Individualism

Individualism espouses four basic ideas: (1) the intrinsic value, or dignity, of the individual human being, (2) individual autonomy or self-direction, (3) privacy, or the freedom to be left alone from outside interference, and (4) the right and duty of self-development (pertinent to most, if not all, conceptualizations of individualism). The normative conceptualization of individualism includes, at a minimum, these four elements, whereas the methodological definition—equally important but not the main focus of this entry—has a different emphasis. Methodological individualism refers to the idea that individuals, not some collective, constitute the ultimate unit of analysis in describing social relations. In other words, based loosely on definitions provided by Friedrich Hayek and George Homans, there is no other way toward an understanding of social phenomena but through our understanding of individual actions directed toward other people and guided by their expected behavior. In his influential book on individualism, Steven Lukes showed how the methodological and normative conceptualizations of individualism have been intertwined.

The introductory paragraph alluded to the distinction between normative and methodological aspects of individualism, with the former being the focus of this entry. However, another fundamental distinction, made by Friedrich Hayek, is between true individualism and false individualism. True individualism acknowledges the limitations of human knowledge and the possibility of social order that emerges spontaneously from individuals' actions. In contrast, false individualism has no confidence in the invisible hand but instead places great confidence in collective, rationalistic guidance of social relations or social engineering. According to Hayek, this distortion of individualism tends to lead to socialism and collectivism.

As is apparent by now, the different meanings and applications of individualism are multifaceted and range from political science to sociology to psychology and, most important in this context, to ethics. In short, individualism is a worldview that is very difficult to capture in one catchall definition. Paying tribute to this diversity of conceptualizations, I first present a brief overview of the basic elements and outcomes of individualism and describe different perspectives or manifestations of individualism in different disciplines. The entry then delves into the linguistic history of the concept, discusses implications for the field of business and society, and canvasses some critiques of individualism.