Individualism

Abstract

Social humanism is a political philosophy that neatly sidesteps the issue of individualism v. collectivism in political theory. From the point of view of people living in an established society, it is individualistic. A social humanist believes that we all have a right to choose how we are going to live from the range of alternatives that are plausibly available to us, and plan our lives accordingly. In this sense it is individualistic. But this does not mean that we are free to live as we please, according to our own lights. For our rights and responsibilities as members of society, or as occupants of various social or political positions in society, should be collectively, not individually, determined. Social humanism is therefore politically individualistic, but methodologically collectivist. It is politically individualistic because it supports positive liberty, and therefore individualism, as a political ideal. But it is methodologically collectivist in social and political theory, because it argues that answers to questions of social or political responsibility cannot normally be derived from answers to questions about how the individuals who make up society should behave.