Abstract
‘Individualism’ is a very familiar word in the vocabulary of social theory. Numerous standard uses of it come readily to mind, including these: western society and thought (including education and educational theory) have been increasingly dominated by individualism for generations; Reformation theology is more individualistic than that of the medieval period; individualism is well illustrated in the thought of J.S. Mill, and criticised in that of Marx; there is little of it in Plato’s Republic and a great deal of it in Popper’s The Open Society and Its Enemies. However it is not so easy to provide a clear, unambiguous account of the word’s meaning, and a quick survey of paradigmatic contexts suggests that it is not used consistently in the same sense.
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References
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© 1989 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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Watt, J. (1989). The Individualistic Tradition. In: Individualism and Educational Theory. Philosophy and Education, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2460-4_1
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