Individualism & Collectivism
Political theorists such as Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau - wanted above all to stop certain dominant groups, notably the churches, from exploiting the loyalty for their own ends. ... [They b]etween them managed to swing the balance of moral thinking right over to the individualistic pole. ... What surely emerges is that the whole idea of a single favoured, exclusively real unit was mistaken in the first place. Life goes on on various scales, each of which is real and has to be thought of in its own terms.
Mary Midgley (2001)
Some states treat the individual as a servant of the whole; while others see the individual as the very point of the state. Taken to extremes the good of society may have such weight that the individual losses all rights, including their life; while other societies allow personal gain, and the rights of
powerful
The importance of psychological power in our present global crisis.
individuals, to ride roughshod over the populations’ wellbeing. Leaving aside that forced
dichotomy,
To a page with more on forcing dichotomies onto arguments.
maybe we can see the bones of the problem in microcosm. In the photo above is an actor with an audience: the success of the individual draws the applause of the collective, we cannot have one without the other. Similarly states have to have members, and individuals cannot exist without
collectives.
An essential ingredient in human life that requires a minimal collective.
Having traced the grand history of Individualism, Midgley’s point might be put modestly this way: our man is entertainer for that audience, but he is also, like them, clothed. Our perspective depends on the
particular case.
The closely linked point about the way situations are multifaceted.
Emphasising his individuality is one case, but our interest might be in fashionable clothing colours of the 1990s - a different case.
Midgley’s book Science and Poetry appeared in 2001 it was published by Routledge, the paperback followed a year later, this quote is taken from the latter - page 262.
The performance was outside the National Gallery in Edinburgh, during the festival of 1991.
Above, hovering on blue introduces a link: click to go, move away to stay.
Saturday 11th April 2026
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