Individualism

Individuals Versus State, Society, and Groups

Individualism has different connotations in political and social philosophy, two types of which can be distinguished as methodological individualism and political individualism. Each of these concepts considers the relationship between groups and individuals, and the facts about the behaviors of groups, historical events, and social processes.

Methodological individualism holds that any fact about group behaviors, historical events, and social processes should appeal to the actions of individuals to be properly explained. Social groups do not have an existence beyond the individual members of the society because all of the social activities are carried out by individuals. Intentionality is the core element of individual behavior because it requires an agent, and the society cannot have an agency characteristic. According to the sociologist Max Weber, when discussing social phenomena, social collectivities should not be privileged over individuals as if they have a personality. When this happens, individual contribution is lost in collective actions. In a recorded exposition of capitalism, Ayn Rand pointed this out when she said, “America's abundance was not created by public sacrifices to the common good, but by the productive genius of free men who pursued their own personal interests and the making of their own private fortunes” (Rand, 1967). Political individualism is primarily concerned with protecting individual liberty against any kinds of social collectivities. According to Susan Brown, there are two distinct political philosophies concerning individual freedom, liberalism, and anarchism. Despite having an identical commitment to individual liberty, anarchism opposes all forms of state and rejects the liberal argument that the state is a necessary tool to maintain social order and protect individual freedom. Anarchism views the state as solely responsible for social disorder and advocates abolishment of the state for greater individual liberty, self-development, and social harmony. Liberalism believes that individuals are rational and they pursue their own self-interests, which is why the state is necessary. Liberal individualists differ from classical individualists in the way they see the implications of individual rationality. While the former believe that individual rationality will result in pursuing one's own self-interest rather than that of the society, the latter argue that deregulation, or laissez faire, will result in maximum efficiency, which in turn will establish a balance between the self-interest and the interest of the society.

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