Adam Lucas

November 10, 2015

UWRT 1102-91
Prof. Intawiwat

Philosophy of Individuality

Over the course of history, conformity was a valuable asset to survival. Humans had an
obligation to conform at least to a certain degree in order to allow society to function properly.
However, as society has expanded, less and less focus has been placed on the importance of the
society over the individual. Society has evolved to the point where it is simply just not necessary
for everyone to follow these preconceived roles that were once given to people. This has allowed
for more room to express individuality and to follow the desires of each person. Some people
may desire a life of stability; getting a normal job, buying a home, staying in the same place and
that sort of thing. On the other hand, some people desire to place more focus on expressing
themselves as individuals. One such of these people was Chris McCandless. Chris was a man
who, while looking like a crazy man to a lot of people, had strong ideals on individuality. There
have been many philosophers over the course of history with varying opinions on the subject,
and in many ways, Chris McCandless was a philosopher of his own.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, a man by the name of Rene Descartes became the man
would be known as the father of modern western philosophy. Western philosophy has always
been more focused on the individual, but he was the first known philosopher to take that to its

extreme. The roots of his philosophy are found in the ideas of Socrates. Socrates showed great
value

in the individual; even radically so; but he never really saw it as a distinct
being, separate from society (Bramann). Descartes became the one that
broke away from that concept. He was really the first philosopher to
separate the self from the society, in what would be known as the solitary
self (Bramann). With this, the question arose: how can one who is separate

from society possibly relate to the outside world? This thought process led Descartes into the
idea of solipsism, the extreme philosophical idea that I am the only one that really exists.

In the early 19th century, Ralph Waldo Emerson spearheaded a self-introspective

movement that came to be known as Transcendentalism. At its core, it
places the individual over all, and exemplifies the idea that man
should reject a conformist personality; as that will only weigh him
back from fulfilling his true potentialthe idea of self
actualization. In many ways it is very similar to the philosophy of
Descartes. In his most famous essay, Self Reliance, Emerson states that
There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the
conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he
must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe

is full

of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot
of ground which is given to him to till. What Emerson is saying here is that no matter what a
mans potential may begreat or smallhe should strive to reach that potential. However, he
cannot reach that potential by conforming to society and learning traditionally; he must be his
own man and learn for himselfbecoming self-reliant. In many ways, this view is very similar
to Chris own views. Chris believed in this extreme idea of being his own man, very similar to
Emersons view of self-reliance.

On a completely different end of the spectrum, with Confucianism, the general consensus
has been that the ones duty and obligation trump over the individual (Brandly). While this may
hold some truth, its a far cry from being absolute. Unlike more recent ideologies, it generally
doesnt focus on the radical autonomy of the individual, but it does still exist (Brandly). The
autonomy prevalent to ancient Chinese philosophy is that of an integrated individual. Rather than

acting disjunctive to society, it focuses on the autonomy within the walls of the individual.
Compared to the more abstract, more extreme ideas of
individuality, it is much more restrictive. However, it does not
restrict freewill on decisions, commands and responsibilities
(Brandly). At its core, the self is defined as a persons being
that distinguishes itself from others. This is almost the
antithesis to Chris views, while still sharing similar core
concepts.

In the novel Into the Wild, Chris McCandless displays an extreme example of a desire for
individuality. He leaves behind everything in order to find meaning to his life and become his
own man. Many people see what he did as being selfish and running away from his problems,
when in reality he was just seeking a new meaning to his life. He was breaking away from the
norms of society, doing something that made him an individual.
Although Chris went to college and excelled, he realized that this

traditional

learning just wasnt enough to him, and decided to go out

and learn things for himself. He sought independence from
the constraining factor that is society in order to be his own
man.

Over the course of history, the pursuit of individuality has been an important idea among
society. Many different philosophers had their differing opinions on the concept, and Chris own
philosophy can be adapted into his own separate philosophy. While the more radical

individuality that Chris displayed is a relatively new concept; just being a few centuries old; it
takes its roots from all throughout history. Individuality is what appeases our desire for freedom,
and what allows us to be our own people. But contrary to the radical ideas of individuality, I
think that we as a society have collectively come to an understanding: conformity is not an
inherently bad thing. Some degree of conformity is what allows our society to function, and is
what even gives us the possibility of individuality. Not only that, but conformity also helps give
us the need to belong, which is vital for humans. As a whole, the coexistence of individuality and
and conformity is what drives the progression of our society as a whole.