Intellectuals, psychologists, sociologists, but above all journalists and ordinary people, often label theindividualism as a negative, explosive and devastating phenomenon for society. We often hear statements like "we are a society of individualists" or "individualism is the evil of our times“. In fact, this is exactly what we desperately need, in an era of consumerism, followers e populismIndeed, due to the constant cultural simplifications brought about by the media and the spread of psychologisms in everyday life, individualism is labeled as a synthesis, a mix, a blend, of selfishness, egotism, and egocentrism. This leads to the individual being confused with his or her ego, thus losing many of the moral, social, and philosophical connotations of individualism itself.
The forgotten essence of individualism
The most authentic individualism places the individual and his possibility of be autonomous. Free and aware in relation to the social groups that surround him, to the vast bureaucratic apparatuses that regulate his life and to the fashions of the contemporary world. Individualism in all its forms, whether philosophical or moral, assigns a positive anthropological vision of man, an ability to be an active part of society, without losing either one's independence or one's autonomy. It is not a simple individual who pursues his own interests above those of the collective. As Durkheim He argued that the individual is a social product; the individual arises from society as a representation, but also a categorization, of the stimuli, reflections, and experiences that each of us experiences individually, in our daily lives. Precisely for this reason, the individual gradually acquires a role, even from a legislative perspective, in society. Beginning in the second half of the eighteenth century, Western society began to talk about rights, equality, and legality tied to the individual and no longer to nobility, class, or ethnic group. But it was during and after the two world wars that the perception of individualism was definitively compromised. When first modernity, with the devastating influence of mass gain, and subsequently postmodernity, with its moral fragmentation, led to the categorization of the individual as a mere antithesis to society, making him a slave to psychologisms and false representations, powerless in the face of global phenomena.
The Ego Triad
Today in the collective imagination and feeling, the term individualism has a negative meaning, almost nihilistic. As it is interpreted not as a social phenomenon but rather as a set of prejudices and psychologisms about human beings. We mainly identify individualism with psychological behaviors linked to ego triadThis triad refers to three very common psychological attitudes in contemporary times, namely selfishness, egotism and egocentrism.Selfishness as we know, it is the belief that each of our actions is aimed at satisfying our ego, our personal interest.egotism, much less known, is that psychological attitude that leads us to worship our actions and our image in a narcissistic way.egocentrism Of the three, it is the most significant and devastating psychological attitude of our time. It is determined and described by behaviors that place our ego at the center of every event, undermining real communication with others, but above all, presenting our point of view as the only possible one, as absolute. Individualism is confused, distorted, as a mixture of these three psychological attitudes. The individual does not correspond to his ego.individualism is a social phenomenon, not psychological. We're not saying that an individual can't be selfish, egotistical, or even self-centered, but simply that when we speak of individualism, we're talking about a human being, an agent, an individual, within a social and cultural context, not guided exclusively by impulses, feelings, and emotions. It's not simply a matter of fact or academic knowledge; what's at stake is our perception of what an individual is and what they're capable of doing in a social context.
The need to rediscover the individual
In the early 20th century, Emma goldman He stated in one of his writings how absurd it was to claim that our modern society is individualistic. I believe this statement is more valid than ever today. Authentic, positive individualism, made up of people who seek autonomy e independence, where this research is supported as a mainstay by society itself, is completely absent in contemporary society. There is no such creative and participatory power in individuals that Ortega Y Gasset, aware of the excesses of mass society, had tried to reawaken in his thinking and writings. We must rediscover the social value of the individual, without falling back into personalisms. The individual can be an agent of change, more than ever at the local level. Let's forget the ego, let's rediscover the individual in opposition to the masses, to the mode, to trends, to everything that socially disregards autonomy, freedom, awareness, and intentionality. There is a need to re-embrace a conscious and motivated individualism. Since we don't need numbers, consumers, or even followers, we need aware individuals, capable of understanding and willing.
Francesco Plaino
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