Individualism is themoral stance,political philosophy,ideology, and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of theindividual.[1][2] Individualists promote realizing one's goals and desires, valuingindependence and self-reliance, and advocating that the interests of the individual should gain precedence over thestate or a social group, while opposing external interference upon one's own interests bysociety orinstitutions such as the government.[3] Individualism makes the individual its focus,[1] and so starts "with the fundamental premise that the human individual is of primary importance in the struggle for liberation".[4]
Individualism represents one kind ofsociocultural perspective and is often defined in contrast to other perspectives, such ascommunitarianism,collectivism andcorporatism.[5][6]
Individualism is also associated withartistic andbohemian interests and lifestyles, where there is a tendency towards self-creation and experimentation as opposed to tradition or popular mass opinions and behaviors,[3][7] and it is associated withhumanist philosophical positions and ethics.[8][9] "Individualism" has also been used as a term denoting "[t]he quality of being an individual; individuality", related to possessing "[a]n individual characteristic; aquirk".[3]
Etymology
editIn theEnglish language, the wordindividualism was first introduced as a pejorative byutopian socialists such as theOwenites in the late 1830s, although it is unclear if they were influenced bySaint-Simonianism or came up with it independently.[10] A more positive use of the term in Britain came to be used with the writings ofJames Elishama Smith, amillenarian-turned-socialist andChristian Israelite. Although an early follower ofRobert Owen, he eventually rejected Owen's collective idea of property and found in individualism a "universalism" that allowed for the development of the "original genius". Without individualism, Smith argued that individuals cannot amass property to increase one's happiness.[10]William Maccall, anotherUnitarian preacher and probably an acquaintance of Smith, came somewhat later, although influenced byJohn Stuart Mill,Thomas Carlyle andGerman Romanticism, to the same positive conclusions in his 1847 workElements of Individualism.[11]
Individual
editAn individual is a person or any specific object in a collection. In the 15th century and earlier, and also today within the fields ofstatistics andmetaphysics, individual means "indivisible", typically describing any numerically singular thing, but sometimes meaning "a person" as in "the problem ofproper names". From the 17th century on, individual indicates separateness, as in individualism.[12] Individuality is the state or quality of being an individuated being; a person separated from everything with unique character by possessing their own needs, goals, and desires in comparison to other people.[13]
Individuation principle
editThe principle of individuation, orprincipium individuationis,[14] describes the manner in which a thing is identified as distinguished from other things.[15] ForCarl Jung, individuation is a process of transformation, whereby the personal andcollective unconscious is brought into consciousness (by means of dreams,active imagination orfree association to take examples) to be assimilated into the whole personality. It is a completely natural process necessary for the integration of the psyche to take place.[16] Jung considered individuation to be the central process of human development.[17] InL'individuation psychique et collective,Gilbert Simondon developed a theory of individual and collective individuation in which the individual subject is considered as an effect of individuation rather than a cause. Thus, the individual atom is replaced by a never-endingontological process of individuation. Individuation is an always incomplete process, always leaving a "pre-individual" left-over, itself making possible future individuations.[18] The philosophy ofBernard Stiegler draws upon and modifies the work ofGilbert Simondon on individuation and also upon similar ideas inFriedrich Nietzsche andSigmund Freud. For Stiegler, "theI, as a psychic individual, can only be thought in relationship towe, which is a collective individual. TheI is constituted in adopting a collective tradition, which it inherits and in which a plurality ofI's acknowledge each other's existence."[19]
Individualism and society
editIndividualism holds that a person taking part in society attempts to learn and discover what their own interests are on a personal basis, without a presumed following of the interests of a societal structure (an individualist need not be anegoist). The individualist does not necessarily follow one particular philosophy. They may create an amalgamation of elements of many philosophies, based on personal interests in particular aspects that they find of use. On a societal level, the individualist participates on a personally structured political and moral ground. Independent thinking and opinion is a necessary trait of an individualist.Jean-Jacques Rousseau, claims that his concept ofgeneral will inThe Social Contract is not the simple collection of individual wills and that it furthers the interests of the individual (the constraint of law itself would be beneficial for the individual, as the lack of respect for the law necessarily entails, in Rousseau's eyes, a form ofignorance and submission to one'spassions instead of the preferredautonomy ofreason).
Individualism versus collectivism is a common dichotomy incross-cultural research. Global comparative studies have found that the world's cultures vary in the degree to which they emphasize individual autonomy,freedom and initiative (individualistic traits), respectivelyconformity to group norms, maintaining traditions andobedience to in-group authority (collectivistic traits).[20] Cultural differences between individualism and collectivism are differences in degrees, not in kind.[21] Cultural individualism is strongly correlated withGDP per capita[22] andventure capital investments.[23] The cultures of economically developed regions such as Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea,[24][25][26] North America and Western Europe are the most individualistic in the world. Middle income regions such as Eastern Europe, South America and mainland East Asia have cultures which are neither very individualistic nor very collectivistic. The most collectivistic cultures in the world are from economically developing regions such as the Middle East and Northern Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, South and South-East Asia, Central Asia and Central America.[27][28][29] Against this background, a number of prominent authors from various disciplines (e.g., Louis Dumont, Geert Hofstede, Anthony Giddens, Zygmunt Bauman, Ronald Inglehart) have supported the influential thesis that the modernization of a society goes hand in hand with an increasing degree of individualization. However, this thesis has also found its critics, who point out, among other things, that the cultural-historical development of individualism from antiquity to the present has not proceeded in a straight line, that some societies with a more collectivist orientation are nevertheless highly modernized and that the concepts of individualism, collectivism and modernity lack conceptual clarity so that an appropriately differentiated analysis of the alleged connection is still lacking.[30][31]
An earlier analysis byRuth Benedict in her bookThe Chrysanthemum and the Sword states that societies and groups can differ in the extent to which they are based upon predominantly "self-regarding" (individualistic, and/or self-interested) behaviors, rather than "other-regarding" (group-oriented, and group, or society-minded) behaviors.Ruth Benedict made a distinction, relevant in this context, betweenguilt societies (e.g.medieval Europe) with an "internal reference standard" andshame societies (e.g. Japan, "bringing shame upon one's ancestors") with an "external reference standard", where people look to their peers for feedback on whether an action is acceptable or not.[32]
Individualism is often contrasted either withtotalitarianism or withcollectivism,[6] but there is a spectrum of behaviors at the societal level ranging from highly individualistic societies through mixed societies to collectivist.[33][34]
A 2022 study published by theJournal of Economic Behavior and Organization indicates that the individualistic societies have higher levels ofcharitable giving, providing a response to critics of individualism andcapitalism. The authors propose that individualism increases charity through direct mechanisms (self-interested giving) and indirect mechanisms (reinforcingeconomic freedom).[35] The findings supportclassical liberal arguments that individualism has virtues, aligning with the views of thinkers likeAdam Smith andDavid Hume.
Competitive individualism
editAccording to anOxford Dictionary, "competitive individualism" in sociology is "the view that achievement and non-achievement should depend on merit. Effort and ability are regarded as prerequisites of success. Competition is seen as an acceptable means of distributing limited resources and rewards.
Methodological individualism
editMethodological individualism is the view that phenomena can only be understood by examining how they result from the motivations and actions of individual agents.[36] In economics, people's behavior is explained in terms ofrational choices, as constrained by prices and incomes. The economist accepts individuals' preferences as givens.Becker andStigler provide a forceful statement of this view:
On the traditional view, an explanation of economic phenomena that reaches a difference in tastes between people or times is the terminus of the argument: the problem is abandoned at this point to whoever studies and explains tastes (psychologists? anthropologists? phrenologists? sociobiologists?). On our preferred interpretation, one never reaches this impasse: the economist continues to search for differences in prices or incomes to explain any differences or changes in behavior.[37]
Political individualism
edit"With the abolition of private property, then, we shall have true, beautiful, healthy Individualism. Nobody will waste his life in accumulating things, and the symbols for things. One will live. To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all."
Individualists are chiefly concerned with protecting individual autonomy against obligations imposed by social institutions (such as the state or religious morality). ForL. Susan Brown, "Liberalism and anarchism are two political philosophies that are fundamentally concerned with individualfreedom yet differ from one another in very distinct ways. Anarchism shares with liberalism a radical commitment to individual freedom while rejecting liberalism's competitive property relations."[4]
Civil libertarianism is a strain of political thought that supports civil liberties, or which emphasizes the supremacy ofindividual rights andpersonal freedoms over and against any kind of authority (such as astate, acorporation and social norms imposed throughpeer pressure, among others).[38] Civil libertarianism is not a completeideology; rather, it is a collection of views on the specific issues ofcivil liberties andcivil rights. Because of this, a civil libertarian outlook is compatible with many other political philosophies, and civil libertarianism is found on both theright andleft in modern politics.[39] For scholarEllen Meiksins Wood, "there are doctrines of individualism that are opposed toLockean individualism [...] and non-Lockean individualism may encompasssocialism".[40]
British historians such as Emily Robinson, Camilla Schofield, Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite and Natalie Thomlinson have argued that Britons were keen about defining and claiming their individual rights, identities and perspectives by the 1970s, demanding greater personal autonomy andself-determination and less outside control, angrily complaining that the establishment was withholding it. Historians argue that this shift in concerns helped causeThatcherism and was incorporated into Thatcherism's appeal.[41]
Anarchism
editWithin anarchism,individualist anarchism represents several traditions of thought within the anarchist movement that emphasize the individual and theirwill over any kinds of external determinants such as groups, society, traditions and ideological systems.[42][43] Individualist anarchism is not a single philosophy but refers to a group of individualistic philosophies that sometimes are in conflict.
In 1793,William Godwin, who has often[44] been cited as the first anarchist, wrotePolitical Justice, which some consider to be the first expression of anarchism.[45][46] Godwin, a philosophical anarchist, from arationalist andutilitarian basis opposed revolutionary action and saw aminimal state as a present "necessary evil" that would become increasingly irrelevant and powerless by the gradual spread of knowledge.[45][47] Godwin advocated individualism, proposing that all cooperation in labour be eliminated on the premise that this would be most conducive with the general good.[48][49]
An influential form of individualist anarchism calledegoism,[50] or egoist anarchism, was expounded by one of the earliest and best-known proponents of individualist anarchism, the GermanMax Stirner.[51] Stirner'sThe Ego and Its Own, published in 1844, is a founding text of the philosophy.[51] According to Stirner, the only limitation on the rights of the individual is their power to obtain what they desire,[52] without regard for God, state, or morality.[53] To Stirner, rights werespooks in the mind, and he held that society does not exist but "the individuals are its reality".[54] Stirner advocated self-assertion and foresawunions of egoists, non-systematic associations continually renewed by all parties' support through an act of will,[55] which Stirner proposed as a form of organization in place of the state.[56] Egoist anarchists claim that egoism will foster genuine and spontaneous union between individuals.[57] Egoist anarchism has inspired many interpretations of Stirner's philosophy. It was re-discovered and promoted by German philosophical anarchist andLGBT activistJohn Henry Mackay.
Josiah Warren is widely regarded as the first American anarchist[58] andThe Peaceful Revolutionist, the four-page weekly paper he edited during 1833, was the first anarchist periodical published.[59] For American anarchist historian Eunice Minette Schuster, "[i]t is apparent [...] thatProudhonian Anarchism was to be found in the United States at least as early as 1848 and that it was not conscious of its affinity to the Individualist Anarchism of Josiah Warren andStephen Pearl Andrews. [...]William B. Greene presented this Proudhonian Mutualism in its purest and most systematic form".[60]Henry David Thoreau was an important early influence in individualist anarchist thought in the United States and Europe.[61] Thoreau was an American author, poet, naturalist, tax resister,development critic, surveyor, historian, philosopher and leadingtranscendentalist, who is best known for his bookWalden, a reflection uponsimple living in natural surroundings, and his essayCivil Disobedience, an argument for individual resistance to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state. Later,Benjamin Tucker fused Stirner's egoism with the economics of Warren and Proudhon in his eclectic influential publicationLiberty.
From these early influences, anarchism and especially individualist anarchism was related to theissues of love and sex. In different countries, this attracted a small but diverse following of bohemian artists and intellectuals,[62]free love andbirth control advocates,[63][64] individualistnaturistsnudists as inanarcho-naturism,[65][66][67]freethought andanti-clerical activists[68] as well as young anarchist outlaws in what came to be known asillegalism andindividual reclamation,[69][70] especially withinEuropean individualist anarchism andindividualist anarchism in France. These authors and activists includedOscar Wilde,Émile Armand,Han Ryner,Henri Zisly,Renzo Novatore,Miguel Giménez Igualada,Adolf Brand andLev Chernyi among others. In his important essayThe Soul of Man Under Socialism from 1891, Wilde defended socialism as the way to guarantee individualism and so he saw that "[w]ith the abolition of private property, then, we shall have true, beautiful, healthy Individualism. Nobody will waste his life in accumulating things, and the symbols for things. One will live. To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all".[71] For anarchist historianGeorge Woodcock, "Wilde's aim inThe Soul of Man Under Socialism is to seek the society most favorable to the artist. [...] for Wilde art is the supreme end, containing within itself enlightenment and regeneration, to which all else in society must be subordinated. [...] Wilde represents the anarchist asaesthete".[72] Woodcock finds that "[t]he most ambitious contribution to literary anarchism during the 1890s was undoubtedly Oscar WildeThe Soul of Man Under Socialism" and finds that it is influenced mainly by the thought ofWilliam Godwin.[72]
Autarchism
editAutarchism promotes the principles of individualism, the moral ideology of individual liberty and self-reliance whilst rejecting compulsory government and supporting the elimination of government in favor of ruling oneself to the exclusion of rule by others.Robert LeFevre, recognized as an autarchist byanarcho-capitalistMurray Rothbard,[73] distinguished autarchism fromanarchy, whoseeconomics he felt entailed interventions contrary to freedom in contrast to his ownlaissez-faire economics of theAustrian School.[74]
Liberalism
editLiberalism is the belief in the importance of individual freedom. This belief is widely accepted in the United States, Europe, Australia and otherWestern nations, and was recognized as an important value by many Western philosophers throughout history, in particular sincethe Enlightenment. It is often rejected by collectivist ideas such as inAbrahamic orConfucian societies, althoughTaoists were and are known to be individualists.[75] The Roman EmperorMarcus Aurelius wrote praising "the idea of a polity administered with regard to equal rights and equal freedom of speech, and the idea of a kingly government which respects most of all the freedom of the governed".[76]
Liberalism has its roots in theAge of Enlightenment and rejects manyfoundational assumptions that dominated most earlier theories of government, such as theDivine Right of Kings, hereditary status, andestablished religion.John Locke andMontesquieu are often credited with the philosophical foundations ofclassical liberalism, a political ideology inspired by the broader liberal movement. Locke wrote that "no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions."[77]
In the 17th century, liberal ideas began to influence European governments in nations such as the Netherlands, Switzerland, England and Poland, but they were strongly opposed, often by armed might, by those who favored absolute monarchy and established religion. In the 18th century, the first modern liberal state was founded without a monarch or a hereditary aristocracy in the United States of America.[78] TheUS Declaration of Independence includes the words which echo Locke that "all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these arelife, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to insure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from theconsent of the governed."[79]
Liberalism comes in many forms. According toJohn N. Gray, the essence of liberalism is toleration of different beliefs and of different ideas as to what constitutes a good life.[80]
Philosophical individualism
editEgoist anarchism
editEgoist anarchism is a school ofanarchist thought that originated in thephilosophy of Max Stirner, a 19th-centuryHegelian philosopher whose "name appears with familiar regularity in historically orientated surveys of anarchist thought as one of the earliest and best-known exponents ofindividualist anarchism."[51] According to Stirner, the only limitation on the rights of the individual is their power to obtain what they desire,[52] without regard for God, state, or morality.[53] Stirner advocated self-assertion and foresawunions of egoists, non-systematic associations continually renewed by all parties' support through an act of will[55] which Stirner proposed as a form of organisation in place of thestate.[56]
Egoist anarchists argue that egoism will foster genuine and spontaneous union between individuals.[57] Egoism has inspired many interpretations of Stirner's philosophy, but it has also gone beyond Stirner within anarchism. It was re-discovered and promoted by German philosophical anarchist andLGBT activistJohn Henry Mackay. John Beverley Robinson wrote an essay called "Egoism" in which he states that "Modern egoism, as propounded byStirner andNietzsche, and expounded byIbsen,Shaw and others, is all these; but it is more. It is the realization by the individual that they are an individual; that, as far as they are concerned, they are the only individual."[81] Stirner andNietzsche, whoexerted influence on anarchism despite its opposition, werefrequently compared by French "literary anarchists" and anarchist interpretations ofNietzschean ideas appear to have also been influential in the United States.[82]
Ethical egoism
editEthical egoism, also called simply egoism,[83] is thenormative ethical position thatmoral agents ought to do what is in their ownself-interest. It differs frompsychological egoism, which claims thatpeopledo only act in their self-interest. Ethical egoism also differs fromrational egoism which holds merely that it isrational to act in one's self-interest. However, these doctrines may occasionally be combined with ethical egoism.
Ethical egoism contrasts with ethicalaltruism, which holds that moral agents have anobligation to help and serve others. Egoism and altruism both contrast with ethical utilitarianism, which holds that a moral agent should treat one'sself (also known asthe subject) with no higher regard than one has for others (as egoism does, by elevating self-interests and "the self" to a status not granted to others), but that one also should not (as altruism does) sacrifice one's own interests to help others' interests, so long as one's own interests (i.e. one's owndesires orwell-being) are substantially-equivalent to the others' interests and well-being. Egoism, utilitarianism, and altruism are all forms ofconsequentialism, but egoism and altruism contrast with utilitarianism, in that egoism and altruism are bothagent-focused forms of consequentialism (i.e. subject-focused orsubjective), but utilitarianism is called agent-neutral (i.e.objective andimpartial) as it does not treat the subject's (i.e. the self's, i.e. the moral "agent's") own interests as being more or less important than if the same interests, desires, or well-being were anyone else's.
Ethical egoism does not require moral agents to harm the interests and well-being of others when making moral deliberation, e.g. what is in an agent's self-interest may be incidentally detrimental, beneficial, or neutral in its effect on others. Individualism allows for others' interest and well-being to be disregarded or not as long as what is chosen is efficacious in satisfying the self-interest of the agent. Nor does ethical egoism necessarilyentail that in pursuing self-interest one ought always to do what one wants to do, e.g. in the long term the fulfilment of short-term desires may prove detrimental to the self. Fleeting pleasance then takes a back seat to protractedeudaemonia. In the words ofJames Rachels, "[e]thical egoism [...] endorses selfishness, but it doesn't endorse foolishness."[84]
Ethical egoism is sometimes the philosophical basis for support oflibertarianism orindividualist anarchism as inMax Stirner, although these can also be based on altruistic motivations.[85] These are political positions based partly on a belief that individuals should not coercively prevent others from exercising freedom of action.
Existentialism
editExistentialism is a term applied to the work of a number of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who generally held, despite profound doctrinal differences,[86][87] that the focus of philosophical thought should be to deal with the conditions of existence of the individual person and their emotions, actions, responsibilities, and thoughts.[88][89] The early 19th century philosopherSøren Kierkegaard, posthumously regarded as the father of existentialism,[90][91] maintained that the individual solely has the responsibilities of giving one's own lifemeaning and living that lifepassionately and sincerely,[92][93] in spite of many existential obstacles and distractions includingdespair,angst,absurdity,alienation andboredom.[94]
Subsequent existential philosophers retain the emphasis on the individual, but differ in varying degrees on how one achieves and what constitutes a fulfilling life, what obstacles must be overcome, and what external and internal factors are involved, including the potential consequences of theexistence[95][96] ornon-existence of God.[97][98] Many existentialists have also regarded traditional systematic or academic philosophy in both style and content as too abstract and remote from concrete human experience.[99][100] Existentialism became fashionable afterWorld War II as a way to reassert the importance of human individuality and freedom.[101]
Nietzsche's concept of thesuperman is closely related to the idea of individualism and the pursuit of one's own unique path and potential.[102] As is seen in the following quote, the concept of superman reflects Nietzsche's emphasis on the need to overcome traditional moral and societal norms in order to achieve personal growth and self-realization:
Freethought
editFreethought holds that individuals should not accept ideas proposed astruth without recourse to knowledge andreason. Thus, freethinkers strive to build their opinions on the basis offacts,scientific inquiry andlogical principles, independent of any logicalfallacies or intellectually limiting effects of authority,confirmation bias,cognitive bias,conventional wisdom,popular culture,prejudice,sectarianism,tradition,urban legend and all otherdogmas. Regardingreligion, freethinkers hold that there is insufficient evidence to scientifically validate the existence ofsupernatural phenomena.[103]
Humanism
editHumanism is a perspective common to a wide range ofethical stances that attaches importance to human dignity, concerns, and capabilities, particularly rationality. Although the word has many senses, its meaning comes into focus when contrasted to the supernatural or to appeals to authority.[104][105] Since the 19th century, humanism has been associated with an anti-clericalism inherited from the 18th-century Enlightenmentphilosophes. 21st century Humanism tends to strongly endorsehuman rights, includingreproductive rights,gender equality,[106]social justice, and theseparation of church and state. The term coversorganized non-theistic religions,secular humanism, and a humanistic life stance.[107]
Hedonism
editPhilosophical hedonism is a meta-ethical theory of value which argues thatpleasure is the onlyintrinsic good and pain is the only intrinsic bad.[108] The basic idea behind hedonistic thought is that pleasure (an umbrella term for all inherently likable emotions) is the only thing that is good in and of itself or by its very nature. This implies evaluating the moral worth of character or behavior according to the extent that the pleasure it produces exceeds the pain it entails.
Libertinism
editA libertine is one devoid of most moral restraints, which are seen as unnecessary or undesirable, especially one who ignores or even spurns accepted morals and forms of behaviour sanctified by the larger society.[109][110] Libertines place value on physical pleasures, meaning those experienced through the senses. As a philosophy, libertinism gained new-found adherents in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, particularly inFrance andGreat Britain. Notable among these wereJohn Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester and theMarquis de Sade. During theBaroque era in France, there existed afreethinking circle of philosophers and intellectuals who were collectively known aslibertinage érudit and which includedGabriel Naudé,Élie Diodati andFrançois de La Mothe Le Vayer.[111][112] The criticVivian de Sola Pinto linkedJohn Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester's libertinism toHobbesianmaterialism.[113]
Objectivism
editObjectivism is a system of philosophy created by philosopher and novelistAyn Rand which holds thatreality exists independent of consciousness; human beings gain knowledge rationally from 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.[114] Rand thinks the only social system consistent with this morality is full respect for individual rights, embodied in purelaissez-fairecapitalism; and the role ofart in human life is to transform man's widest metaphysical ideas, by selective reproduction of reality, into a physical form – a work of art – that he can comprehend and to which he can respond emotionally. Objectivism celebrates man as his own hero, "with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute."[115]
Philosophical anarchism
editPhilosophical anarchism is ananarchist school of thought[117] which contends that thestate lacksmoral legitimacy. In contrast to revolutionary anarchism, philosophical anarchism does not advocate violent revolution to eliminate it but advocates peaceful evolution to superate it.[118] Although philosophical anarchism does not necessarily imply any action or desire for the elimination of the state, philosophical anarchists do not believe that they have an obligation or duty to obey the state, or conversely that the state has a right to command.
Philosophical anarchism is a component especially of individualist anarchism.[119] Philosophical anarchists of historical note includeMohandas Gandhi,William Godwin,Pierre-Joseph Proudhon,Max Stirner,[120]Benjamin Tucker[121] andHenry David Thoreau.[122] Contemporary philosophical anarchists includeA. John Simmons andRobert Paul Wolff.
Subjectivism
editSubjectivism is a philosophical tenet that accords primacy to subjective experience as fundamental of all measure and law. In extreme forms such as solipsism, it may hold that the nature and existence of every object depends solely on someone's subjective awareness of it. In the proposition 5.632 of theTractatus Logico-Philosophicus,Ludwig Wittgenstein wrote: "The subject doesn't belong to the world, but it is a limit of the world". Metaphysical subjectivism is the theory that reality is what we perceive to be real, and that there is no underlying true reality that exists independently of perception. One can also hold that it isconsciousness rather than perception that is reality (subjective idealism). Inprobability, a subjectivism stands for the belief that probabilities are simply degrees-of-belief by rational agents in a certain proposition and which have no objective reality in and of themselves.
Ethical subjectivism stands in opposition tomoral realism, which claims that moral propositions refer to objective facts, independent of human opinion; toerror theory, which denies that any moral propositions are true in any sense; and tonon-cognitivism, which denies that moral sentences express propositions at all. The most common forms of ethical subjectivism are also forms ofmoral relativism, with moral standards held to be relative to each culture or society, i.e.cultural relativism, or even to every individual. The latter view, as put forward byProtagoras, holds that there are as many distinct scales of good and evil as there are subjects in the world. Moral subjectivism is that species of moral relativism that relativizes moral value to the individual subject.
Horst Matthai Quelle was a Spanish-language German anarchist philosopher influenced byMax Stirner.[123] Quelle argued that since the individual gives form to the world, he is those objects, the others and the whole universe.[123] One of his main views was a "theory of infinite worlds" which for him was developed bypre-socratic philosophers.[123]
Solipsism
editSolipsism is thephilosophical idea that only one's ownmind is sure to exist. The term comes fromLatinsolus ("alone") andipse ("self"). Solipsism as anepistemological position holds thatknowledge of anything outside one's own mind is unsure.The external world andother minds cannot be known, and might not exist outside the mind. As ametaphysical position, solipsism goes further to the conclusion that the world and other minds do not exist. Solipsism is the only epistemological position that, by its ownpostulate, is bothirrefutable and yet indefensible in the same manner. Although the number of individuals sincerely espousing solipsism has been small, it is not uncommon for one philosopher to accuse another's arguments of entailing solipsism as an unwanted consequence, in a kind ofreductio ad absurdum. In the history of philosophy, solipsism has served as askeptical hypothesis.
Economic individualism
editThedoctrine of economic individualism holds that each individual should be allowedautonomy in making their own economic decisions as opposed to those decisions being made by the community, the corporation or the state for him or her.
Classical liberalism
editLiberalism is a political ideology that developed in the 19th century in the Americas, England, France and Western Europe. It followed earlier forms of liberalism in its commitment to personal freedom and popular government, but differed from earlier forms of liberalism in its commitment toclassical economics andfree markets.[124]
Notable liberals in the 19th century includeJean-Baptiste Say,Thomas Malthus andDavid Ricardo. Classical liberalism, sometimes also used as a label to refer to all forms of liberalism before the 20th century, was revived in the 20th century byLudwig von Mises andFriedrich Hayek and further developed byMilton Friedman,Robert Nozick,Loren Lomasky andJan Narveson.[125]
Libertarianism
editLibertarianism upholdsliberty as a core principle.[126] Libertarians seek to maximizeautonomy andpolitical freedom, emphasizingfree association,freedom of choice, individualism andvoluntary association.[127] Libertarianism shares a skepticism ofauthority andstate power, but libertarians diverge on the scope of their opposition to existingeconomic andpolitical systems. Various schools of libertarian thought offer a range of views regarding the legitimate functions of state and privatepower, often calling for the restriction or dissolution of coercivesocial institutions. Different categorizations have been used to distinguish various forms of libertarianism.[128][129] This is done to distinguish libertarian views on the nature ofproperty andcapital, usually alongleft–right orsocialist–capitalist lines.[130]
Left-libertarianism
editLeft-libertarianism represents several related yet distinct approaches to politics, society, culture and political and social theory which stress both individual andpolitical freedom alongsidesocial justice. Unlike right-libertarians, left-libertarians believe that neither claiming normixing one's labor withnatural resources is enough to generate fullprivate property rights,[131][132] and maintain that natural resources (land, oil, gold, trees) ought to be held in someegalitarian manner, either unowned orowned collectively.[132] Those left-libertarians who support property do so under different property norms[133][134][135][136] and theories,[137][138][139] or under the condition that recompense is offered to thelocal orglobal community.[132]
Related terms includeegalitarian libertarianism,[140][141]left-wing libertarianism,[142]libertarianism,[143]libertarian socialism,[144][145]social libertarianism[146] andsocialist libertarianism.[147] Left-libertarianism can refer generally to these related and overlapping schools of thought:
- Anti-authoritarian varieties ofleft-wing politics, in particular within thesocialist movement, usually known as libertarian socialism.[144][145]
- Geolibertarianism, an American synthesis oflibertarianism andGeorgism.[148][149]
- Left-wing market anarchism, stressing the socially transformative potential of non-aggression andanti-capitalist freed markets.[150][151]
- Steiner–Vallentyne school, named afterHillel Steiner andPeter Vallentyne, whose proponents draw conclusions from classical liberal or market liberal premises.[152]
Right-libertarianism
editRight-libertarianism represents either non-collectivist forms of libertarianism[153] or a variety of different libertarian views that scholars label to the right of libertarianism[154][155] such aslibertarian conservatism.[156] Related terms includeconservative libertarianism,[157][158][159]libertarian capitalism[160] andright-wing libertarianism.[147][161][162] In the mid-20th century, right-libertarian ideologies such asanarcho-capitalism andminarchism co-opted[163][164] the termlibertarian to advocatelaissez-fairecapitalism and strongprivate property rights such as in land, infrastructure and natural resources.[165] The latter is the dominant form oflibertarianism in the United States,[147] where it advocatescivil liberties,[166]natural law,[167]free-market capitalism[168][169] and a major reversal of the modernwelfare state.[170]
Socialism
editWith regard to economic questions withinindividualist socialist schools such asindividualist anarchism, there are adherents tomutualism (Pierre Joseph Proudhon,Émile Armand and earlyBenjamin Tucker);natural rights positions (early Benjamin Tucker,Lysander Spooner andJosiah Warren); and egoistic disrespect for "ghosts" such as private property and markets (Max Stirner,John Henry Mackay,Lev Chernyi, later Benjamin Tucker,Renzo Novatore andillegalism). Contemporary individualist anarchistKevin Carson characterizes American individualist anarchism saying that "[u]nlike the rest of the socialist movement, the individualist anarchists believed that the natural wage of labor in a free market was its product, and that economic exploitation could only take place when capitalists and landlords harnessed the power of the state in their interests. Thus, individualist anarchism was an alternative both to the increasing statism of the mainstream socialist movement, and to a classical liberal movement that was moving toward a mere apologetic for the power of big business."[171]
Libertarian socialism
editLibertarian socialism, sometimes dubbed left-libertarianism[172][173] and socialist libertarianism,[174] is ananti-authoritarian,anti-statist andlibertarian[175] tradition within thesocialist movement that rejects thestate socialist conception ofsocialism as astatist form where thestate retainscentralizedcontrol of the economy.[176][177] Libertarian socialists criticizewage slavery relationships within theworkplace,[178] emphasizingworkers' self-management of the workplace[177] anddecentralized structures of political organization.[179][180][181]
Libertarian socialism asserts that a society based on freedom and justice can be achieved through abolishingauthoritarian institutions that control certainmeans of production and subordinate the majority to an owning class or political and economicelite.[182] Libertarian socialists advocate fordecentralized structures based ondirect democracy andfederal orconfederal associations such aslibertarian municipalism,citizens' assemblies,trade unions andworkers' councils.[183][184]
All of this is generally done within a general call forliberty[185][186] andfree association[187] through the identification, criticism and practical dismantling of illegitimate authority in all aspects of human life.[188][189][190][191][192][193][194][195] Within the larger socialist movement, libertarian socialism seeks to distinguish itself fromLeninism andsocial democracy.[196][197]
Past and present currents and movements commonly described as libertarian socialist includeanarchism (especiallyanarchist schools of thought such asanarcho-communism,anarcho-syndicalism,[198]collectivist anarchism,green anarchism,individualist anarchism,[199][200][201][202]mutualism,[203] andsocial anarchism) as well ascommunalism, some forms ofdemocratic socialism,guild socialism,[204] libertarian Marxism[205] (autonomism,council communism,[206]left communism, andLuxemburgism, among others),[207][208] participism,revolutionary syndicalism and some versions ofutopian socialism.[209]
Mutualism
editMutualism is ananarchist school of thought which can be traced to the writings ofPierre-Joseph Proudhon, who envisioned a socialist society where each person possess ameans of production, either individually or collectively, with trade representing equivalent amounts of labor in thefree market.[210] Integral to the scheme was the establishment of a mutual-credit bank which would lend to producers at a minimal interest rate only high enough to cover the costs of administration.[211] Mutualism is based on alabor theory of value which holds that when labor or its product is sold, it ought to receive goods or services in exchange embodying "the amount of labor necessary to produce an article of exactly similar and equal utility" and that receiving anything less would be considered exploitation, theft of labor, orusury.[212]
Criticisms
editTheGreek philosopherPlato emphasized that individuals must adhere to laws and perform duties while declining to grant individuals rights to limit or reject state interference in their lives.[213]
German philosopherGeorg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel criticized individualism by claiming that human self-consciousness relies on recognition from others, therefore embracing aholistic view and rejecting the idea of the world as a collection of atomized individuals.[214][215]
Fascists believe that the liberal emphasis on individual freedom produces national divisiveness.[216]
Pope Francis criticised a "me"-centred form of individualism in his 2015encyclical letterLaudato si':
Men and women of ourpostmodern world run the risk of rampant individualism, and many problems of society are connected with today's self-centred culture of instant gratification.[217]
As an example he comments on parents who "can be prone to impulsive and wasteful consumption, which then affects their children who find it increasingly difficult toacquire a home of their own and build a family."[217]
Other views
editAs creative independent lifestyle
editThe anarchist[218] writer andbohemianOscar Wilde wrote in his famous essayThe Soul of Man under Socialism that "Art is individualism, and individualism is a disturbing and disintegrating force. There lies its immense value. For what it seeks is to disturb monotony of type, slavery of custom, tyranny of habit, and the reduction of man to the level of a machine."[71] For anarchist historianGeorge Woodcock, "Wilde's aim inThe Soul of Man under Socialism is to seek the society most favorable to the artist, [...] for Wilde art is the supreme end, containing within itself enlightenment and regeneration, to which all else in society must be subordinated. [...] Wilde represents the anarchist asaesthete."[72] In this way,individualism has been used to denote a personality with a strong tendency towards self-creation and experimentation as opposed to tradition or popular mass opinions and behaviors.[3][7]
Anarchist writerMurray Bookchin describes a lot of individualist anarchists as people who "expressed their opposition in uniquely personal forms, especially in fiery tracts, outrageous behavior, and aberrant lifestyles in the cultural ghettos of fin de siècle New York, Paris, and London. As a credo, individualist anarchism remained largely a bohemian lifestyle, most conspicuous in its demands for sexual freedom ('free love') and enamored of innovations in art, behavior, and clothing."[62]
In relation to this view of individuality, French individualist anarchistÉmile Armand advocatedegoistical denial of social conventions and dogmas to live in accord to one's own ways and desires in daily life since he emphasized anarchism as a way of life and practice. In this way, he opined that "the anarchist individualist tends to reproduce himself, to perpetuate his spirit in other individuals who will share his views and who will make it possible for a state of affairs to be established from which authoritarianism has been banished. It is this desire, this will, not only to live, but also to reproduce oneself, which we shall call 'activity.'"[219]
In the bookImperfect Garden: The Legacy of Humanism, humanist philosopherTzvetan Todorov identifies individualism as an important current of socio-political thought within modernity and as examples of it he mentionsMichel de Montaigne,François de La Rochefoucauld,Marquis de Sade, andCharles Baudelaire.[220] In La Rochefoucauld, he identifies a tendency similar tostoicism in which "the honest person works his being in the manner of a sculptor who searches the liberation of the forms which are inside a block of marble, to extract the truth of that matter."[220] In Baudelaire, he finds thedandy trait in which one searches to cultivate "the idea of beauty within oneself, of satisfying one's passions of feeling and thinking."[220]
The Russian-American poetJoseph Brodsky once wrote that "[t]he surest defense against Evil is extreme individualism, originality of thinking, whimsicality, even – if you will – eccentricity. That is, something that can't be feigned, faked, imitated; something even a seasoned imposter couldn't be happy with."[221]Ralph Waldo Emerson famously declared that "[w]hoso would be a man must be a nonconformist" – a point of view developed at length in both the life and work ofHenry David Thoreau. Equally memorable and influential onWalt Whitman is Emerson's idea that "a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines". Emerson opposed on principle the reliance on civil and religious social structures precisely because through them the individual approaches the divine second-hand, mediated by the once original experience of a genius from another age. According to Emerson, "[an institution is the lengthened shadow of one man." To achieve this original relation, Emerson stated that one must "[i]nsist on one's self; never imitate", for if the relationship is secondary the connection is lost.[222]
Religion
editPeople in Western countries tend to be more individualistic than communitarian. The authors of one study[223] proposed that this difference is due in part to the influence of theCatholic Church in the Middle Ages. They pointed specifically to its bans onincest,cousin marriage,adoption, andremarriage, and its promotion of thenuclear family over theextended family.[224]
The Catholic Church teaches "if we pray the Our Father sincerely, we leave individualism behind, because the love that we receive frees us ... our divisions and oppositions have to be overcome".[225] Many Catholics have believedMartin Luther and theProtestant Reformation were sources of individualism.[226]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ab"individualism | Definition, History, Philosophy, Examples, & Facts | Britannica".www.britannica.com. Retrieved2021-12-25.
- ^Ellen Meiksins Wood.Mind and Politics: An Approach to the Meaning of Liberal and Socialist Individualism.University of California Press. 1972.ISBN 0-520-02029-4. p. 6
- ^abcd""individualism" on The Free Dictionary". Archived fromthe original on 2019-05-17. Retrieved2009-12-21.
- ^abL. Susan Brown.The Politics of Individualism: Liberalism, Liberal Feminism, and Anarchism. Black Rose Books Ltd. 1993
- ^Biddle, Craig (20 February 2012)."Individualism vs. Collectivism: Our Future, Our Choice".The Objective Standard.7 (1).
- ^abHayek, F.A. (1994).The Road to Serfdom. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. pp. 17,37–48.ISBN 0-226-32061-8.
- ^abSnyderman, George S.; Josephs, William (1939). "Bohemia: The Underworld of Art".Social Forces.18 (2):187–199.doi:10.2307/2570771.ISSN 0037-7732.JSTOR 2570771.
- ^"The leading intellectual trait of the era was the recovery, to a certain degree, of the secular and humane philosophy of Greece and Rome. Another humanist trend which cannot be ignored was the rebirth of individualism, which, developed by Greece and Rome to a remarkable degree, had been suppressed by the rise of a caste system in the later Roman Empire, by the Church and by feudalism in the Middle Ages."The history guide: Lectures on Modern European Intellectual History"
- ^"Anthropocentricity and individualism...Humanism and Italian art were similar in giving paramount attention to human experience, both in its everyday immediacy and in its positive or negative extremes...The human-centredness of Renaissance art, moreover, was not just a generalized endorsement of earthly experience. Like the humanists, Italian artists stressed the autonomy and dignity of the individual.""Humanism" on Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^abClaeys, Gregory (1986). ""Individualism," "Socialism," and "Social Science": Further Notes on a Process of Conceptual Formation, 1800–1850".Journal of the History of Ideas.47 (1). University of Pennsylvania Press:81–93.doi:10.2307/2709596.JSTOR 2709596.
- ^Swart, Koenraad W. (1962). ""Individualism" in the Mid-Nineteenth Century (1826–1860)".Journal of the History of Ideas.23 (1). University of Pennsylvania Press:77–90.doi:10.2307/2708058.JSTOR 2708058.
- ^Abbs 1986, cited in Klein 2005, pp. 26–27
- ^Gerald N. Izenberg (1992).Impossible Individuality: Romanticism, Revolution, and the Origins of Modern Selfhood, 1787–1802. Princeton University Press. pp. 18+.ISBN 1-4008-2066-9.
- ^Reese, William L. (1980).Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion (1st ed.). Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press. p. 251.ISBN 0-391-00688-6.
- ^Audi, Robert, ed. (1999).The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 424.ISBN 0-521-63136-X.
- ^Jung, C. G. (1962). Symbols of Transformation: An analysis of the prelude to a case of schizophrenia (Vol. 2, R. F. C. Hull, Trans.). New York: Harper & Brothers.
- ^Jung's Individuation processArchived 2018-02-23 at theWayback Machine Retrieved on 2009-2-20
- ^Gilbert Simondon.L'individuation psychique et collective (Paris, Aubier, 1989; reprinted in 2007 with a preface by Bernard Stiegler)
- ^Stiegler, Bernard (13 May 2004)."Bernard Stiegler: Culture and Technology". Tate Modern.Archived 15 October 2015 at theWayback Machine. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
- ^Santos, Henri C.; Varnum, Michael E. W.; Grossmann, Igor (2017)."Global Increases in Individualism".Psychological Science.28 (9):1228–1239.doi:10.1177/0956797617700622.PMID 28703638.S2CID 206588771.
- ^Minkov, Michael; Dutt, Pinaki; Schachner, Michael; Morales, Oswaldo; Sanchez, Carlos; Jandosova, Janar; Khassenbekov, Yerlan; Mudd, Ben (2017). "A revision of Hofstede's individualism-collectivism dimension".Cross Cultural & Strategic Management.24 (3): 3.doi:10.1108/ccsm-11-2016-0197.ISSN 2059-5794.
- ^Inglehart, Ronald F. (2018). "Chapter 3. Global Cultural Patterns".Cultural Evolution. Cambridge University Press. p. 40.doi:10.1017/9781108613880.ISBN 978-1-108-61388-0.
- ^Gantenbein, Pascal; Kind, Axel; Volonte, Christophe (2019)."Individualism and Venture Capital: A Cross-Country Study".Management International Review.59 (5):741–777.doi:10.1007/s11575-019-00394-7.
- ^Takano, Yohtaro; Osaka, Eiko (1999). "An unsupported common view: Comparing Japan and the U.S. on individualism/collectivism".Asian Journal of Social Psychology.2 (3):311–341.doi:10.1111/1467-839x.00043.ISSN 1367-2223.
- ^Takano, Yohtaro; Sogon, Shunya (2008). "Are Japanese More Collectivistic Than Americans?".Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology.39 (3):237–250.doi:10.1177/0022022107313902.ISSN 0022-0221.S2CID 145125365.
- ^Takano, Yohtaro; Osaka, Eiko (2018)."Comparing Japan and the United States on individualism/collectivism: A follow-up review".Asian Journal of Social Psychology.21 (4):301–316.doi:10.1111/ajsp.12322.ISSN 1367-2223.S2CID 149676839.
- ^Minkov, Michael; Dutt, Pinaki; Schachner, Michael; Morales, Oswaldo; Sanchez, Carlos; Jandosova, Janar; Khassenbekov, Yerlan; Mudd, Ben (2017). "A revision of Hofstede's individualism-collectivism dimension".Cross Cultural & Strategic Management.24 (3): 29.doi:10.1108/ccsm-11-2016-0197.ISSN 2059-5794.
- ^Welzel, Christian (2013). "Chapter 2. Mapping Differences".Freedom Rising. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 87.doi:10.1017/cbo9781139540919.ISBN 978-1-139-54091-9.
- ^Beugelsdijk, Sjoerd; Welzel, Chris (2018)."Dimensions and Dynamics of National Culture: Synthesizing Hofstede With Inglehart".Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology.49 (10): 1485.doi:10.1177/0022022118798505.ISSN 0022-0221.PMC 6191680.PMID 30369633.
- ^Kagitcibasi, C. (2005). Modernization does not mean westernization: Emergence of a different pattern. In W. Friedlmeier, P. Chakkarath, and B. Schwarz (Eds.),Culture and human development (pp. 255-272). Psychology Press.
- ^Chakkarath, P. (2024). Is the individual an enlightened westerner? Some skeptical remarks on Eurocentric notions of self and the development of individualism. In A. Dueck & L. Sundararajan (Eds.),Values and indigenous psychology in the age of the machine and market: When the gods have fled (pp. 131-156). Springer International Publishing.
- ^Benedict, Ruth; "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword: Patterns of Japanese Culture." Rutland, VT and Tokyo, Japan: Charles E. Tuttle Co. 1954 orig. 1946.
- ^AFS-USA (2019-10-30)."Individualism & Collectivism".AFS-USA. Archived fromthe original on 2021-07-09. Retrieved2021-07-08.
- ^"Individualism vs. Collectivism: Our Future, Our Choice – The Objective Standard".The Objective Standard. 2012-02-20. Retrieved2021-07-08.
- ^Cai, Meina; Caskey, Gregory W.; Cowen, Nick; Murtazashvili, Ilia; Murtazashvili, Jennifer Brick; Salahodjaev, Raufhon (2022)."Individualism, economic freedom, and charitable giving".Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization.200:868–884.doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2022.06.037.
- ^Heath, Joseph (1 January 2015). "Methodological Individualism". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.).The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University – via Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- ^Stigler, George; Gary Becker (Mar 1977). "De gustibus non est disputandum".American Economic Review.67 (2): 76.JSTOR 1807222.
- ^"Civil libertarian Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com".
- ^Compass, The Political."The Political Compass".
- ^Ellen Meiksins Wood.Mind and Politics: An Approach to the Meaning of Liberal and Socialist Individualism.University of California Press. 1972.ISBN 0-520-02029-4. p. 7
- ^Emily Robinson, et al. "Telling stories about post-war Britain: popular individualism and the 'crisis' of the 1970s."Twentieth Century British History 28.2 (2017): 268–304.
- ^"What do I mean by individualism? I mean by individualism the moral doctrine which, relying on no dogma, no tradition, no external determination, appeals only to the individual conscience."Mini-Manual of Individualism by Han Ryner
- ^"I do not admit anything except the existence of the individual, as a condition of his sovereignty. To say that the sovereignty of the individual is conditioned by Liberty is simply another way of saying that it is conditioned by itself." "Anarchism and the State" inIndividual Liberty
- ^Everhart, Robert B. The Public School Monopoly: A Critical Analysis of Education and the State in American Society. Pacific Institute for Public Policy Research, 1982. p. 115.
- ^abPhilip, Mark (2006-05-20)."William Godwin". InZalta, Edward N. (ed.).Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- ^Adams, Ian. Political Ideology Today. Manchester University Press, 2001. p. 116.
- ^Godwin, William (1796) [1793].Enquiry Concerning Political Justice and its Influence on Modern Morals and Manners. G.G. and J. Robinson.OCLC 2340417.
- ^Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Retrieved 7 December 2006, fromEncyclopædia Britannica Online.
- ^Paul McLaughlin. Anarchism and Authority: A Philosophical Introduction to Classical Anarchism. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2007. p. 119.
- ^Goodway, David.Anarchist Seeds Beneath the Snow. Liverpool University Press, 2006, p. 99.
- ^abcLeopold, David (2006-08-04)."Max Stirner". InZalta, Edward N. (ed.).Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- ^abThe Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge. Encyclopedia Corporation. p. 176.
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- ^"What my might reaches is my property; and let me claim as property everything I feel myself strong enough to attain, and let me extend my actual property as fas asI entitle, that is, empower myself to take..." In Ossar, Michael. 1980.Anarchism in the Dramas of Ernst Toller. SUNY Press. p. 27.
- ^abNyberg, Svein Olav."The union of egoists"(PDF).Non Serviam.1. Oslo, Norway: Svein Olav Nyberg:13–14.OCLC 47758413. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 7 December 2010. Retrieved1 September 2012.
- ^abThomas, Paul (1985).Karl Marx and the Anarchists. London:Routledge/Kegan Paul. p. 142.ISBN 0-7102-0685-2.
- ^abCarlson, Andrew (1972)."Philosophical Egoism: German Antecedents".Anarchism in Germany. Metuchen: Scarecrow Press.ISBN 0-8108-0484-0. Archived fromthe original on 2008-12-10. Retrieved2008-12-04.
- ^Palmer, Brian (2010-12-29)What do anarchists want from us?,Slate.com
- ^William Bailie,"Josiah Warren: The First American Anarchist"(PDF). Archived fromthe original(PDF) on February 4, 2012. RetrievedJune 17, 2013.Josiah Warren: The First American Anarchist – A Sociological Study, Boston: Small, Maynard & Co., 1906, p. 20
- ^"Native American Anarchism: A Study of Left-Wing American Individualism by Eunice Minette Schuster". Archived fromthe original on February 13, 2016.
- ^"Paralelamente, al otro lado del atlántico, en el diferente contexto de una nación a medio hacer, los Estados Unidos, otros filósofos elaboraron un pensamiento individualista similar, aunque con sus propias especificidades. Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), uno de los escritores próximos al movimiento de la filosofía trascendentalista, es uno de los más conocidos. Su obra más representativa es Walden, aparecida en 1854, aunque redactada entre 1845 y 1847, cuando Thoreau decide instalarse en el aislamiento de una cabaña en el bosque, y vivir en íntimo contacto con la naturaleza, en una vida de soledad y sobriedad. De esta experiencia, su filosofía trata de transmitirnos la idea que resulta necesario un retorno respetuoso a la naturaleza, y que la felicidad es sobre todo fruto de la riqueza interior y de la armonía de los individuos con el entorno natural. Muchos han visto en Thoreau a uno de los precursores del ecologismo y del anarquismo primitivista representado en la actualidad por Jonh Zerzan. Para George Woodcock, esta actitud puede estar también motivada por una cierta idea de resistencia al progreso y de rechazo al materialismo creciente que caracteriza la sociedad norteamericana de mediados de siglo XIX.""Voluntary non-submission. Spanish individualist anarchism during dictatorship and the second republic (1923–1938)"Archived July 23, 2011, at theWayback Machine
- ^ab"2. Individualist Anarchism and Reaction".libcom.org.
- ^"The Free Love Movement and Radical Individualism, By Wendy McElroy".ncc-1776.org. Archived fromthe original on 2021-02-18. Retrieved2022-03-17.
- ^""La insumisión voluntaria: El anarquismo individualista español durante la Dictadura y la Segunda República (1923–1938)" by Xavier Díez"(PDF). Archived fromthe original(PDF) on July 23, 2011.
- ^"Los anarco-individualistas, G.I.A...Una escisión de la FAI producida en el IX Congreso (Carrara, 1965) se pr odujo cuando un sector de anarquistas de tendencia humanista rechazan la interpretación que ellos juzgan disciplinaria delpacto asociativo" clásico, y crean los GIA (Gruppi di Iniziativa Anarchica) . Esta pequeña federación de grupos, hoy nutrida sobre todo de veteranos anarco-individualistas de orientación pacifista, naturista, etcétera defiende la autonomía personal y rechaza a rajatabla toda forma de intervención en los procesos del sistema, como sería por ejemplo el sindicalismo. Su portavoz es L'Internazionale con sede en Ancona. La escisión de los GIA prefiguraba, en sentido contrario, el gran debate que pronto había de comenzar en el seno del movimiento""El movimiento libertario en Italia" byBicicleta. REVISTA DE COMUNICACIONES LIBERTARIAS Year 1 No. Noviembre, 1 1977Archived October 12, 2013, at theWayback Machine
- ^"Proliferarán así diversos grupos que practicarán el excursionismo, el naturismo, el nudismo, la emancipación sexual o el esperantismo, alrededor de asociaciones informales vinculadas de una manera o de otra al anarquismo. Precisamente las limitaciones a las asociaciones obreras impuestas desde la legislación especial de la Dictadura potenciarán indirectamente esta especie de asociacionismo informal en que confluirá el movimiento anarquista con esta heterogeneidad de prácticas y tendencias. Uno de los grupos más destacados, que será el impulsor de la revista individualista Ética será el Ateneo Naturista Ecléctico, con sede en Barcelona, con sus diferentes secciones la más destacada de las cuales será el grupo excursionista Sol y Vida.""La insumisión voluntaria: El anarquismo individualista español durante la Dictadura y la Segunda República (1923–1938)" by Xavier DíezArchived July 23, 2011, at theWayback Machine
- ^"Les anarchistes individualistes du début du siècle l'avaient bien compris, et intégraient le naturisme dans leurs préoccupations. Il est vraiment dommage que ce discours se soit peu à peu effacé, d'antan plus que nous assistons, en ce moment, à un retour en force du puritanisme (conservateur par essence).""Anarchisme et naturisme, aujourd'hui." by Cathy YtakArchived February 25, 2009, at theWayback Machine
- ^anne (30 July 2014)."Culture of Individualist Anarchism in Late 19th Century America"(PDF).
- ^The "Illegalists"Archived September 8, 2015, at theWayback Machine, by Doug Imrie (published byAnarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed)
- ^Parry, Richard.The Bonnot Gang. Rebel Press, 1987. p. 15
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- ^Rothbard, Murray N. (2007).The Betrayal of the American Right,Ludwig von Mises Institute, p. 187.ISBN 978-1-933550-13-8
- ^"Autarchy vs Anarchy" by Robert LeFevre.Rampart Journal of Individualist Thought Vol. 1, No. 4 (Winter, 1965): 30–49
- ^The Ancient Chinese Super State of Primary Societies: Taoist Philosophy for the 21st Century, You-Sheng Li, June 2010, p. 300
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- ^Locke, John (1690).Two Treatises of Government (10th ed.).Project Gutenberg. RetrievedJanuary 21, 2009.
- ^Paul E. Sigmund, editor,The Selected Political Writings of John Locke, Norton, 2003,ISBN 0-393-96451-5 p. iv "(Locke's thoughts) underlie many of the fundamental political ideas of US liberal constitutional democracy...", "At the time Locke wrote, his principles were accepted in theory by a few and in practice by none."
- ^Thomas Jefferson,Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776.
- ^John Gray,Two Faces of Liberalism, The New Press, 2008,ISBN 978-1-56584-678-4
- ^"Egoism – The Anarchist Library".
- ^O. Ewald, "German Philosophy in 1907", in The Philosophical Review, Vol. 17, No. 4, Jul., 1908, pp. 400–426; T. A. Riley, "Anti-Statism in German Literature, as Exemplified by the Work of John Henry Mackay", in PMLA, Vol. 62, No. 3, Sep. 1947, pp. 828–843; C. E. Forth, "Nietzsche, Decadence, and Regeneration in France, 1891–95", in Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 54, No. 1, Jan., 1993, pp. 97–117; see also Robert C. Holub'sNietzsche: Socialist, Anarchist, Feminist, an essay available online at the University of California, Berkeley website.
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- ^Robert C. Solomon,Existentialism (McGraw-Hill, 1974, pp. 1–2)
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- ^Guignon, Charles B. and Derk Pereboom.Existentialism: basic writings (Hackett Publishing, 2001, p. xiii)
- ^Nietzsche, Friedrich (1999).Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None. The Gutenberg Project. p. 8.
- ^Hastings, James.Encyclopedia of Religion
- ^Compact Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. 2007.
humanismn. 1 a rationalistic system of thought attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters. 2 a Renaissance cultural movement that turned away from medieval scholasticism and revived interest in ancient Greek and Roman thought.
Typically, abridgments of this definition omit all senses except #1, such as in theCambridge Advanced Learner's DictionaryArchived 2003-12-30 at theWayback Machine,Collins Essential English Dictionary, andWebster's Concise Dictionary. New York: RHR Press. 2001. p. 177.ISBN 978-0375425745. - ^"Definitions of humanism (subsection)". Institute for Humanist Studies. Archived fromthe original on 2007-01-18. Retrieved16 Jan 2007.
- ^Davis, Lewis S.; Williamson, Claudia R. (2019). "Does individualism promote gender equality?".World Development.123: 104627.doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.104627.
- ^Edwords, Fred (1989)."What Is Humanism?". American Humanist Association. Archived fromthe original on 30 January 2010. Retrieved19 August 2009.
Secular and Religious Humanists both share the same worldview and the same basic principles... From the standpoint of philosophy alone, there is no difference between the two. It is only in the definition of religion and in the practice of the philosophy that Religious and Secular Humanists effectively disagree.
- ^Moore, Andrew (1 January 2013). "Hedonism". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.).The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University – via Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- ^"libertine" – via The Free Dictionary.
- ^"WordNet Search – 3.1".wordnetweb.princeton.edu.
- ^René Pintard (2000).Le Libertinage érudit dans la première moitié du XVIIe siècle. Slatkine. p. 11.ISBN 978-2-05-101818-0. Retrieved24 July 2012.
- ^Amesbury, Richard (1 January 2016). "Fideism". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.).The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University – via Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- ^"A Martyr to Sin".archive.nytimes.com.
- ^"What Is Objectivism? – The Objective Standard".theobjectivestandard.com. Retrieved2021-07-08.
- ^"About the Author" inRand, Ayn (1992) [1957].Atlas Shrugged (35th anniversary ed.). New York: Dutton. pp. 1170–1171.ISBN 978-0-525-94892-6.
- ^Tucker said,"the fact that one class of men are dependent for their living upon the sale of their labour, while another class of men are relieved of the necessity of labour by being legally privileged to sell something that is not labour . . . And to such a state of things I am as much opposed as any one. But the minute you remove privilege . . . every man will be a labourer exchanging with fellow-labourers . . . What Anarchistic-Socialism aims to abolish is usury . . . it wants to deprive capital of its reward."Benjamin Tucker.Instead of a Book, p. 404
- ^Wayne Gabardi,review ofAnarchism by David Miller, published inAmerican Political Science Review Vol. 80, No. 1. (Mar., 1986), pp. 300–302.
- ^According to scholarAllan Antliff, Benjamin Tucker coined the term "philosophical anarchism," to distinguish peaceful evolutionary anarchism from revolutionary variants.Antliff, Allan. 2001.Anarchist Modernism: Art, Politics, and the First American Avant-Garde. University of Chicago Press. p. 4
- ^Outhwaite, William & Tourain, Alain (Eds.). (2003). Anarchism. The Blackwell Dictionary of Modern Social Thought (2nd Edition, p. 12). Blackwell Publishing
- ^Michael Freeden identifies four broad types of individualist anarchism. He says the first is the type associated with William Godwin that advocatesself-government with a "progressive rationalism that included benevolence to others." The second type is the amoral self-serving rationality ofEgoism, as most associated with Max Stirner. The third type is "found inHerbert Spencer's early predictions, and in that of some of his disciples such asDonisthorpe, foreseeing the redundancy of the state in the source of social evolution." The fourth type retains a moderated form of Egoism and accounts for social cooperation through the advocacy of market. Freeden, Michael.Ideologies and Political Theory: A Conceptual Approach. Oxford University Press.ISBN 0-19-829414-X. pp. 313–314.
- ^Tucker, Benjamin R.,Instead of a Book, by a Man too Busy to Write One: A Fragmentary Exposition of Philosophical Anarchism (1897, New York)
- ^Broderick, John C. "Thoreau's Proposals for Legislation".American Quarterly, Vol. 7, No. 3 (Autumn, 1955). p. 285
- ^abcQuelle, Horst Matthai (2002).Textos filosoficos (1989–1999). UABC.ISBN 978-9709051322 – via Google Books.
- ^Hudelson, Richard (1999).Modern Political Philosophy. M.E. Sharpe.ISBN 978-0765600219 – via Google Books.
- ^David Conway.Classical Liberalism: The Unvanquished Ideal. Palgrave Macmillan. 1998.ISBN 978-0-312-21932-1 p. 8
- ^Boaz, David (30 January 2009)."Libertarianism".Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved21 February 2017.
[L]ibertarianism, political philosophy that takes individual liberty to be the primary political value.
- ^Woodcock, George (2004) [1962].Anarchism: A History of Libertarian Ideas and Movements. Peterborough: Broadview Press. p. 16.ISBN 978-1551116297.
[F]or the very nature of the libertarian attitude – its rejection of dogma, its deliberate avoidance of rigidly systematic theory, and, above all, its stress on extreme freedom of choice and on the primacy of the individual judgement [sic].
- ^Long, Joseph. W (1996). "Toward a Libertarian Theory of Class".Social Philosophy and Policy.15 (2): 310. "When I speak of 'libertarianism' [...] I mean all three of these very different movements. It might be protested that LibCap [libertarian capitalism], LibSoc [libertarian socialism] and LibPop [libertarian populism] are too different from one another to be treated as aspects of a single point of view. But they do share a common – or at least an overlapping – intellectual ancestry."
- ^Carlson, Jennifer D. (2012). "Libertarianism". In Miller, Wilburn R., ed.The Social History of Crime and Punishment in America. London: Sage Publications. p. 1006.ISBN 978-1412988766. "There exist three major camps in libertarian thought: right-libertarianism, socialist libertariaism, and left-lbertarianism; the extent to which these represent distinct ideologies as opposed to variations on a theme is contrasted by scholars. Regardless, these factions differ most pronouncedly with respect to private property."
- ^Francis, Mark (December 1983). "Human Rights and Libertarians".Australian Journal of Politics & History.29 (3):462–472.doi:10.1111/j.1467-8497.1983.tb00212.x.ISSN 0004-9522.
- ^Vallentyne, Peter; Steiner, Hillel; Otsuka, Michael (2005)."Why Left-Libertarianism Is Not Incoherent, Indeterminate, or Irrelevant: A Reply to Fried"(PDF).Philosophy and Public Affairs.33 (2). Blackwell Publishing, Inc.:201–215.doi:10.1111/j.1088-4963.2005.00030.x. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 2012-11-03. Retrieved2013-07-23.
- ^abcNarveson, Jan; Trenchard, David (2008)."Left Libertarianism". InHamowy, Ronald (ed.).The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism. Thousand Oaks, CA:Sage;Cato Institute. pp. 288–289.doi:10.4135/9781412965811.n174.ISBN 978-1412965804.LCCN 2008009151.OCLC 750831024.
- ^Schnack, William (13 November 2015)."Panarchy Flourishes Under Geo-Mutualism". Center for a Stateless Society.Archived 10 August 2018 at theWayback Machine. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
- ^Byas, Jason Lee (25 November 2015)."The Moral Irrelevance of Rent". Center for a Stateless Society. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
- ^Carson, Kevin (8 November 2015)."Are We All Mutualists?" Center for a Stateless Society. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
- ^Gillis, William (29 November 2015)."The Organic Emergence of Property from Reputation". Center for a Stateless Society. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^Bylund, Per (2005).Man and Matter: A Philosophical Inquiry into the Justification of Ownership in Land from the Basis of Self-Ownership(PDF).LUP Student Papers (master's thesis). Lund University. Retrieved12 July 2020.
- ^Long, Roderick T. (2006)."Land-locked: A Critique of Carson on Property Rights"(PDF).Journal of Libertarian Studies.20 (1):87–95.
- ^Verhaegh, Marcus (2006)."Rothbard as a Political Philosopher"(PDF).Journal of Libertarian Studies.20 (4): 3.
- ^Sundstrom, William A. (16 May 2002)."An Egalitarian-Libertarian Manifesto".Archived 29 October 2013 at theWayback Machine.
- ^Sullivan, Mark A. (July 2003). "Why the Georgist Movement Has Not Succeeded: A Personal Response to the Question Raised by Warren J. Samuels".American Journal of Economics and Sociology.62 (3): 612.
- ^Spitz, Jean-Fabien (March 2006)."Left-wing libertarianism: equality based on self-ownership".Raisons Politiques.23 (3):23–46.doi:10.3917/rai.023.0023. Retrieved28 November 2019.
- ^Bookchin, Murray (January 1986)."The Greening of Politics: Toward a New Kind of Political Practice".Green Perspectives: Newsletter of the Green Program Project (1).
- ^abBookchin, Murray; Biehl, Janet (1997).The Murray Bookchin Reader. New York: Cassell. p. 170.
- ^abLong, Roderick T. (2012). "The Rise of Social Anarchism". In Gaus, Gerald F.; D'Agostino, Fred, eds.The Routledge Companion to Social and Political Philosophy. p. 223.
- ^Grunberg, Gérard; Schweisguth, Etienne; Boy, Daniel;Mayer, Nonna, eds. (1993).The French Voter Decides. "Social Libertarianism and Economic Liberalism". University of Michigan Press.p. 45.ISBN 978-0-472-10438-3
- ^abcCarlson, Jennifer D. (2012). "Libertarianism". In Miller, Wilbur R.The Social History of Crime and Punishment in America: An Encyclopedia. Sage Publications. pp. 1006–1007.
- ^Foldvart, Fred E."Geoism and Libertarianism".The Progress Report. Progress.org. Archived fromthe original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved26 March 2013.
- ^DeCoster, Karen (19 April 2006)."Henry George and the Tariff Question".LewRockwell.com. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
- ^Sheldon Richman (3 February 2011)."Libertarian Left: Free-market anti-capitalism, the unknown ideal".The American Conservative.Archived 10 June 2019 at theWayback Machine. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
- ^Chartier, Gary; Johnson, Charles W. (2011).Markets Not Capitalism: Individualist Anarchism Against Bosses, Inequality, Corporate Power, and Structural Poverty. Brooklyn: Minor Compositions/Autonomedia. pp. 1–11.ISBN 978-1570272424.
- ^Will Kymlicka (2005). "libertarianism, left-". In Ted Honderich (ed.).The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. New York:Oxford University Press.
- ^Olsaretti, Serena (2004).Liberty, Desert and the Market: A Philosophical Study. Cambridge University Press. pp. 14, 88, 100.
- ^Graham, Paul; Hoffman, John (2003).An Introduction to Political Theory. Routledge. p. 93.ISBN 978-1-3178-6342-7.
A distinction is made between right libertarianism and left libertarianism. Self-ownership is the starting point for all libertarians, but right and left libertarians divide over the implications for the ownership of external things from the self-ownership premise.
- ^Vallentyne, Peter (2007). "Libertarianism and the State". In Frankel Paul, Ellen; Miller, Fred Jr.; Paul, Jeffrey (eds.).Liberalism: Old and New. Vol. 24. Cambridge University Press. pp. 187–205.ISBN 978-0-521-70305-5.
The best known form of libertarianism – right-libertarianism – is a version of classical liberalism, but there is also a form of libertarianism – left-libertarianism – that combines classical liberalism's concern for individual liberty with contemporary liberalism's robust concern for material equality.
- ^Heywood, Andrew (2015).Key Concepts in Politics and International Relations: Palgrave Key Concepts. Macmillan International Higher Education. p. 37.ISBN 978-1-1374-9477-1.
- ^Graber, Mark A. (1991).Transforming Free Speech: The Ambiguous Legacy of Civil Libertarianism. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. p. 18.ISBN 978-0520913134.
- ^Narveson, Jan (2001).The Libertarian Idea (revised ed.). Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press. p. 8.ISBN 978-1551114217.
- ^Passavent, Paul (2003).No Escape: Freedom of Speech and the Paradox of Rights. New York: New York University Press. p. 49.ISBN 978-0814766965.
- ^Reiman, Jeffrey H. (2005). "The Fallacy of Libertarian Capitalism".Ethics.10 (1):85–95.doi:10.1086/292300.JSTOR 2380706.S2CID 170927490.
- ^Goodway, David (2006).Anarchist Seeds Beneath the Snow: Left-Libertarian Thought and British Writers from William Morris to Colin Ward. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.p. 4. "'Libertarian' and 'libertarianism' are frequently employed by anarchists as synonyms for 'anarchist' and 'anarchism', largely as an attempt to distance themselves from the negative connotations of 'anarchy' and its derivatives. The situation has been vastly complicated in recent decades with the rise of anarcho-capitalism, 'minimal statism' and an extreme right-wing laissez-faire philosophy advocated by such theorists as Rothbard and Nozick and their adoption of the words 'libertarian' and 'libertarianism'. It has therefore now become necessary to distinguish between their right libertarianism and the left libertarianism of the anarchist tradition".
- ^Marshall, Peter (2008).Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism. London: Harper Perennial. p. 565. "The problem with the term 'libertarian' is that it is now also used by the Right. [...] In its moderate form, right libertarianism embraceslaissez-faire liberals like Robert Nozick who call for a minimal State, and in its extreme form, anarcho-capitalists like Murray Rothbard and David Friedman who entirely repudiate the role of the State and look to the market as a means of ensuring social order".
- ^Fernandez, Frank (2001).Cuban Anarchism. The History of a Movement. Sharp Press.p. 9. "Thus, in the United States, the once exceedingly useful term 'libertarian' has been hijacked by egotists who are in fact enemies of liberty in the full sense of the word."
- ^Rothbard, Murray (2009) [2007].The Betrayal of the American Right(PDF). Mises Institute. p. 83.ISBN 978-1610165013.
One gratifying aspect of our rise to some prominence is that, for the first time in my memory, we, 'our side,' had captured a crucial word from the enemy. 'Libertarians' had long been simply a polite word for left-wing anarchists, that is for anti-private property anarchists, either of the communist or syndicalist variety. But now we had taken it over.
- ^Hussain, Syed B. (2004).Encyclopedia of Capitalism, Volume 2. New York: Facts on File Inc. p. 492.ISBN 0816052247.
In the modern world, political ideologies are largely defined by their attitude towards capitalism. Marxists want to overthrow it, liberals to curtail it extensively, conservatives to curtail it moderately. Those who maintain that capitalism is an excellent economic system, unfairly maligned, with little or no need for corrective government policy, are generally known as libertarians.
- ^Rothbard, Murray (1 March 1971)."The Left and Right Within Libertarianism".WIN: Peace and Freedom Through Nonviolent Action.7 (4): 6–10. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
- ^Miller, Fred (15 August 2008)."Natural Law".The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism. Retrieved31 July 2019.
- ^Boaz, David (12 April 2019)."Key Concepts of Libertarianism". Cato Institute. Retrieved20 December 2019.
- ^"What Is Libertarian". Institute for Humane Studies. Retrieved20 December 2019.
- ^Baradat, Leon P. (2015).Political Ideologies. Routledge. p. 31.ISBN 978-1317345558.
- ^Kevin Carson.Organization Theory: A Libertarian Perspective. Booksurge. 2008. p. 1
- ^Bookchin, Murray and Janet Biehl.The Murray Bookchin Reader. Cassell, 1997. p. 170ISBN 0-304-33873-7
- ^Hicks, Steven V. and Daniel E. Shannon.The American journal of economics and sociology. Blackwell Pub, 2003. p. 612
- ^Miller, Wilbur R. (2012).The social history of crime and punishment in America. An encyclopedia. 5 vols. London: Sage Publications. p. 1007.ISBN 1412988764. "There exist three major camps in libertarian thought: right-libertarianism, socialist libertarianism, and ..."
- ^"It implies a classless and anti-authoritarian (i.e. libertarian) society in which people manage their own affairs"I.1 Isn't libertarian socialism an oxymoron?Archived 2017-11-16 at theWayback Machine at An Anarchist FAQ
- ^"unlike other socialists, they tend to see (to various different degrees, depending on the thinker) to be skeptical of centralized state intervention as the solution to capitalist exploitation..." Roderick T. Long. "Toward a libertarian theory of class."Social Philosophy and Policy. Volume 15. Issue 02. Summer 1998. p. 305
- ^ab"So, libertarian socialism rejects the idea of state ownership and control of the economy, along with the state as such. Through workers' self-management it proposes to bring an end to authority, exploitation, and hierarchy in production.""I1. Isn't libertarian socialism an oxymoron" inArchived 2017-11-16 at theWayback Machine An Anarchist FAQ
- ^"Therefore, rather than being an oxymoron, "libertarian socialism" indicates that true socialism must be libertarian and that a libertarian who is not a socialist is a phoney. As true socialists oppose wage labour, they must also oppose the state for the same reasons. Similarly, libertarians must oppose wage labour for the same reasons they must oppose the state.""I1. Isn't libertarian socialism an oxymoron" inArchived 2017-11-16 at theWayback Machine An Anarchist FAQ
- ^"Their analysis treats libertarian socialism as a form of anti-parliamentary, democratic, antibureaucratic grass roots socialist organisation, strongly linked to working class activism." Alex Prichard, Ruth Kinna, Saku Pinta and Dave Berry (eds) Libertarian Socialism: Politics in Black and Red. Palgrave Macmillan, December 2012. p. 13
- ^" ...preferringa system of popular self governance via networks of decentralized, local voluntary, participatory, cooperative associations. Roderick T. Long. "Toward a libertarian theory of class."Social Philosophy and Policy. Volume 15. Issue 02. Summer 1998. p. 305
- ^"What is of particular interest here, however, is the appeal to a form of emancipation grounded in decentralized, cooperative and democratic forms of political and economic governance which most libertarian socialist visions, including Cole's, tend to share." Charles Masquelier.Critical theory and libertarian socialism: Realizing the political potential of critical social theory.Bloomsbury Publishing. New York and London. 2014. p. 189
- ^Mendes, Silva.Socialismo Libertário ou Anarchismo Vol. 1 (1896): "Society should be free through mankind's spontaneous federative affiliation to life, based on the community of land and tools of the trade; meaning: Anarchy will be equality by abolition ofprivate property (while retaining respect forpersonal property) andliberty by abolition ofauthority".
- ^"...preferring a system of popular self governance via networks of decentralized, local, voluntary, participatory, cooperative associations-sometimes as a complement to and check on state power..."
- ^Rocker, Rudolf (2004).Anarcho-Syndicalism: Theory and Practice.AK Press. p. 65.ISBN 978-1-902593-92-0.
- ^"LibSoc share with LibCap an aversion to any interference to freedom of thought, expression or choice of lifestyle." Roderick T. Long. "Toward a libertarian theory of class."Social Philosophy and Policy. Volume 15. Issue 02. Summer 1998. pp 305
- ^"...what categorizes libertarian socialism is a focus on forms of social organization to further the freedom of the individual combined with an advocacy of non-state means for achieving this." Matt Dawson.Late modernity, individualization and socialism: An Associational Critique of Neoliberalism. Palgrave MacMillan. 2013. p. 64
- ^"What is implied by the term 'libertarian socialism'?: The idea that socialism is first and foremost about freedom and therefore about overcoming the domination, repression, and alienation that block the free flow of human creativity, thought, and action...An approach to socialism that incorporates cultural revolution, women's and children's liberation, and the critique and transformation of daily life, as well as the more traditional concerns of socialist politics. A politics that is completely revolutionary because it seeks to transform all of reality. We do not think that capturing the economy and the state lead automatically to the transformation of the rest of social being, nor do we equate liberation with changing our life-styles and our heads. Capitalism is a total system that invades all areas of life: socialism must be the overcoming of capitalist reality in its entirety, or it is nothing." "What is Libertarian Socialism?" by Ulli Diemer. Volume 2, Number 1 (Summer 1997 issue) ofThe Red Menace.
- ^"TheIAF–IFA fights for : the abolition of all forms of authority whether economical, political, social, religious, cultural or sexual.""Principles of The International of Anarchist Federations"Archived January 5, 2012, at theWayback Machine
- ^Ward, Colin (1966)."Anarchism as a Theory of Organization". Archived fromthe original on 25 March 2010. Retrieved1 March 2010.
- ^"The Soviet Union Versus Socialism".chomsky.info. Retrieved2015-11-22.
Libertarian socialism, furthermore, does not limit its aims to democratic control by producers over production, but seeks to abolish all forms of domination and hierarchy in every aspect of social and personal life, an unending struggle, since progress in achieving a more just society will lead to new insight and understanding of forms of oppression that may be concealed in traditional practice and consciousness.
- ^"Authority is defined in terms of the right to exercise social control (as explored in the "sociology of power") and the correlative duty to obey (as explred in the "philosophy of practical reason"). Anarchism is distinguished, philosophically, by its scepticism towards such moral relations – by its questioning of the claims made for such normative power – and, practically, by its challenge to those "authoritative" powers which cannot justify their claims and which are therefore deemed illegitimate or without moral foundation."Anarchism and Authority: A Philosophical Introduction to Classical Anarchism by Paul McLaughlin. AshGate. 2007. p. 1
- ^"Anarchism, then, really stands for the liberation of the human mind from the dominion of religion; the liberation of the human body from the dominion of property; liberation from the shackles and restraint of government. Anarchism stands for a social order based on the free grouping of individuals for the purpose of producing real social wealth; an order that will guarantee to every human being free access to the earth and full enjoyment of the necessities of life, according to individual desires, tastes, and inclinations."Emma Goldman. "What it Really Stands for Anarchy" inAnarchism and Other Essays.
- ^Individualist anarchist Benjamin Tucker defined anarchism as opposition to authority as follows "They found that they must turn either to the right or to the left, – follow either the path of Authority or the path of Liberty. Marx went one way; Warren and Proudhon the other. Thus were born State Socialism and Anarchism...Authority, takes many shapes, but, broadly speaking, her enemies divide themselves into three classes: first, those who abhor her both as a means and as an end of progress, opposing her openly, avowedly, sincerely, consistently, universally; second, those who profess to believe in her as a means of progress, but who accept her only so far as they think she will subserve their own selfish interests, denying her and her blessings to the rest of the world; third, those who distrust her as a means of progress, believing in her only as an end to be obtained by first trampling upon, violating, and outraging her. These three phases of opposition to Liberty are met in almost every sphere of thought and human activity. Good representatives of the first are seen in the Catholic Church and the Russian autocracy; of the second, in the Protestant Church and the Manchester school of politics and political economy; of the third, in the atheism of Gambetta and the socialism of Karl Marx."Benjamin Tucker.Individual Liberty.
- ^Anarchist historianGeorge Woodcock report ofMikhail Bakunin's anti-authoritarianism and shows opposition to both state and non-state forms of authority as follows: "All anarchists deny authority; many of them fight against it." (p. 9)...Bakunin did not convert the League's central committee to his full program, but he did persuade them to accept a remarkably radical recommendation to the Berne Congress of September 1868, demanding economic equality and implicitly attacking authority in both Church and State."
- ^Brown, L. Susan (2002). "Anarchism as a Political Philosophy of Existential Individualism: Implications for Feminism".The Politics of Individualism: Liberalism, Liberal Feminism and Anarchism. Black Rose Books Ltd. Publishing. p. 106.
- ^"It is forgotten that the early defenders of commercial society like(Adam) Smith were as much concerned with criticising the associational blocks to mobile labour represented byguilds as they were to the activities of the state. Thehistory of socialist thought includes a long associational and anti-statist tradition prior to the political victory of theBolshevism in the east and varieties ofFabianism in the west. John O'Neil."The Market: Ethics, knowledge and politics. Routledge. 1998. p. 3
- ^"In some ways, it is perhaps fair to say that if Left communism is an intellectual- political formation, it is so, first and foremost, negatively – as opposed to other socialist traditions. I have labelled this negative pole 'socialist orthodoxy', composed of both Leninists and social democrats...What I suggested was that these Left communist thinkers differentiated their own understandings of communism from a strand of socialism that came to follow a largely electoral road in the West, pursuing a kind of social capitalism, and a path to socialism that predominated in the peripheral and semi- peripheral countries, which sought revolutionary conquest of power and led to something like state capitalism. Generally, the Left communist thinkers were to find these paths locked within the horizons of capitalism (the law of value, money, private property, class, the state), and they were to characterize these solutions as statist, substitutionist and authoritarian." Chamsy el- Ojeili.Beyond post-socialism. Dialogues with the far-left. Palgrave Macmillan. 2015. p. 8
- ^Sims, Franwa (2006).The Anacostia Diaries As It Is. Lulu Press. p. 160.
- ^An Anarchist FAQ. "(Benjamin) Tucker referred to himself many times as a socialist and considered his philosophy to be "Anarchistic socialism."
- ^Armand, Émile (1907)."Anarchist Individualism as a Life and Activity". French individualist anarchist Émile Armand shows clearly opposition to capitalism and centralized economies when he said that the individualist anarchist "inwardly he remains refractory – fatally refractory – morally, intellectually, economically (The capitalist economy and the directed economy, the speculators and the fabricators of single are equally repugnant to him.)"
- ^Sabatini, Peter (1994–1995)."Libertarianism: Bogus Anarchy". Anarchist Peter Sabatini reports that in the United States "of early to mid-19th century, there appeared an array of communal and "utopian" counterculture groups (including the so-called free love movement). William Godwin's anarchism exerted an ideological influence on some of this, but more so the socialism of Robert Owen and Charles Fourier. After success of his British venture, Owen himself established a cooperative community within the United States at New Harmony, Indiana during 1825. One member of this commune was Josiah Warren (1798–1874), considered to be the first individualist anarchist."
- ^Chartier, Gary; Johnson, Charles W. (2011).Markets Not Capitalism: Individualist Anarchism Against Bosses, Inequality, Corporate Power, and Structural Poverty. Brooklyn: Minor Compositions/Autonomedia. Back cover. "It introduces an eye-opening approach to radical social thought, rooted equally in libertarian socialism and market anarchism."
- ^"A Mutualist FAQ: A.4. Are Mutualists Socialists?"Archived 9 June 2009 at theWayback Machine.
- ^Masquelier, Charles (2014).Critical Theory and Libertarian Socialism: Realizing the Political Potential of Critical Social Theory. New York and London:Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 190. "It is by meeting such a twofold requirement that the libertarian socialism of G.D.H. Cole could be said to offer timely and sustainable avenues for the institutionalization of the liberal value of autonomy [...]."
- ^Prichard, Alex; Kinna, Ruth; Pinta, Saku; Berry, Dave, eds. (December 2012).Libertarian Socialism: Politics in Black and Red. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 13. "Locating libertarian socialism in a grey area between anarchist and Marxist extremes, they argue that the multiple experiences of historical convergence remain inspirational and that, through these examples, the hope of socialist transformation survives."
- ^Boraman, Toby (December 2012). "Carnival and Class: Anarchism and Councilism in Australasia during the 1970s". In Prichard, Alex; Kinna, Ruth; Pinta, Saku; Berry, Dave, eds.Libertarian Socialism: Politics in Black and Red. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 268. "Councilism and anarchism loosely merged into 'libertarian socialism', offering a non-dogmatic path by which both council communism and anarchism could be updated for the changed conditions of the time, and for the new forms of proletarian resistance to these new conditions."
- ^Bookchin, Murray (1992)."The Ghost of Anarcho-Syndicalism".
- ^Graham, Robert."The General Idea of Proudhon's Revolution".
- ^Bromley, Kent (1906). "Preface". In Kropotkin, Peter.The Conquest of Bread. London and New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.
- ^"Mutualist.Org: Free Market Anti-Capitalism".www.mutualist.org.
- ^Miller, David. 1987. "Mutualism." The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Political Thought. Blackwell Publishing. p. 11
- ^Tandy, Francis D., 1896,Voluntary Socialism, chapter 6, paragraph 15.
- ^Sharma, R.N. (1991). Plato: An Inter-disciplinary Perspective. New Delhi, India: Atlantic Publishers and Distributors. pp. 131–132.
- ^"Hegel" by Charles Taylor, Part II: Phenomenology: IV The Dialectic of Consciousness, V Self-Consciousness
- ^"Social and Political Recognition" by Paddy McQueen
- ^Marvin Perry, Myrna Chase, Margaret Jacob, James R. Jacob. Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society – From 1600, Volume 2. 9th ed. Boston, Massaschussetts: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2009 pp. 760
- ^abPope Francis,Laudato si', paragraph 162, published 24 May 2015, accessed 18 April 2024
- ^"The most ambitious contribution to literary anarchism during the 1890s was undoubtedly Oscar WildeThe Soul of Man under Socialism. Wilde, as we have seen, declared himself an anarchist on at least one occasion during the 1890s, and he greatly admiredPeter Kropotkin, whom he had met. Later, inDe Profundis, he described Kropotkin's life as one "of the most perfect lives I have come across in my own experience" and talked of him as "a man with a soul of that beautiful white Christ that seems coming out of Russia." But inThe Soul of Man under Socialism, which appeared in 1890, it is Godwin rather than Kropotkin whose influence seems dominant." George Woodcock.Anarchism: A History of Libertarian Ideas and Movements. 1962. (p. 447).
- ^_wlo:dek."Emil Armand "Anarchist Individualism as a Life and Activity"".
- ^abcImperfect garden : the legacy of humanism. Princeton University Press. 2002.
- ^"Dictionary.com". Archived fromthe original on 2010-11-19.
- ^"Emerson, Ralph Waldo | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy".
- ^"How the early Christian church gave birth to today's WEIRD Europeans".www.science.org.
- ^Chatterjee, Rhitu (November 7, 2019)."Western Individualism May Have Roots In The Medieval Church's Obsession With Incest".NPR.
- ^"Catechism of the Catholic Church 2792".
- ^Chalamet, C.; Delikostantis, K.; Getcha, J.; Parmentier, E. (2021).Theological Anthropology, 500 Years after Martin Luther: Orthodox and Protestant Perspectives. Studies in Systematic Theology. Brill. p. 187.ISBN 978-90-04-46125-3. Retrieved2023-05-06.
Further reading
edit- Albrecht, James M. (2012)Reconstructing Individualism : A Pragmatic Tradition from Emerson to Ellison. Fordham University Press.
- Brown, L. Susan (1993).The Politics of Individualism: Liberalism, Liberal Feminism, and Anarchism. Black Rose Books.
- Dewey, John. (1930).Individualism Old and New.
- Emerson, Ralph Waldo (1847).Self-Reliance. London: J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd.
- Gagnier, Regenia. (2010).Individualism, Decadence and Globalization: On the Relationship of Part to Whole, 1859–1920.Palgrave Macmillan.
- Dumont, Louis (1986).Essays on Individualism: Modern Ideology in Anthropological Perspective. Chicago:University of Chicago Press.ISBN 0-226-16958-8.
- Siedentop, Larry (2014).Inventing the Individual: The Origins of Western Liberalism. Penguin Books.ISBN 9780141009544.
- Lukes, Steven (1973).Individualism. New York:Harper & Row.ISBN 0-631-14750-0.
- Macpherson, C.B. (2018). Individualism. In:The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London
- Meiksins Wood, Ellen. (1972).Mind and Politics: An Approach to the Meaning of Liberal and Socialist Individualism.University of California Press.ISBN 0-520-02029-4
- Renaut, Alain (1999).The Era of the Individual. Princeton, NJ:Princeton University Press.ISBN 0-691-02938-5.
- Shanahan, Daniel. (1991)Toward a Genealogy of Individualism. Amherst, MA:University of Massachusetts Press.ISBN 0-87023-811-6.
- Watt, Ian. (1996)Myths of Modern Individualism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN 0-521-48011-6.
- Barzilai, Gad. (2003).Communities and Law. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.ISBN 0-472-11315-1.