Individualism Flashcards
What is Subjectivity?
- Inherent social mode based on innumerable interactions within society
- Equal process of individuation and socialisation
Subjectivity is an inherently social mode that comes about through innumerable interactions within society. As much as subjectivity is a process of individuation, it is equally a process of socialisation, the individual never being isolated in a self-contained environment, but endlessly engaging in interaction with the surrounding world.
How or why is Subjectivity used?
- to view differences between cultures
- to understand “culture shock” - to experience alien, incomprensensible, hostile practices of another culture.
- A common effect on an individual of disjunction between subjectivities is culture shock, where the Subjectivity of the other culture is considered alien and possibly incomprehensible or even hostile.*
What is ‘Liberal’ Individual?
- an individual should be recognised by what makes them
- your viewpoints represent you (instead of culture/family/government)
- most influential and widespread way of thinking
- Liberal individualism is the belief that an individual should be recognised by what makes them, and them only unique or different from the rest of the population. The belief that your independence, who you are, and your viewpoints should represent you, instead of your culture, family, government.*
How or why is ‘Liberal’ Individual used?
- to think and relate to the world in western economies
- *
- Liberal individualism is, broadly, the most influential and widespread way of thinking about and relating to the world in western economies.*
What are the problems/limitations of ‘Liberal’ Individual?
- not supportive of the preservation of collective customs or practices
- *
- If you want to protect a way of life which depends upon the observance of ancient customs (repressive or otherwise), or to ensure that your local comprehensive contains a social mix rather than becoming either a ‘sink’ school or a bastion of privilege, or if you want to protect the environmental resources that we depend on collectively but consume privately, then liberal individualism is a rather more problematic paradigm (model).*
What is ‘Liberal’ Individual often compared to?
Authoritarian collectivism - in contrast, seeks to reduce or eliminate difference in order to guarantee the homogeneity of the community
What is Dividual?
- Individuals are not self-contained units
- Dividual is the division within an individual
- Deleuze coined the term ‘dividual’ to explain the mechanisms of a ‘control society’, which he opposes to Foucaults ‘disciplinary society’ (a stage he says we have left). The basic premise is that the term individual means indivisible, the smallest unit which society can be reduced to. Perhaps people are not whole self contained ‘units’, but may be broken down (divided), thus not self-contained units.*
How or why is Dividual used?
- first used by Deleuze to explain the mechanisms of a ‘control society’
- to explain contradictions within identity
- This concept of the ‘dividual’ as opposed to the ‘individual’ has been taken up by various anthropologists and used to explain contradictions within the formation and conceptualisation of identity.*
Where was the concept of Dividual first cited?
Deleuze
1992
Postscript on the societies of Control
What is Existentialism?
- thought-centric vision of the world
- perception is everything in understanding and engaging with the world
- Existentialism = perception to be foundational in understanding and engaging with the world. Thinking your way out of things - transcending. Thought-centric vision of the world.*
How or why is Existentialism used?
- a way to reassert the importance of human individuality and freedom
- *
- 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 the existence or non-existence of God. Existentialism became fashionable in the post-World War years as a way to reassert the importance of human individuality and freedom.*
What are the problems/limitations of Existentialism?
- too abstract & remote from concrete human experience
- *
- Many existentialists have also regarded traditional systematic or academic philosophy, in both style and content, as too abstract and remote from concrete human experience.*
Where is the concept of Existentialism cited?
De Beauvoir
1949
The Second Sex
Where is the concept of Phenomenology cited?
De Beauvoir
1949
The Second Sex
Where is the concept of Embodiment cited?
De Beauvoir
1949
The Second Sex
