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" An analysis of the philosophy underlying anti-collectivist individualism. "
Saunders, Lynda.
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Latin Dissertation
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| Record Number
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1092555
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TLets236398
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| Main Entry
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Saunders, Lynda.
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| Title & Author
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An analysis of the philosophy underlying anti-collectivist individualism.\ Saunders, Lynda.
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| College
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University of Sussex
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| Date
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1988
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| student score
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1988
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| Degree
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Ph.D.
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| Abstract
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The subject matter of this thesis is a particular form ofindividualism - anti-collectivist individualism.To be differentiated from more collectivist, humanist strands ofindividualism, anti-collectivist individualism can readily be equatedwi th the classic liberal creed that accompanied a new stress on theindi vidual and the emergence of a capitalist market economy in theWest in the post-feudal period.The thesis places anti-collectivist individualism within the classicliberal tradition. It addresses anti-collectivist individualism bothas an issue of substantive relevance to people and to politics and asan issue within sociological explanation, from the perspective of thatatomism which underlies it, and through an examination of the.. :atomistic view of humankind, of history and of social causation.Specifically addressed in relation to the anti-collectivist frameworkare:the presumed atomistic relations of exteriority between individuals.the presumption that nothing exists in the phenomenal world otherthan individuals in aggregate and that explanatory power thereforerests with individuals.the presumption that to provide people with the conditions forself-reliance is a contradiction in terms.the presumption that human individuals lack the rationalityto construct a 'good' society and should relinquish'constructivist' rationalism in favour of 'evolutionary Irationalism.The question of whether capitalism and individualism are merelyhistorically contingent (as per Abercrombie et al 1986) or aremutually defining (Friedman 1962, 1980) is also considered, it beingconcluded that they are not mutually defining but have entered into asecond order symbiotic relation of dependence which may provedifficult to deconstruct. The ontology underlying anti-collectivistindividualism is rigorously criticised, but it is suggested thatindividualism, far from no longer featuring in dominant discourse, asAbercrombie et al claim, remains the pivotal underlying premise ofsocial and economic activity in the West, and indeed, being ahistorically evolved, even though particular manifestation of importantand necessary elements of the human psyche for security, identity andself-actualisation, is likely to remain a prime mode of orientation inthe West. It is claimed that this acceptance is not incompatible withcommunitarian and/or socialist forms of organisation.
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Philosophy of individualism
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University of Sussex
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