
Agency
The belief that people have the power to define their life such that they aren't victims of circumstance, society, history or culture.Self-Reliance
Reliance on your own powers and resources.Independence
Freedom from the control of others.Entitlement
The idea that society owes you something without you owing anything in return.Freedom
The power and right to do what you want without hindrance or restraint.Rights
Principles of freedom or entitlement that are due an individual. For example, freedom of speech and the right to an education.Self-Fulfillment
The idea that it is up to the individual to decide what makes their life meaningful and pursue that without restraint.Anarchism
The belief in a stateless society such that authority is widely distributed.Existentialism
A philosophy or approach that emphasizes the individual pursuit of self-fulfillment in the face of an apparently absurd and meaningless universe.Meritocracy
A competitive system that evaluates each individual according to their demonstrated merits and potential without regard to their identity, beliefs or group membership.Liberalism
A political and moral philosophy that values the freedom and equality of the individual.Hedonism
The belief that pleasure is the only good and pain the only bad.Libertinism
The belief that the individual is free to act without moral restraint.Ethical Egoism
The belief that people can be moral by acting exclusively in their own interests.Freethought
The view that the individual should be fearless in questioning authority, accepted facts and belief.Humanism
The view that meaning should be explained in human terms as opposed to the divine or supernatural.Objectivism
The view that there are facts and meaning to be found in the universe that can be discovered with human perception, thought, inquiry, experimentation and measurement.Relativism
The belief that there is no objective reality such as facts but that reality is defined exclusively in terms of each individual's experience.Postmodernism
Postmodernism has a strange relationship to individualism. It embraces relativism such that all reality is defined by every individual but also tends to depreciate personal agency such that individuals are viewed as helpless victims of society, systems, history, culture, competition and psychological problems.Anomie
A sense of culturelessness and complete disconnection from society, community and others in general.Summary
The following are common examples of individualism.
Overview
The philosophy that values personal agency, freedom and autonomy.
Definition: Individualism | ||
Type | ||
Definition | A philosophy or approach that values the agency, moral worth, freedom, self-reliance and independence of the individual. | |
Related Concepts |