INDIVIDUALISM VERSUS COLLECTIVISM: THE MEDIATION OF HUMAN SOLIDARITY

Résumé

This paper explores the human attributes of individuality, by which a person is one and consistent with himself, and relationality by which the individual opens himself/herself to others in a dynamic relationship of mutual dependence and solidarity. Thus,a balanced and authentic life is one in which the assertiveness of one's individuality does not impede or conflict with one's relationality. It is pertinent to recall that there has arisen, over the course of the centuries, the tension between self and others as a result of the inability of the self to reconcile with others. This tension engendered two conflicting ideologies; Individualism and Collectivism. The proponents of individualism argued that the interests of the individual ought and should take pre-eminence over the interests of the community or society (the collective)whilethe proponents of collectivism countered with the claim that, in as much as the individual is a member of the community, the interests of the individual ought to be mainstreamed into the overall interests of the society for the common good. I examined the arguments on both sides with a highlight on extreme individualism to which collectivism was a reaction. This paper is structured into three parts. The first part deals with the conceptual expositions of individualism and collectivism, and cognate concepts. The second part is on the idea of Authenticity understood as a balance of forces between the I (individual) and They (community) based on Martin Heidegger's existentialist philosophy. The paper concludes in the third part with a discussion of the socio-political and moral necessity of human solidarity in contemporary society.