07-07-2012, 04:36 PM
A BIBLIOGRAPHIC ESSAY ON INDIVIDUALISM
BIBLIOGRAPHIC ESSAY.pdf (Size: 188.8 KB / Downloads: 99)
Conceptualizing Individualism
The concept of individualism is rooted in the philosophy of the
Enlightenment and was first articulated in the nineteenth century.
Steven Lukes’ semantic history of nineteenth-century uses of the term
reveals no less than eleven different senses in which the word was used.
These include the intrinsic value of the individual human being, autonomy
or self-direction, privacy, self-development, political individualism,
economic individualism, religious individualism, and ethical
individualism.
Contemporary American Culture
Since the mid-twentieth century, social observers have pointed out
increasingly individualistic tendencies in American culture. Of particular
interest to a number of authors has been the perceived shift from
1950s conformity to the “me” generation. David Riesman’s The Lonely
Crowd, published in 1950, explored the nature of American individualism
and conformism. Riesman detailed a “sea change” that he saw taking
place in American culture: the very character of individuals was
changing from the “inner-directed” person, whose internal goals were
implanted by long-standing tradition and elders, to the “other-directed”
person, oriented toward the ever-changing expectations projected
by peer groups and mass media.
Critics of Individualism
Much like the champions of individualism, its critics are also to be
found in many camps. Although they identify with different labels and
agendas, there are a number of points of similarity in the communitarian,
liberal, feminist, and religious critiques of individualism.
Communitarian Critiques
The key question in the liberal-communitarian debate is: Is community
voluntary? Liberals see the individual as prior to community; that is,
community can only be formed through the conscious, voluntary association
of free individuals. Communitarians, on the other hand, see the
community as prior to individual identity; that is, the individual is
embedded in and shaped by communal identity and obligation. A vital
part of the communitarian critique of liberal individualism is that the
individualistic bias in evaluating the good ignores the possibility of collective
goods that cannot be individually distributed.