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Ethics in psychology ethics
Ethics in psychology ethics
Ayn rand, individualism and collectivism
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Individualism is a school of ethic that can be defined by various perspectives of intelligent mindsets. Nathaniel Brenden (1994) defined individualism as two different concepts: 1) ethical-psychological and 2) ethical-political. Under ethical-psychological concept, he stated that a human being should be able to judge independently and think, while respecting the jurisdiction of his or her mind. In addition, Brenden stated that individuals should uphold its command of individual rights under ethical-political concept (Brenden, 1994). On the other hand, Ayn Rand (1964), the inventor of Objectivism and the strong individualist, defined individualism as follows: Individualism regards man—every man—as an independent, sovereign entity who possesses an inalienable right to his own life, a right derived from his nature as a rational being. Individualism holds that a civilized society, or any form of association, cooperation or peaceful coexistence among men, can be achieved only on the basis of the recognition of individual rights—and that a group, as such, has no rights other than the individual rights of its members. There are numerous ethical schools of individualism and copious individualists with different perspectives on the idea of individualism. In this paper, I have selected the following ethical individualism to expose and critique: 1) ontological individualism, 2) methodological individualism, and 3) moral or political individualism. Ontological individualism is a belief that only individuals exist in a society (Sawyer, 2002). In other words, ontological individualism refers to persons who choose and act in a society; only individuals exist. Therefore, a group, a social class, or a state is not able to act as an individual ... ... middle of paper ... ... 7, 2011, from http://epstein.org/brian/PhilPapers/OntolIndiv.pdf Kim, J. (1993). Supervenience and mind : selected philosophical essays. New York: Cambridge University Press. Methodological Individualism. (n.d.). Retrieved February 7, 2011, from This is the home page of J.R. Lucas, Fellow of Merton College, Oxford: http://users.ox.ac.uk/~jrlucas/methind.html Rand, A. (1965). The virtue of selfishness; a new concept of egoism. New York: New American Library. Sawyer, R. K. (2002, December). Nonreductive Individualism Part 1 - Supervenience and Wild Disjunction. Retrieved February 3, 2011, from http://artsci.wustl.edu/~ksawyer/PDFs/nri1.pdf Sawyer, R. K. (2005). Social emergence : societies as complex systems. New York: Cambridge University Press. Weber, M. (1978). Economy and society : an outline of interpretive sociology. Berkley: University of California Press.
When it first appeared on the scene in the philosophy of mind, the concept of supervenience was warmly embraced. Supervenience was thought to capture the idea of dependence without reduction and thus promised to provide a useful framework for discussions of mental causation, phenomenal experience, and, more generally, the relation between the mental and the physical. Since then a great deal has changed. Much careful work has been done to show that philosophical applications of supervenience do not, in fact, achieve what they were thought to. For example, Jaegwon Kim, whose name is closely associated with the concept, has shown convincingly that the standard formulations of supervenience in the philosophy of mind (weak, strong, and global) do not capture the idea of psychophysical dependence. (1) Many philosophers believed that supervenience could express a form of physicalism, but since the concept of dependence is a minimal req...
Children are taught the value in sharing, in ensuring that everyone is extended the same opportunities and the same kindness. Ayn Rand, however, had a different perspective. Her philosophy, called objectivism, favors morality that is based upon one’s own desires. Clearly, Rand by no means encouraged the citizens of every city to run amok in the streets, doing whatever they pleased, but she did believe that any man is responsible for himself and himself alone. Altruism is defined by a duty to others, and by the value in sacrificing oneself for the greater common good. Because this concept allows all of society an equal fighting chance, it is widely supported and well loved. Altruism is the go-to template for standup moral character: selfishness must never be practiced, think only of others, build your life around the lives around you, and so on. Objectivism runs in stark contrast to this, encouraging individuals to define their goals and adjust their behavior accordingly. Objectivism’s primary claim is that selfishness is, indeed, a positive thing, and that it brings about considerable success in
The debate over individualism and collectivism has been the fundamental conflict both in political philosophy and in ethics. Philosophers such as Ayn Rand think that human beings are fundamentally individuals, and that everyone exists for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself. But it is very rare for one to live completely alone by himself. The entire human race would not be able to evolve and reproduce, if humans were individualistic in nature, and each individual needs some form of support from group to enhance its own odds of surviving. Humans naturally are in need of each other to survive, to reproduce, and to protect their offspring. Such needs are innately built into every human being, and
individualism: the belief in the primary importance of the individual, in the virtues of self-reliance and personal independence, in the freedom from government regulation in the pursuit of economic and social goals, and in the priority of individual interest over collective interest.
Individualism and collectivism are conflicting beliefs with the nature of humans, society, and the relationships between them, however, these ideologies are not diametrically opposing since both are essential towards balancing beliefs from becoming extremes. The first source represents the idea of collectivism and suggests that the society must focus on moving their viewpoint from ‘me’ into ‘we’ in the interest of survival and progression. This perspective presents the idea that the individual’s advantage belongs not only to the person, but to the group or society of which he or she is a part of, and that the individual’s values and goals are for the group’s “greater good.” Likewise, Karl Marx’s principle of communism emphasizes in the elimination
In the unit “The Spirit of Individualism” there are two parts, “Celebrations of the self” and “The Dark side of Individualism” with pieces that present very different perspectives on human nature. “The Dark side of Individualism” portrays human nature as greedy, confused, easily caught up in fame, and addicted to wealth and possessions. In “Celebrations of the Self”, human nature is viewed in a more positive light. The characteristics shown are self reliance, independence, wisdom and selflessness. “The Dark side of Individualism” pieces are written in a more macabre tone, whereas “Celebrations of the Self” pieces have a more positive and uplifting tone to them. The generalizations of human nature are different because of the pieces in “The Dark side of Individualism” and “Celebrations of the Self” have entirely different views on life and human nature.
The notion of individualism is extremely important in exercising the duty people have to cease from the...
The idea of Individualism can be traced all the way back to England before America’s existence. As we know, individualism has been interpreted in many forms throughout history. The 19th century is no different, taking hold of its own idea of individualism, called transcendentalism. Transcendentalism suggests freedom should not be confined to those focused on money and superficial gains. Instead, people should depend on no one but themselves. This movement focused on “greater individualism against conformity” (Corbett et al.). Heavily influenced by the Romantic period, transcendentalism adopted the belief that reason was more important than logic as Benjamin Franklin has believed. Reason must also include unique emotion and spirit (Corbett et
Recently, we’ve been introduced to Jason Kawall’s argument for the theory of Biocentric Individualism (BI). In this paper, I intend to state Kawall’s argument for the theory, explain the premises and conclusions of the argument, and evaluate the argument using an objection raised and responded to by Kawall himself. My thesis in this paper is that Kawall presents a strong cogent argument for biocentric individualism.
Ayn Rand’s followed the idea of ethical egoism. This idea wants people to do what is in their own self-interest. That is why she does not believe in the idea of Altruism. She even stated, “Altruism, she thought, leads to a denial of the value of the individual” (page 73). This belief thinks that you should put others before yourself. In the book it also stated it stated this about egoism, “This is the morality of selfishness. It holds that our only duty is to do what is best for ourselves. Other people matter only insofar as they can benefit us” (page 65). In other words she believes that the only reason why you are helping someone is because in some type of way you are getting something out of it.
In order to understand Ayn Rand’s theory on ethical egoism, first we need to understand her background and the era she was raised in. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia on February 2, 1905, Rand witnessed the Kerensky Revolution which she supported and the Bolshevik Revolution which she denounced. She changed her name from Alissa Rosenbaum to Ayn Rand in 1926 – around this time she also abandoned her Jewish religion and became an atheist. Her family fled Russia to escape the violence and her father’s business was confiscated. Faced with near starvation during those turbulent years, Rand’s fascination with American history began. She attended the University of Petrograd where she studied philosophy and history; however, her college experience ended badly when the school was taken over by the communist government. She moved to the United States never intending to return to her homeland ("Biography of Ayn Rand (1905-1982))".
Individualism in today’s society is the “belief that each person is unique, special, and a ‘basic unit of nature’.” The individualism concept puts an “emphasis on individual initiative” where people act independently of others and use self-motivation to prosper. The individualists “value privacy” over community the individual thrives to move ahead in life (U S Values).
Indeed, even self-intrigued independence itself is a type of socially composed reliance in which individuals arrange their cooperation with reference to models of "self-expression" and "self-regard"— which are socially proficient, socially showed, and situated to social qualities. Calculative, focused models of "progress" and "accomplishment" are not any more regular and not any more central than social models of charitable minding; all are socially characterized and accepted. socially defined and validated.
“Altruism — the sacrifice of self to others. This tied man irrevocably to other men and left him nothing but a choice of pain: his own pain borne for the sake of others or pain inflicted upon others for the sake of self.” This dramatic definition of altruism, from The Soul of an Individualist by Ayn Rand, provides a backdrop for similar ideologies. Along the same philosophical vein, one can examine the principles of collectivism, a way of life that puts priority on a group instead of a single member. Individualism, on the other hand, is the complete rejection of these two ideas and a way of thinking that stresses living on one’s own terms instead of being dictated to by a group. As shown
In the introduction of A World of Ideas, Jacobus states that he feels individualism will keep society in balance. However, in today's off-kilter world, this argument should be revisited to determine if individual thinking is selfish in the context of modern society.