Individualism

Question 1

Define individualism

Answer 1

The belief in the supreme importance of the individual over any social group or collective body

Question 2

Define methodologic individualism

Answer 2

Belief that the individual is central to any political theory or social explanation

Question 3

What does methodological individualism say about society

Answer 3

All statements about society should be made in terms of the individuals who compose it

Question 4

Which type of individualism do classical liberals subscribe to?

Answer 4

Egotistical individualism

Question 5

What does egotistical individualism place emphasis on?

Answer 5

Self interested ness and self reliance

Question 6

What type of individualism do modern liberals subscribe to?

Answer 6

Developmental individualism

Question 7

What does developmental individualism prioritise?

Answer 7

Human flourishing over the quest for interest satisfaction

Question 8

How were individuals viewed in the feudal period?

Answer 8

As members of the social groups to which they belonged rather than as individuals.

Question 9

What were individuals confronted by as feudalism was displaced by increasingly market oriented societies?

Answer 9

A broader range of choices and social possibilities

Question 10

As feudal life broke down, what were individuals encouraged to do?

Answer 10

Think for themselves and to think of themselves in personal terms

Question 11

What were traditional religious theories displaced by?

Answer 11

Rational and scientific explanations

Question 12

What do individuals possess?

Answer 12

Personal and distinctive qualities

Question 13

What do liberals think about individuals in terms of value?

Answer 13

Each is of special value

Question 14

How was the value of individuals evident?

Answer 14

In the growth of natural rights theories in the 17th and 18th centuries

Question 15

What did immanuel Kant believe in?

Answer 15

The dignity and equal worth of human beings

Question 16

What did Immanuel Kant see individuals as?

Answer 16

Ends in themselves rather than a means to an end for others

Question 17

What are the tensions that emerge due to individualism

Answer 17

The rival ideas of uniqueness and equality

Question 18

What do some classical liberals believe in?

Answer 18

Atomism - the idea that society is just a collection of individuals seeking to satisfy their own needs and interests

Question 19

What does MacPherson regard the individual as?

Answer 19

“The proprietor of his own person or capacities, owing nothing to society for them”

Question 20

How is later liberalism more optimistic in terms of human nature?

Answer 20

They’re more prepared to believe that egoism is tempered by a sense of social responsibility for those who are unable to look after themselves.

Question 21

How are liberals united on individualism?

Answer 21

They all desire to create a society in which each person is capable of developing and flourishing to the fullness of their potential