Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Belief in the primary importance of the individual and in the virtues of self-reliance and personal independence.
- noun Acts or an act based on this belief.
- noun A doctrine advocating freedom from government regulation in the pursuit of a person's economic goals.
- noun A doctrine holding that the interests of the individual should take precedence over the interests of the state or social group.
- noun The quality of being an individual; individuality.
- noun An individual characteristic; a quirk.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The quality of being distinct or individual; subsistence as a distinct entity; individual character.
- noun Individuality or independence in action; the principle of acting according to one's own will or for one's own ends; individual as opposed to associate action or common interests.
- noun Hence That theory of government which favors the non-interference of the state in the affairs of individuals: opposed to socialism or collectivism.
- noun In logic: The tendency to the doctrine that nothing is real but individual things. The doctrine is, for example, that the laws of nature are not real, but only the things whose mode of behavior is formulated in these laws.
- noun The doctrine of pure egoism, or that nothing exists but the individual self.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The quality of being individual; individuality; personality.
- noun An excessive or exclusive regard to one's personal interest; self-interest; selfishness.
- noun The principle, policy, or practice of maintaining individuality, or independence of the individual, in action; the theory or practice of maintaining the independence of individual initiative, action, and interests, as in industrial organization or in government.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The
tendency for a person toact withoutreference to others, particularly in matters ofstyle ,fashion ormode of thought . - noun The moral
stance , political philosophy, or social outlook that promotesindependence andself-reliance of individual people, while opposing the interference with each person's choices bysociety , thestate , or any other group or institution.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the doctrine that government should not interfere in commercial affairs
- noun a belief in the importance of the individual and the virtue of self-reliance and personal independence
- noun the quality of being individual
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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We seem to be standing up for corporate profit, but defending our individualism is the straw man.
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Indeed, just as Tocqueville had to coin the term individualism to describe the unique way he observed Americans relating to one another in society, he also invented a concept that he called "the principle of interest rightly understood" to describe Americans 'moral code.
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They have treated students as members of competing racial groups rather than individuals, claiming that "individualism" is a form of "cultural racism."
Balkinization 2006
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They believe on the whole in individualism rather than tribalism, national patriotism rather than ethnic loyalty, meritocracy rather than nepotism, nuclear families rather than extended clans, law and fair play rather than privilege, corporations of strangers rather than mafias of relatives, and true love rather than the arranged marriages necessary to keep ethnic categories clear-cut.
The Volokh Conspiracy » So a Libertarian and a Liberal Walk into a Bar 2010
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You call it selfishness I call it individualism, and individualism is what made this country great.
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Perhaps rugged individualism is weakest in the church going states and strongest in the non-attending states.
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For the purpose of my argument Rousseau was a romantic idealist who believed in individualism and and that the human condition was perfectible, and he was, in fact, these things.
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“They believe on the whole in individualism rather than tribalism, national patriotism rather than ethnic loyalty, meritocracy rather than nepotism, nuclear families rather than extended clans, law and fair play rather than privilege, corporations of strangers rather than mafias of relatives, and true love rather than the arranged marriages necessary to keep ethnic categories clear-cut.”
The Volokh Conspiracy » So a Libertarian and a Liberal Walk into a Bar 2010
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For the purpose of my argument Rousseau was a romantic idealist who believed in individualism and and that the human condition was perfectible, and he was, in fact, these things.
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You call it selfishness I call it individualism, and individualism is what made this country great.
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