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Individualism, Decadence and GlobalizationThe Ironies of Western Individualism

Individualism, Decadence and Globalization: The Ironies of Western Individualism [This chapter analyzes conceptions of individualism from the middle of the nineteenth century to the interwar period by specifying the contexts in which these conceptions functioned. The Spencerians were concerned with the individual in relation to the State; Arnoldians with individuals in relation to national character; and Freud and Adorno in relation to war and massification. Major secondary critics like Colin Campbell and Ian Watt were concerned, later, with the Protestant ethic under increasing consumerism and its effects on individual subjectivity. With primary sources from Spencerian Individualists, through Arnoldian culturalists, to Freudian philosophical anthropologists, it would be distorting to systematize the speculative orgy. Rather, in approaching these distinctly scrappy sociological, psychological, and physiological (or instinctual) thought-experiments on the scope and limits of individualism, my aim is to establish the extra-individual units of analysis in which the individual was always conceived in relation to others, whether coteries, classes, nations, the market, or the State. Having clarified distinctive contexts for the conceptual development of individualism in this chapter, remaining chapters will discuss in more detail the specific social environments in which the individual evolved.] http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

Individualism, Decadence and GlobalizationThe Ironies of Western Individualism

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References (8)

Publisher
Palgrave Macmillan UK
Copyright
© Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited 2010
ISBN
978-1-349-31995-4
Pages
28 –60
DOI
10.1057/9780230277540_2
Publisher site
See Chapter on Publisher Site

Abstract

[This chapter analyzes conceptions of individualism from the middle of the nineteenth century to the interwar period by specifying the contexts in which these conceptions functioned. The Spencerians were concerned with the individual in relation to the State; Arnoldians with individuals in relation to national character; and Freud and Adorno in relation to war and massification. Major secondary critics like Colin Campbell and Ian Watt were concerned, later, with the Protestant ethic under increasing consumerism and its effects on individual subjectivity. With primary sources from Spencerian Individualists, through Arnoldian culturalists, to Freudian philosophical anthropologists, it would be distorting to systematize the speculative orgy. Rather, in approaching these distinctly scrappy sociological, psychological, and physiological (or instinctual) thought-experiments on the scope and limits of individualism, my aim is to establish the extra-individual units of analysis in which the individual was always conceived in relation to others, whether coteries, classes, nations, the market, or the State. Having clarified distinctive contexts for the conceptual development of individualism in this chapter, remaining chapters will discuss in more detail the specific social environments in which the individual evolved.]

Published: Nov 30, 2015

Keywords: Nineteenth Century; Romantic Love; Protestant Ethic; Unearned Income; Personal Liberty

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