Political and Philosophical Commentary
This blog invites readers to think a little deeper about important issues and news events that affect their lives. Reflection creates the possibility of alternative perspectives.
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Modernity and The Rise of Individualism
In 443 B.C., Sophocles presented an embryonic notion of individuality when Oedipus's daughter Antigone decided to defy King Creon's edict that prohibited the mourning or burying of her slain brother Polyneices for alleged disloyalty to the state. Under penalty of death by stoning, Antigone buried her brother to honor a more compelling family duty, thus preserving the identity of her family. Characterizing her actions as criminally sinless and recognizing death is inevitable for all mortals, she viewed premature death by state execution more honorable than living under a state sponsored evil proclamation that she viewed as contrary to notions of justice and the statues of heaven. Antigone, the King’s son Haemon and wife Eurydice each ultimately choose self-inflicted death rather than life under the King's terms.
This concept of living for the sake of the community because one lacks any individual identity apart from the duty entailed by community membership was examined and rejected by individualist philosophers during the Enlightenment and industrial revolution that gave birth to the modern state. Since the French and American Revolutions against royal establishment rule and since Adam Smith's vision of capitalism and Thomas Jefferson's vision of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in 1776, efforts to assert notions of individualism, __ although the term itself was first used in a negative context in 1820 by Joseph de Maistre __ have been a long solitary struggle until reaching critical mass during the mid-1960's counter-cultural revolution. Notwithstanding the public paradigmatic shift stemming from the temporary phenomenon of the 60's, those who seek to preserve traditional community values have continued to challenge those who assert a natural law right to live with minimal restraints and maximum freedom. Pressures to conform to the norms of society express themselves in virtually every aspect of one's life from childhood training, formal education, employment, encounters with law enforcement and political activism to everyday peer pressures to adhere to preconceived normative expectations. However, resistance to conform also expresses itself in sometimes predictable and sometimes bizarre behavior, as well as in pragmatic compromises that allow one to occupy conventional and individualistic life styles simultaneously. Predictable pursuits of individualism include alternative education, occupations and life styles. Bizarre expressions include engaging in extremes for the sake of extremes, such as flirting with near death experiences, involvement in extreme fringes of the adult entertainment industry, and extreme attention-seeking or self-sabotaging behavior. Pragmatic compromise includes working within the system and using goods obtained for individualistic ends, such as acquiring an outlet to express counter-culture point of views, building homes with walls and security to keep society away, accumulating resources to engage in legal battles when offended by societal restrictions, or perhaps earning enough to never have to work for the rest of one's life. As society exerts more pressure to conform utilizing the legislative process, required dress codes, age restrictions, licensing credentials, politically correct speech, credit scores, advertising, and the arts, we will continue to see individuals reevaluate what they value and why, which provides insight into who they really are. This need for self-reflection will bring a greater awareness of the role of our knowledge and beliefs in formulating our judgments about competing rival concepts and available alternatives. Individuality is not resisting societal norms for the sake of resisting. It is going deeply into the resources of one's mind to identify one's exact needs and tapping into one's creativity to formulate one's own personal way to achieve one's individual ends. If we find that institutions originally designed to facilitate the individual in obtaining his or her ends are no longer fulfilling that purpose, one might take it upon oneself to modify or recast those institutions to serve individual ends. Individual and societal needs do not necessarily have to be at cross-purposes. Do individuals have an identity prior to their membership in social groups? Yes, identity begins with perceptional development after birth. One is obviously different from that which is external. At various points the socialization process seeks to mold us into norm-adhering members of the community. It does not take much for many people to forget their own self-identity and accept group thinking or robot behavior. However, deep within our mind there is a voice that calls out for us to assert our individuality. Those who pursue their individualistic calling pay a price. But, when has there not been a price to pay for anything really worthwhile. The reason for the rise in individualism in modernity is the theoretical justification for the societal-control argument by authority figures has weakened due to a more educated general population and a more transparent view of those in power by the media. There will always be a valid argument for some organized community structure and order, but society has always pushed far beyond the point of what is reasonable. A society that respects individualism provides a justification for individuals to respect the society that they comprise.
3 comments from 3 users
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posted by
jermox
on Nov 16, 2006 at 01:49 AM
Very interesting, I was hoping you would keep posting after the elections. posted by
robbwillis
on Nov 16, 2006 at 10:14 AM
Sadly, individulism gets snuffed-out early when cults, the evangelicals most notably, purposely brainwash their children.
posted by
Hardliner4freedom
on Nov 16, 2006 at 10:21 AM
Nice commentary. . Don't take the shortage of comments as an indication of any lack of quality. Well-written posts don't leave much to be said. . I think that is the key area in which the Republican Party has abandoned me. At one time it touted individualism and personal choice. Today it has been infected by a cancer that despises individualism and personal choice.
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