Troy Lee Clift
December 7, 2015
History 100-50
The Origins of Individualism
Individualism as a theory which maintains that selves or persons are the loci of human-value dignity and worth, and that as individuals they constitute the source of new ideas whose practical application is necessary for the growth of society and for the emergence of new values shared by the participants in the group of which the individuals having the new ideas are members. This definition says that individual people are the source of the growth of society. It also, says that the people of a community bring out the values of their community. So, the ideas of the people are the basis of society. The people come up with the values of their culture, at least within the theory of individualism. Where did this idea of individualism come from? When did it originate? Many people believe that the idea of individualism originated in Europe during the Renaissance, however, individualism has been fueling the advancement of society much longer than that.
De Maistre coined the term individualism in 1820 when he was referring to the events that led up to the French Revolution: “this deep and frightening division of minds, this infinite fragment of all doctrines, political Protestantism carried to the most absolute individualism.” This practice of independent thought was nothing new in 1820. Independent though, and more the over interpretation of past ideas, had been prevalent since the days of Martin Luther. Martin Luther made his own interpretations of the bible and did not rely on other people to do it for him. This is a example of religious individualism, which is defined as the view that the individual believer does not need intermediaries, that he has the primary responsibility for his own spiritual destiny, that he has the right and the duty to come to his own relationship with his god in his own way and by his own effort. Martin Luther did not need the pope to tell him how he should interpret his Bible. He actually disagreed with the pope when it came to salvation. While the pope was selling indulgences, Martin Luther was preaching that salvation was free to anyone. This wasn’t the first time in Christian history were someone had come up with their very own ideas. Arius had his own ideas about the Holy Trinity. He said since Jesus was the son of God, he was a piece of him and that he was subordinate to him. This new idea led to a conference to harsh out the details: the Council of Nicaea. In 325 A.D., the Council of Nicaea decided that Arius was wrong and that another man, Tertullian, had the correct explanation of the Holy Trinity.
There are also different elements of individualism; one of these elements is autonomy. Autonomy, or self-direction, is having thoughts and actions of your own—actions that have not been influenced by the will of another. This element of individualism was actually described during the Middle Ages by Saint Thomas Aquinas. During that time, an order from a superior, whether just or unjust, had to be obeyed; For Thomas Aquinas however, if a man’s conscience kept him from following orders he did not need to do it. His argument was that “everyone is bound to examine his own actions in the light of the knowledge which he has from God”. What he meant was that any man could gage the morality of something and then he had the freedom to act on that decision. In accordance with the ideas of self-direction, many people would consider Moses to be an individualist—pushing the origin of individualism would be long before the days of Arius and Tertullian. However, he is no individualist because he is not autonomous. He never acted on his own will; God told him what to do and when to do it. “The Lord said unto Moses, ‘Depart, go up hence, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’” This shows how God was commanding him to do things. Moses was not the master of his own actions; therefore, he was no individualist. The other biblical characters got their inspiration by a divine intervention. There was not yet a cut off showing the importance of the individual’s thoughts or actions—the importance still laid in whether or not God had said it should be that way.
So far, through religious individualism, it seems that individualism gets its roots around 300 to 325 A.D. with the ideas of Arius and those of Tertullian, but the story does not stop there. The individualism also encompasses the idea of political individualism: The citizens constitute “independent centers of consciousness”, that are independent, who are the sole generators of their own wants and preferences, and the best judges of their own wants and preferences, and the best judges of their own interests—which can be identified by consulting them or observing what they desire and aim at. The very first place where it was acceptable for citizens to voice their opinion and not fear persecution was in ancient Greece in the city of Athens. In Athens, the citizens would all gather in the forum and vote; this direct democracy was the first time the thoughts of the individual mattered on a broad scale. In this setting the opinion of any citizen mattered, whether he was a wealthy merchant or a farmer. He could vote on laws and speak his mind freely in the forum; he was autonomous and he had a direct impact on his society.
Outstanding individualists—such men as Plato, Aristotle, and Luther—lived long before men recognized the social component of the self, and before they acknowledged the important role of the individual in the creating of new ideas essential to social growth. In ancient Greece, independent thought prospered and political individualism reigned supreme. The Renaissance thinkers were not the first to realize that the ideas of the individual matter; there were people thinking for themselves long before the days of Martin Luther. In the fifth century B.C. there were men shaping their community and trying do what they felt was right for themselves and their neighbors. These men may not have realized just how their ideas shaped their society, but they were able to see how important self-direction and independent thinking was. Even today the functional relationship between social change and individual creativity is not clear, but we still know that individual thought is important.
1 David L. Miller, Individualism (Austin: The University of Texas Printing division, 1967), pg. 75.
2 Steven Lukes, Individualism (New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, Inc., 1973), pg. 4.
3 Ibid., pg. 94.
4 Ibid., pg. 52.
5 Ibid., pg. 52.
6 The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version of the Bible. (New York: The New American Library of Canada Limited, 1974), Exodus 33:1.
7 Steven Lukes, Individualism (New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, Inc., 1973), pg. 79.
8 Ibid., pg. 79.
9 David L. Miller, Individualism (Austin: The University of Texas Printing division, 1967), pg. 84.
10 Ibid., pg. 84.
This essay drove me mad and to this day I do not know what my final grade on this assignment looks like–or the class for that matter. The research for this assignment was the difficult part. Through the struggles of finding this mythological start of individualism, I learned a little more about researching and how to write and essay. This entire class truly helped me with my essay writing. In high school I never really had to write an essay and then I get thrown into this class where the only grades I get are essays. This sort of trial by fire really helped get my writing on a college level– well almost to a college level…
Troy Lee Clift
December 7, 2015
History 100-50
The Origins of Individualism
Individualism as a theory which maintains that selves or persons are the loci of human-value dignity and worth, and that as individuals they constitute the source of new ideas whose practical application is necessary for the growth of society and for the emergence of new values shared by the participants in the group of which the individuals having the new ideas are members. This definition says that individual people are the source of the growth of society. It also, says that the people of a community bring out the values of their community. So, the ideas of the people are the basis of society. The people come up with the values of their culture, at least within the theory of individualism. Where did this idea of individualism come from? When did it originate? Many people believe that the idea of individualism originated in Europe during the Renaissance, however, individualism has been fueling the advancement of society much longer than that.
De Maistre coined the term individualism in 1820 when he was referring to the events that led up to the French Revolution: “this deep and frightening division of minds, this infinite fragment of all doctrines, political Protestantism carried to the most absolute individualism.” This practice of independent thought was nothing new in 1820. Independent though, and more the over interpretation of past ideas, had been prevalent since the days of Martin Luther. Martin Luther made his own interpretations of the bible and did not rely on other people to do it for him. This is a example of religious individualism, which is defined as the view that the individual believer does not need intermediaries, that he has the primary responsibility for his own spiritual destiny, that he has the right and the duty to come to his own relationship with his god in his own way and by his own effort. Martin Luther did not need the pope to tell him how he should interpret his Bible. He actually disagreed with the pope when it came to salvation. While the pope was selling indulgences, Martin Luther was preaching that salvation was free to anyone. This wasn’t the first time in Christian history were someone had come up with their very own ideas. Arius had his own ideas about the Holy Trinity. He said since Jesus was the son of God, he was a piece of him and that he was subordinate to him. This new idea led to a conference to harsh out the details: the Council of Nicaea. In 325 A.D., the Council of Nicaea decided that Arius was wrong and that another man, Tertullian, had the correct explanation of the Holy Trinity.
There are also different elements of individualism; one of these elements is autonomy. Autonomy, or self-direction, is having thoughts and actions of your own—actions that have not been influenced by the will of another. This element of individualism was actually described during the Middle Ages by Saint Thomas Aquinas. During that time, an order from a superior, whether just or unjust, had to be obeyed; For Thomas Aquinas however, if a man’s conscience kept him from following orders he did not need to do it. His argument was that “everyone is bound to examine his own actions in the light of the knowledge which he has from God”. What he meant was that any man could gage the morality of something and then he had the freedom to act on that decision. In accordance with the ideas of self-direction, many people would consider Moses to be an individualist—pushing the origin of individualism would be long before the days of Arius and Tertullian. However, he is no individualist because he is not autonomous. He never acted on his own will; God told him what to do and when to do it. “The Lord said unto Moses, ‘Depart, go up hence, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’” This shows how God was commanding him to do things. Moses was not the master of his own actions; therefore, he was no individualist. The other biblical characters got their inspiration by a divine intervention. There was not yet a cut off showing the importance of the individual’s thoughts or actions—the importance still laid in whether or not God had said it should be that way.
So far, through religious individualism, it seems that individualism gets its roots around 300 to 325 A.D. with the ideas of Arius and those of Tertullian, but the story does not stop there. The individualism also encompasses the idea of political individualism: The citizens constitute “independent centers of consciousness”, that are independent, who are the sole generators of their own wants and preferences, and the best judges of their own wants and preferences, and the best judges of their own interests—which can be identified by consulting them or observing what they desire and aim at. The very first place where it was acceptable for citizens to voice their opinion and not fear persecution was in ancient Greece in the city of Athens. In Athens, the citizens would all gather in the forum and vote; this direct democracy was the first time the thoughts of the individual mattered on a broad scale. In this setting the opinion of any citizen mattered, whether he was a wealthy merchant or a farmer. He could vote on laws and speak his mind freely in the forum; he was autonomous and he had a direct impact on his society.
Outstanding individualists—such men as Plato, Aristotle, and Luther—lived long before men recognized the social component of the self, and before they acknowledged the important role of the individual in the creating of new ideas essential to social growth. In ancient Greece, independent thought prospered and political individualism reigned supreme. The Renaissance thinkers were not the first to realize that the ideas of the individual matter; there were people thinking for themselves long before the days of Martin Luther. In the fifth century B.C. there were men shaping their community and trying do what they felt was right for themselves and their neighbors. These men may not have realized just how their ideas shaped their society, but they were able to see how important self-direction and independent thinking was. Even today the functional relationship between social change and individual creativity is not clear, but we still know that individual thought is important.
1 David L. Miller, Individualism (Austin: The University of Texas Printing division, 1967), pg. 75.
2 Steven Lukes, Individualism (New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, Inc., 1973), pg. 4.
3 Ibid., pg. 94.
4 Ibid., pg. 52.
5 Ibid., pg. 52.
6 The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version of the Bible. (New York: The New American Library of Canada Limited, 1974), Exodus 33:1.
7 Steven Lukes, Individualism (New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, Inc., 1973), pg. 79.
8 Ibid., pg. 79.
9 David L. Miller, Individualism (Austin: The University of Texas Printing division, 1967), pg. 84.
10 Ibid., pg. 84.
This essay drove me mad and to this day I do not know what my final grade on this assignment looks like–or the class for that matter. The research for this assignment was the difficult part. Through the struggles of finding this mythological start of individualism, I learned a little more about researching and how to write and essay. This entire class truly helped me with my essay writing. In high school I never really had to write an essay and then I get thrown into this class where the only grades I get are essays. This sort of trial by fire really helped get my writing on a college level– well almost to a college level…