Individualist Philosophy
The Foundation ofIndependent Living
Individualist Philosophy
The Foundation ofIndependent Living
In a large crowd of people, one person stands out. He or she doesn't necessarily look any different from the others. In fact, he looks ordinary compared with individuals who show-off their wild clothing, body piercings, and colorfully dyed hair. These superficial means of self-expression don't interest him.
He rises above the crowd because he expresses who he is on the inside. While everyone else clusters in groups, he stands alone. While everyone else discusses whatever everyone else is discussing, he looks for someone who wants to discuss the things that interests him. In the meantime, he is content to ignore the meaninglessness around him and quietly think by himself. Individualists hold to the philosophy of independent living. As a matter of principle, they do not follow social groups, social authorities, or social conventions. They follow only their own minds and proudly exist as sovereign, autonomous, rational entities. Rationality is the unique faculty that makes humans human. It separates us from, and elevates us above, all other species. Rationality, being our means of acquiring conscious knowledge, is also our chief means of survival. This holds true regardless of time and circumstance. The modern technocrat must use his rational faculty to manipulate complex data and operate state-of-the-art machinery to survive in the competitive high-tech job market. Similarly, the primitive caveman had to use his mind in order to avoid starvation -- by fashioning tools enabling him to hunt more effectively. Humans are, by nature, thinking creatures. And thinking, by nature, is a volitional function carried out autonomously by individual minds. The ethics of individualism follow from these premises. The most fundamental question in ethics is What is one's purpose in life? And as a corollary, How should one act to achieve that purpose?
He does not seek the approval of the masses; he approves of himself, and that approval is sufficient. He does not conform to the values of the masses; he holds to his own. He is the most radical, most socially subversive person in the crowd. He is an individualist.
Religious and socially based ethical systems have held that our purpose is to sacrifice -- either to supposed supernatural beings or to other humans --and to demonstrate our commitment to that purpose by surrendering to authority figures, obeying their orders, and seeking their approval.
Individualists guide their lives according to consciously chosen principles, not commandments handed down from others. Those principles are derived from nature (including human nature and the facts of reality). According to individualism's biocentric conception of ethics, the good consists of actions that sustain or enhance one's life. Actions that destroy or undermine one's life are regarded as evil.
Therefore, one's purpose in life is to pursue his own happiness-- that is, his own rational self-interest. He achieves this purpose through a constant, conscious process of self-evaluation (introspection) and a consistent adherence to reason in pursuing values.
A primary virtue in individualist social ethics is respecting individuality -- first and foremost, one's own individuality, and secondarily, the individuality of those with whom one interacts. In general, individualists interact only with individuals who are a source of value, or a potential source of value. Unlike conformists, who passively adopt the ideas and values of those around them in order to win "acceptance," individualists never surrender their consciously chosen ideas and values -- their individuality -- to others. Individualists seek not to "belong" in society, but to achieve self-liberation, the complete actualization of their individuality. The only thing individualists demand from others is that they refrain from initiating force or fraud. Force is the opposite of thought and the antithesis of individual freedom. A proper political system abolishes the initiation of force and promotes a society based entirely on voluntary interaction. * * * The view of human existence I have outlined (and it is only an outline) is based on Objectivism, Ayn Rand's philosophy. I owe an intellectual and personal debt to Rand. I would not be the person I am today were it not for the inspiration I derived from reading her novels and the enlightenment I attained from applying her ideas. For an overview of the philosophy of Objectivism, visit the Ayn Rand Institute's Essentials of Objectivism page. For a full explication of the philosophy, there is one indispensable book: Leonard Peikoff's Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand.
