their goals, their beliefs, and their actions. Its defenders see it as a philosophy-method destined for the explanation and broad understanding of the evolution of the whole society as the aggregate of the decisions of individuals. In principle it is a reductionism, that is to say a reduction of the explanation of all the great entities with references in the smallest ones.
Methodological individualism denies that a collectivity is an autonomous organism that makes decisions, and demands that the social sciences base their theories on individual action. This idea has also been used to attack, among other ideas, historicism, structuralist functionalism, 'sociologism' or belief that social class, gender roles, or ethnicity functions as determinants of individual behavior.
Individualism as an object of study
The effects of individualism in past centuries (XX and XXI) have made it a common object of study. The existing controversy between the superiority of individualism against collectivism is one of the most covered topics in the social sciences. There is therefore a series of studies and research that cover all aspects of these issues. Aspects such as adaptation to a new system, acculturation caused by these changes and more commonly the controversy between collectivism vs. individualism. It is remarkable that it has aroused great interest in recent years.
Other meanings
In the dictionary
Outside the «philosophical» and «sociological» language, individualism is defined as a way of acting according to one's own criteria and not according to that of the community.[citation required]
In common parlance
Individualism is commonly used synonymously with: narcissism, psychological egoism, etc. This use, mostly pejorative, is often associated with consumerism. In the essay The Betrayal of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy by Christopher Lasch we are shown a contemporary example of individualistic behavior. With a more neutral connotation, individualism is considered a way of developing and promoting tools that allow us to always find ourselves in search of our own identity, of something that “distinguishes and differentiates” us from the rest of the people.
Philosophical individualism
Objectivism
Objectivism is a philosophical system created by the philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand (1905-1982) that maintains: reality exists independently of consciousness; Human beings rationally gain knowledge of perception through the process of concept formation and inductive and deductive logic; The moral purpose of one's life is the pursuit of one's own happiness or rational self-interest. Rand thinks that the only social system compatible with this morality is full respect for individual rights, embodied in pure laissez faire capitalism; And the role of art in human life is to transform the broadest metaphysical ideas of man, through the selective reproduction of reality, into a physical form - a work of art - that can understand and respond to emotions. Objectivism celebrates man as his own hero, "with his own happiness as his life's moral purpose, with productive achievement as his noblest pursuit, and reason as his only absolute." # 3. 4;.
Freethought
Freethought holds that individuals should not accept proposed ideas as truth without recourse to knowledge and reason. Thus, freethinkers strive to construct their opinions on the basis of facts, scientific research, and logical principles, regardless of any logical fallacies or the limiting effects of authority, confirmation bias, cognitive bias, conventional wisdom, popular culture, prejudice, sectarianism, urban legend lore, and all the other dogmas. Regarding religion, freethinkers maintain that there is insufficient evidence to scientifically validate the existence of supernatural phenomena.
Ethical egoism
Ethical egoism (also called simply egoism) is the normative ethical position that moral agents should do what is in their own interest. It differs from psychological egoism, which states that people only act in their own interest. Ethical egoism also differs from rational egoism, which merely holds that it is rational to act in one's own interest. However, these doctrines can occasionally be combined with ethical egoism.
Ethical egoism contrasts with ethical altruism, which holds that moral agents have an obligation to help and serve others. Egoism and altruism contrast with ethical utilitarianism, which holds that a moral agent should treat himself (also known as the subject) with no greater regard than one has for others (as egoism does by elevating one's own interests). and the "I" To a state that is not granted to others), but that also (like altruism) does not sacrifice their own interests to help the interests of others, as long as their own interests (that is, one's own desires or well-being) are substantially equivalent to the interests and well-being of others. Egoism, utilitarianism, and altruism are all forms of consequentialism, but egoism and altruism contrast with utilitarianism, in that egoism and altruism are agent-centered forms of consequentialism (i.e., subject-centered or subjective).) Objective and impartial), since it does not treat the subject's own interests (that is, the self, that is, the moral "agents") as more or less important than if the same interests, desires or well-being were from others.
Ethical egoism, however, does not require moral agents to harm the interests and well-being of others by making moral deliberation; eg What is in the personal interest of one agent may be incidentally detrimental, beneficial, or neutral in its effect on others. Individualism allows the interest and well-being of others to be ignored or not, as long as what is chosen is effective in satisfying the agent's own interest. Nor does ethical egoism necessarily imply that, in pursuing one's self-interest, one should always do what one wants to do; eg In the long term, the fulfillment of short-term wishes can be detrimental to the self. Fleeting pleasure, then, takes a back seat to prolonged eudaemonia. In the words of James Rachels, "Ethical egoism [...] endorses egoism, but does not endorse folly".
Ethical egoism is sometimes the philosophical basis for supporting libertarianism or individualist anarchism as in Max Stirner, although they may also be based on altruistic motivations. These are political positions based in part on the belief that individuals do not they must coercively prevent others from exercising freedom of action.
Economic individualism
The doctrine of economic individualism holds that each individual should be allowed the autonomy to make their own economic decisions as opposed to those made by the state, community, corporation, etc. for him.
Liberalism
Classical liberalism is a political ideology that developed in the 19th century in England, Western Europe, and the Americas. It followed earlier forms of liberalism in its commitment to personal liberty and popular rule, but it differed from earlier forms of liberalism in its commitment to free markets and classical economics. Notable classical liberals in the 19th century include Jean-Baptiste Say, Thomas Malthus, and David Ricardo. Classical liberalism was revived in the 20th century by Friedrich Hayek, and further developed by Milton Friedman, Robert Nozick, Loren Lomasky, and Jan Narveson. The phrase classical liberalism is also sometimes used to refer to all forms of liberalism before the 20th century.
Right-libertarianism
Right-libertarianism is a stream of non-collectivist forms of libertarianism or a variety of different libertarian views, which some label "right" from traditional liberalism, including "libertarian conservatism" [citation required].
Right-libertarianism refers to libertarian political philosophies that advocate negative rights, natural law, and a radical reversal of the modern welfare state. Right-libertarians strongly support private property rights and advocate the & #34;uneven distribution" of natural resources and private property. This position is contrasted with that of some versions of left-libertarianism, which hold that natural resources belong to everyone equally, not owned or owned collectively. Right-libertarianism includes but it is not limited to ideologies such as anarcho-capitalism and laissez-faire, minarchist liberalism, among others.
Main figures of Individualism
Among the main exponents of the history of individualism, we can mention people like the philosopher Antisthenes, one of the promoters of the cynical philosophical school, who advocated detachment from society and worldly pleasures in favor of the individual. In the 19th century, philosophers Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson promoted individualist ideas in America through their literature. The latter, in his essay Self-Reliance, defended positions that promoted achieving self-knowledge and independence of the person. Already at the beginning of the XX century, the pedagogical principles of John Dewey and the progressive school definitely contributed to fostering individualism in the United States. United.
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