Individuality: Lead The Way Or Follow It

Most people think they understand what it means to be an individual. They may say it is to be yourself, and not act like everyone else. Though this widely understood definition is accurate, there is so much more to expand on the idea of individuality. I will explain the ways in which the world affect’s a person’s individuality. People get swallowed up by what is popular and trending persuading them to make decisions based on how it will affect their appearance. I will tell that being an individual takes power and is a freedom granted to those who act on it. Individuality now may be different from what it was years ago. It is a state of loneliness that only true individuals are brave enough to enter. It means stepping out of the social norms and being yourself.

Every person on the Earth counts as an individual. The globe’s population is a number based on how many individuals exist. So, if everyone is an individual, what does individuality mean? Individuality looked up in the dictionary means the quality or character of a particular person or thing that distinguishes them from others of the same kind, especially when strongly marked. If this concept of individuality was not in existence, every human would be the same and the world would not evolve. There would be no diversity, and everyone would speak the same language or have the same religious beliefs. It expands anywhere from wearing clothes you feel comfortable in, whether they are in fashion or not, to listening to music no matter what songs are on the top of the charts at the time. Being individual is a power, a freedom, and the ability to own yourself.

Individuality is an expression of power that every human has within them. It is the ability to make decisions that may even go against what most the majority of the population thinks or does. “The individual is an effect of power, and at the same time, or precisely to the extent to which it is that effect, is the element of its articulation” (2 Rozmarin 2005). Without this independence, everyone would conform to pop culture and become a slave of society. Rozmarin also explains that “The individual (. ) is an open and dynamic structure, shaped but not determined by social, historical and discursive conditions” (3).

People are not shaped by their society, yet they are shaped by how they differentiate from the society. The smartest and most successful people used their individuality to achieve greatness. Individuality is one of the most powerful traits in the world.

Freedom is the absence of coercive constraints and the right to initiate one’s own purposive action. Freedom is vital to individuals to express their individualism. It gives them the right to be unique and the ability to think for themselves and act on their own thoughts. One’s integrity can drive him or her to execute success and happiness. The freedoms to be individual empower people to be self-reliant and combine their efforts with other individuals to achieve greater success. With the freedom of people to express themselves through their individuality, they are able to thrive within their communities. The last hidden meaning of individuality is the ability to own yourself. You have ownership of your body and leadership to trust yourself. “The tension here lies in the fact that owning one’s own body, while being a necessary condition of one’s capacity to realize oneself as free and as an owner, cannot ultimately be accounted for in terms of the implicit metaphysical stance that is embodied in one’s claim to be an owner of things generally” (2 Ciavatta 2005).

Ciavatta explains in this quote that to be an owner of things you must first take full ownership of yourself. In another article it was written that “(. ) Ultimately the individual could only ever examine him or herself as a particular determinate ‘active’ person” (Tyler 2015). To express individuality, you must take full ownership of your body and all of your actions. Comment by Nancy Suarez-Castro (Student): Add ‘para’ in front of 2 Individuality is not as simple as to just one short definition. It is a broad term and can be interpreted in multiple ways. Individuality is expressing power, freedom, and ownership of yourself. It creates diversity in the world and makes people independent. Without individualism, the world would be a dull and boring place.

Works Cited

1. Ciavatta, M. (2005). Ownership and self-ownership. Res Publica, 11(1), 1-20.
2. Rozmarin, M. (2005). Foucault's critical project: Between the transcendental and the historical. Philosophy & Social Criticism, 31(2-3), 279-300.
3. Tyler, C. (2015). Michel Foucault. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
4. Al-Sumait, F. (2011). Individuality and its relation to freedom and society. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 1(3), 78-84.
5. Baumeister, R. F. (2016). Individuality: The cultural logic of modernity. Routledge.
6. Bieri, P. (2017). The power of individuality: The significance of Emil Staiger's literary anthropology for aesthetics. International Journal of Philosophical Studies, 25(1), 34-47.
7. Forbes, G. (2009). Individualism and individuality. Philosophical Books, 50(1), 41-54.
8. Klosko, G. (2013). Individualism. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
9. Locke, J. (1690). An essay concerning human understanding. Dover Publications.
10. O'Brien, J. (2015). Individuality and autonomy in Kant. European Journal of Philosophy, 23(3), 693-716.