Philosophy Now Forum

Erica Stonestreet explores a peculiar aspect of On Liberty.

https://philosophynow.org/issues/76/On_Individuality

From the article:

What is it to make a decision for yourself? The difference between making your own decisions and letting them be made for you is much like that between steering a boat and drifting in it. In the latter case, boat and passenger end up where wind and water take them; in the former, you have some say in where the boat ends up. No one can avoid having to respond to the world, of course, and much of the time the decisions we are given to make don’t come about through any doing of our own, and take us places we don’t plan to go, just as the boat’s pilot will sometimes be contending with forces greater than she can control. People often end up living lives they would never have desired or anticipated. This can be by choice – but even then it is by choice given the available alternatives among unexpected obstacles. Nevertheless, there is a big difference between being in some measure of control, and being in none.

I appreciate the effort Eric but fear it is a lost cause. I tried an experiment by initiating the Individualism vs. Collectivism thread which quickly was reduced to socializing. The bottom line is that society as a whole has been conditioned to prefer statist slavery to individualism. Defining people by collectives is the rage of the day and individuals are only recognized as disturbing the peace. Simone Weil explains why

https://www.hermitary.com/solitude/weil.html

In "Sketch of Contemporary Social Life" (1934), Weil develops the theme of collectivism as the trajectory of modern culture.

Never has the individual been so completely delivered up to a blind collectivity, and never have men been so less capable, not only of subordinating their actions to their thoughts, but even of thinking.

Weil is not defending the individual as laisse-faire atom but as subordinated to inimical modern forces by "production and consumption," with science, technology, labor, money, and social life turning historical means into corporate and collectivist ends.

The inversion of the relation between means and ends -- an inversion which is to a certain extent the law of every oppressive society -- here becomes total or nearly so, and extends to nearly everything.

The collective glorifies the means while the human individual strives to become one with human "value" even at the expense of the glorified means.

Of course individualism is being lost to various forms of statist slavery. It is what modern Man needs having lost his balls to cope with the chaos produced by technology. We don't know how to create an ark within our being which can float above emotional chaos. We need more individuals who are not expressions of collectives but I fear it is a lost cause. The collective influence is too strong.

Probably nothing reveals the willing sacrifice of the struggle for individuality more than the blind loyalty to psychological slavery demanded by a political party. For that reason Simone Weil suggested abolishing political parties

"When a man joins a political party, he submissively adopts a mental attitude which he will express later on with words such as, ‘As a monarchist, as a Socialist, I think that …’ It is so comfortable! It amounts to having no thoughts at all. Nothing is more comfortable than not having to think." Simone Weil

In Plato's Republic, the philosopher king was a true individual. He had experiential knowledge of the GOOD from which opinions were created. The philosopher king could reason as an individual with knowledge of man's being so could understand what is necessary for a healthy society to function. Modern man does not have philosopher kings. They have been sacrificed to beings cunning enough to become influential experts assuring the devolution of society into blind collectives and cultural expressions of these blind collectives like political parties.

Individuals worthy of the name are very rare. If you are fortunate to meet one thank your lucky stars. It can be a very mind and heart opening experience that you will profit from.