Bonjour,
Comme on peut l’observer de manière naïve, l’individualisme est majoritairement connoté péjorativement en France comme aux Etats-Unis. En effet, on le considère comme une plaie des temps moderne qui plus est renforcée par les nouvelles technologies mais comme l’étaye Jean-Paul Sartre dans son traité “l’existentialisme est un humanisme”, l’existentialisme qui peut être vu comme l’individualisme est simplement une philosophie qui place la liberté humaine au dessus de tout. En ce sens, l’individualisme est humaniste et non égoïste, elle est simplement l’avènement des libertés individuelles pour tous.

Bonjour,
Pour compléter ce qu’a dit Emmanuel je citerai plutôt Camus et sa philosophie de l’absurde. J’associe à l’absurde la solitude. En effet l’homme est jeté dans le monde, sa vie n’a pas vraiment de sens. C’est ce vide qu’il cherche à combler par le travail, les relations sociales… Elles sont donc intrinsèquement fausses et vaines. L’homme demeure seul. En un sens la solitude est humaine. L’exemple de Don Juan que prend Camus dans “Le mythe de Sisyphe” est frappant. En multipliant les conquêtes sans lendemain il essaie d’échapper à sa condition d’homme.
D’autre part si la solitude est associée à l’homme, qui cherche à s’en détacher, l’individualisme ne peut être associé à ce concept. En effet individualisme est différent de solitude. L’individualiste est seul certes mais n’agit que dans son intérêt. C’est contraire au concept de société (or l’homme est un animal social selon Aristote).
Pour moi l’individualiste est un solitaire certes mais qui n’a pas conscience de sa solitude qui n’a pas compris l’absurde de sa condition humaine (“il est rare que l’homme ait conscience de sa condition d’homme” pour Malraux) sans quoi il chercherait des interactions avec autrui.
En conclusion l’individualiste se cache son humanité et est un fléau pour la société où le bien commun doit prévaloir.

Hi,
I agree with Raphaël especially in his point that individualism is different than solitude and that an individualist may not be purposefully acting in a means to isolate himself. Looking at the two lists of words, it’s easy to notice that the American students’ side is more optimistic than the French students’. This may have to do with the philosophy in which one studies the idea of individualism - I know that for myself, individualism had a stronger connotation of independence than isolation. I think that words like “independence,” “freedom” exemplify well how I view individualism and that “selfishness” may not be the intention of an individualist (that being said, an individualist may be selfish but it spurs from a feeling of independence).

I also noticed that while there are words with positive and negative connotations in both lists, overall the list from MIT has a more optimistic tone. It’s interesting how the concept of individualism is associated with certain philosophical theories in your responses. I think that in the United States, the word “individualism” is commonly associated with independence and freedom of expression, which are prominent values in American society. In fact, the words “America” or “USA” appear in both lists. I wonder if the differences between the two lists reflect the different contexts in which the word individualism is used in the two countries: as a common value on the one hand, and as part of a particular philosophical or political view on the other.

I realized a great contrast between the meanings of individualism on each side. The list from MIT carries a more optimistic view of individualism and relates it to freedom, expression and “self” rather than “selfishness” whereas on the other list, individualism is mostly seen as a selfish behavior. Also, individualism was largely associated with solitude. It’s very interesting to think that individualism can be a way of isolating oneself as well as a way to value one’s individual identity. Where can we draw the line? If individualism is both freedom and solitude, could it actually be good for an individual, and when?

I think Emmanuel’s last point about individual liberty for all is really interesting. That seems to be how the word is used in the US, where individuality is valued and strived for and people are often told to “be yourself.” It’s so prominent that “difficult” and “overemphasized” appear on the MIT list. I also agree with Isabelle that the word “individualism” may be used more commonly in reference to philosophical views in France. Could it be that French students are more educated on philosophy as well?

I was pretty surprised to see how different the lists are between MIT students and the ENSEIRB students in terms of how they view individualism. I agree with Vivian how individuality is emphasized in America and that people are encouraged to be themselves and represent whom they are with pride. With the French on the other hand, the notion of individualism is rather looked down upon and is seemed to be more “selfish” and “egotistical”. I guess this concept is tied with concepts of freedom and the american dream, where people are given the choice to determine where they go in life, whom they are, and to discover their purpose to others. Whereas in France, it seems to be more encouraged that people fit with society and to be more respectful of how others perceive of their ways of representing themselves.

It seems to be a common theme with the above comments that the MIT side is much more optimistic. Additionally, as Americans (not all of us, but speaking from my perspective) we were taught to embrace our differences and to feel comfortable with who we are. I believe that because of this I associate these words such as “freedom” and “identity.” This leads me to wonder what Vivian asked - are the French students simply more educated in philosophy than the MIT students and therefore hold this view? Or, alternatively, is the French culture more conforming and encouraging of uniformity which leads to these opinions on individualism? How do we define individualism and uniqueness differently?

One of the things I was most surprised about this topic is the frequency with which “égoïsme” came up in the ENSEIRB students’ answers. It seems like the individualist ideas are more linked to those of philosophical standpoints that one holds true in life, rather than those that characterize one’s personality (expression, individualism, etc.) Would there be a reason for this clear dichotomy in answers?

Based on what Raphaël said, it seems that there’s a certain distinction between how the MIT and the ENSEIRB students interpret the word individualism, and I believe that is at least a part of the reason for the major difference between the associated words on either side. ENSEIRB students seem to interpret individualism as turning away from society and being a loner, whereas MIT students seem to find it to be related to distinguishing ourselves from others despite being part of a group as well. Does anyone have thoughts on why this might be? Is it one of those things where the nuance is just lost in translation or does it go deeper than that?

Bonjour,

Après avoir lu les commentaires, il apparait que vous ayiez remarqué une différence entre notre vision du mot individualisme et votre vision de ce mot. Effectivement le mot individualisme semble se rapprocher de la volonté d’émancipation et de liberté alors qu’en France celle-ci est plutôt vue négativement comme une forme d’égoïsme. Je pense que l’on peut attribuer selon à notre histoire qui est bien différente où nous sommes sortis de périodes historiques individualistes comme les pouvoirs monarchiques absolues ainsi notre vision était plutôt négative de l’individualisme. Alors que parallèlement aux Etats-Unis, la volonté de liberté individuelle en tant qu’état indépendant de la couronne était forte ainsi l’individualisme est davantage vue comme un existentialisme de cette nation.
Ensuite, pour répondre à Vivian ainsi que shelly, la philosophie est enseignée en tant que formation commune au lycée pour tous (en filière générale) peut-être est-ce pourquoi nous y pensons plus facilement alors qu’aux Etats-Unis je crois que la formation est spécialisée plus tôt.
Enfin toujours pour répondre à ce qu’à dit shelly, je pense qu’en France montrer sa différence n’est pas bien vu par la société et on nous a plutôt appris lors de notre enfance à rester sage et ne pas sortir du rang dans ce sens l’uniformité est encouragée bien que chacun est unique, évidemment.

Je suis d’accord avec Manu sur le fait qu’en France, durant notre enfance, on a cherché à nous uniformiser et ne pas sortir du rang. Ainsi l’individualisme est surtout vu comme négatif du fait qu’on pense prioritairement à soi plutôt qu’aux autres. Mais je pense que ce point de vue est hypocrite car naturellement nous sommes emmenés en premier à vouloir aider les siens et ceux qu’on aime. De plus, cela vient selon moi, du fait qu’en France la réussite est aussi souvent vue négativement car beaucoup de personnes pensent que cela a dû être au détriment d’autres personnes. Aux États-Unis, avez-vous le sentiment que la réussite personnelle est perçue négativement ?

Thank you for the explanation of the reasons why there are differing views on individualism between France and United States, Manu. In response to Tanguy, personal success in America can be seen as a good thing and a bad thing. A lot of people want to see personal success in other people, such as their close friends and family, for example. I think individualism is praised but at the same time, seeing others grow is also something that is also encouraged. Personal success in America can be deeply tied to the American Dream, where people try to gain personal success in America and build up their status in America. I think it’s great that people work hard for personal success. On the other hand, the notion of personal success can also seem selfish, where I’ve seen people achieve personal success at the downfall of others, which is considered selfish and greedy. So in the end, personal success encapsulates a lot about Americans and the culture. In France, it seems that there is a notion of equality in terms of how people grow together rather than growing individually. Is personal success in France a rather rare occurrence, or do people keep their personal success to themselves and not tell others?

Thanks for your explanations Manu and Tanguy. Adding onto FourEast’s response to Tanguy, I feel like in addition to not wanting individual success for those who gain it unfairly, the culture of intense competition over here oftentimes breeds jealousy. Even though someone might be personally successful through perfectly fine ways, there will always be those who will be envious and decry individualism simply because haters gonna hate. This probably exists everywhere, not only the US, but it definitely also contributes to negative perceptions of individualism in my view.

I strongly agree with emily. I feel that in the US, one’s success is met with joy from others with underlying jealousy. I believe that the US fosters a very competitive environment in which one’s success is considered a loss for another. I think that because of that, success and individualism is seen as selfish and egotistical here. I’m sure that in France there are occurrences of this situation, but just speaking from my personal experience, I see this a lot in American culture.

Thank you for your explanations, Manu and Tanguy. It’s interesting to see how much the things we are taught growing up influence our perspectives on individualism. I agree with the previous comments that individualism definitely swings both ways, but something people are often told when jealousy comes into play here is to not compare themselves with others. Since uniformity and growing together seem to be encouraged in France, I’m wondering what your views on this are.

Bonjour à tous,

Je suis d’accord avec le point de vue de Tanguy, en France je pense que cette uniformité qui nous est encouragée fait naitre en nous une envie et une jalousie lorsque l’on voit quelqu’un qui sort du rang par sa réussite.
Toutefois, nous restons des hommes et lorsque des évènements nous touche personnellement nous ressentons tous de la jalousie, envie par exemple lors d’une relation amoureuse, ces sentiments n’ont pas de frontières selon moi. Ainsi pour répondre à Vivian, lorsque cela nous touche personnellement car c’est une personne de notre entourage il est difficile de ne pas se comparer en bien ou en mal ou d’éprouver envers cette personne envie ou fierté ou les deux.

Toujours sur le thème de l’individualisme, je voudrais parler d’un sujet d’actualité qui touche le monde entier actuellement, le confinement. Dans la province de Wuhan par exemple le berceau de la pandémie, les autorités utilisent des moyens qui semblent limiter les libertés individuelles des individus, comme des caméras de surveillance qui identifient les personnes et leur état de santé ce qui est très efficace pour lutter contre la contamination. En France, pays des libertés individuelles, ce ne serait jamais accepté par la population bien que cela puisse être très efficace et même, certaines personnes ne respectent pas le confinement et donc préfèrent (à mon sens) risquer le collectif devant leur liberté personnelle. Qu’en pensez-vous ? Serait-il envisageable d’utiliser de tels moyens aux Etats-Unis ?