Jean Jacques Rousseau's Theory Of Individualism

Throughout time there has been a fundamental conflict between collectivist values and individualist values that have set the basis of how societies around the world operate today and how they will operate in the future. In Aristotle’s quote he states how “Man is a goal-seeking animal” and how if he attempts to achieve these goals then only then will his life “have meaning”. His idea of how “man” can bear resemblance to an “animal” can be compared with Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s ideology of how men are savages and must improve themselves. It is evident that his quote is embracing individualist ideologies that can be closely related to the idea of existentialism, which is founded on the principles of giving meaning to life. Those who support these

Some people may believe that a society should have goals directed towards the principles of collectivism rather than those of individualism, where private property, collective responsibility, collective interests, adherence to collective norms, cooperation, and economic control are the principles that goals must be directed to. People who value collectivist ideologies may believe that goals focused on collective interest must be prioritized, if each individual were to achieve the goals of the community then society would benefit as a whole. Another example of collectivist goals could be public property, if corporations or small individual businesses were to partner with the government than the economy would improve. The last example of collectivist ideologies could be the idea of cooperation and economic control in the marketplace, where if each corporation were to cooperate with each other than all the hatred of rival companies would be abolished and society could live in a peaceful and wealthy state. An individualist would argue that an individual’s goals should be concentrated on before concentrating on those of the

The idea of generating wealth for your own or your family’s interests can be traced back to Adam Smith’s ideology of the baker, which essentially states that an individual does not produce goods for your purpose but for their own which then is beneficial to your interests. Copious individuals and corporations within our society have generated wealth by producing goods and services, but those who have great prosperity have established foundations that are beneficial to the collective good. These affluent corporations began based on the founder’s own self-interest-which was most likely to become rich and purchase whatever they desired- but afterwards benefiting the common good. An example of a foundation that benefits the community would be the Ford Foundation, which is directed towards advancing human welfare and taking their own profits from the automobile industry and donating it to organizations with the common goal of reducing poverty. The Ford Foundation is amongst the top five most charitable foundations in the world with a total benefaction of $11.2 billion. Another example of a foundation founded on self-interests would be the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is essentially engaged on providing education and knowledge about technology. This foundation is founded by Bill Gates, the wealthiest man in the world, from his own self-interests he has turned a once small business into a