American Individualism can be traced back to the beginning years in its history‚ when first American immigrants came to the North American continent looking for better life and shaking off they yoke of European feudal tradition and the oppression from all kinds of powerful classes. It is determined that there were elements of Anti-oppression and searching for freedom in American people’s character. This was the original explanation of American Individualism. Although the term “Individualism” was not
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Issues Today: Universalism vs. Cultural Relativism One of the most pertinent issues of the past twenty years has been the conflict between two different ideologies of human rights on a national scale‚ universalism‚ and cultural relativism. Universalism holds that more “primitive” cultures will eventually evolve to have the same system of law and rights as Western cultures. Cultural relativists hold an opposite‚ but similarly rigid viewpoint‚ that a traditional culture is unchangeable. In universalism
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Individualism - the lack of it or the excess of it - has often been considered a major problem in the modernization of China. In the early decades of this century reformers championed individualism in opposition to traditional authority in both thought and social life‚ and especially in opposition to the "Confucian" family system. Others contended that what thwarted China’s modernization was not the absence of individualism but rather a surplus of it. The common term for "individualism"
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Individualism or Society? The human trait known as individualism can be understood in two distinct ways. The first implies an individual’s aspiration to self-reliance or independence‚ and the need to exist as individual human beings. The second‚ by contrast‚ is understood as a social theory which prioritises freedom of action by individuals over the authority of an all-powerful state. As far as the second conception is concerned‚ individualism as a discrete construct of Western thought really came
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against the evil of the world. The concerns of the individual do not matter‚ so long as the idea of Big Brother‚ and consequently‚ the Party‚ are upheld. While Winston is being tortured in the Ministry of Truth‚ O’Brien explains to Winston how his individualism has detached him from the Party and made him insane “But I tell you‚ Winston‚ that reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind‚ and nowhere else. Not in the individual mind‚ which can make mistakes‚ and in any case soon perishes:
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Forced to be Free Ever since the fall of feudal societies‚ all men have shared an obsession with individualism. Even in the days of fierce nationalism during WWI‚ the idea was still seen as the individual’s endorsement of the state rather than the state’s imposition of an idea. This obsession with individualism reaches not only politics‚ but art‚ culture‚ and even religion (the protestant reform); these ideas shape our modern world and are a driving force in the way each of us think in our daily
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Narcissism and individualism have increased heavily in the past decades‚ motivated by many factors including the media‚ technology‚ and the education system. This is concerning. Modern society encourages the influence of narcissism‚ simply because the factors that are motivated are the basis of a growing civilization. As technology evolves‚ the act of narcissism increases. This would mean that young people are at greater risk every passing year. The outcome behind narcissism and individualism would lead
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Wild Man Meet Wild Dog American themes are displayed adamantly in the book Into the Wild‚ and in the film White Fang. Topics like Self‚ Society‚ and Rugged Individualism are depicted making a deep impression on the lives of both main characters. Chris McCandless‚ in Into the Wild‚ leaves his whole life behind to journey across the country to Alaska. Most of his trip he is alone‚ but he does make contact with society on a few occasions. Similar to the nonfiction story of Chris McCandless‚ is the
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Essay 5: Individualism vs. Societal Norm and Acceptance In the community of Salem‚ Massachusetts of 1692‚ their community is set as a theocratic society‚ where the church and the state come as one. Moral laws and state laws are also combined as one. Everyone is expected to live up to the established social norms. Any individual within the Puritan community whose private lives doesn’t conform to the moral laws established by the government is represented as a threat to the community and to the
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Foster also brought up the notion of characters that "… keep refusing to behave‚ to submit to convention‚ to act in a way that conforms to expectations‚ even expectations of other nonconformists" (Foster 118). Drabble uses the concepts of radical individualism and a nonconformist in her characterization of Stacey‚ as she deals with judgments from her outer and inner circle. In Stacey’s outer circle‚ she faces moments like when she visits Dr. Motaff and "…[she] [says] that [she] [thinks] [she] [is] pregnant
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