Individual

{{short description|That which exists as a distinct figure or entity}}
{{About|individuality in general|Strawson's metaphysics as described in his book: ''Individuals''|P. F. Strawson|other uses}}
{{Individualism sidebar}}
An '''individual''' is that which exists as a distinct [[entity]]. '''Individuality''' (or '''self-hood''') is the state or quality of living as an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) of as a [[person]] unique from other people and possessing one's own [[Maslow's hierarchy of needs|needs]] or [[goal]]s, [[right]]s and [[moral responsibility|responsibilities]]. The concept of an individual features in diverse fields, including [[biology]], [[law]], and [[philosophy]]. Every individual contributes significantly to the growth of a civilization. Society is a multifaceted concept that is shaped and influenced by a wide range of elements, including human behaviors, attitudes, and ideas. The culture, morals, and beliefs of others as well as the general direction and trajectory of the society can all be influenced and shaped by an individual's activities.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Evaluate the role of an individual in the development of any society. |url=https://www.worldsz.com/2023/02/role-of-individual-in-development-of-society.html |access-date=8 May 2023}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
From the 15th century and earlier (and also today within the fields of [[statistics]] and [[metaphysics]]) ''individual'' meant "[[divisible|indivisible]]", typically describing any numerically singular thing, but sometimes meaning "a person". From the 17th century on, ''individual'' has indicated separateness, as in individualism.<ref>Abbs 1986, cited in Klein 2005, pp. 26–27</ref>

==Biology<!--Linked from 'Extraterrestrial life'-->==
In [[biology]], the question of the individual is related to the definition of an [[organism]], which is an important question in biology and [[philosophy of biology]], despite there having been little work devoted explicitly to this question.<ref name=Wilson>{{Cite journal | last = Wilson | first = R | title = The biological notion of individual | journal = Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy | year = 2007|url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/biology-individual/}}</ref> An individual organism is not the only kind of individual that is considered as a "unit of [[Selection (biology)|selection]]".<ref name=Wilson/> [[Gene]]s, [[genome]]s, or groups may function as individual units.<ref name=Wilson/>

[[Asexual reproduction]] occurs in some colonial organisms so that the individuals are genetically identical. Such a colony is called a [[genet (biology)|genet]], and an individual in such a population is referred to as a ramet. The colony, rather than the individual, functions as a unit of selection. In other colonial organisms the individuals may be closely related to one another but differ as a result of [[sexual reproduction]].

One of the most accepted hypotheses is the definition of an organism that emerged from Piast's ladder of lifeness. According to this idea, life can be described as a phenomenon (continuum of self-maintainable information) and its individual [[organism]] can be described as a distinct element of this [[Continuum mechanics|continuum]]. The ability to define entity boundaries is a key trait of distinctness, which can be achieved either through physical means, such as maintaining an open system through a cell, or through informational means, such as maintaining transmission to another host as seen in parasitic entities like [[Virus|viruses]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Piast |first=Radosław W. |date=2019-06-07 |title=Shannon's information, Bernal's biopoiesis and Bernoulli distribution as pillars for building a definition of life |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022519319301109 |journal=Journal of Theoretical Biology |language=en |volume=470 |pages=101–107 |doi=10.1016/j.jtbi.2019.03.009 |pmid=30876803 |issn=0022-5193}}</ref>

== Law ==
Although individuality and individualism are commonly considered to mature with age/time and experience/wealth, a [[sanity|sane]] adult [[human|human being]] is usually considered by the [[State (polity)|state]] as an "individual person" in law, even if the person denies individual [[culpability]] ("I followed instructions").

An individual person is [[accountability|accountable]] for their actions/decisions/instructions, subject to [[prosecution]] in both national and international law, from the time that they have reached [[age of majority]], often though not always more or less coinciding with the granting of [[voting right]]s, responsibility for paying [[tax]], [[military duty|military duties]], and the individual [[Right to keep and bear arms|right to bear arms]] (protected only under certain constitutions).

==Philosophy==
[[File:Finnish anti-vegetation task force on a Baltic sea island.jpg|thumb|right|Individuals may stand out from the [[crowd]], or may blend in with it.]]

===Buddhism===
In [[Buddhism]], the concept of the individual lies in [[anatman]], or "no-self." According to anatman, the individual is really a series of interconnected processes that, working together, give the appearance of being a single, separated whole. In this way, anatman, together with [[anicca]], resembles a kind of [[bundle theory]]. Instead of an atomic, indivisible self distinct from reality, the individual in Buddhism is understood as an interrelated part of an ever-changing, impermanent universe (see [[Interdependence]], [[Nonduality (spirituality)|Nondualism]], [[Reciprocity (social psychology)|Reciprocity]]).

===Empiricism===
[[Empiricism|Empiricists]] such as [[Ibn Tufail]]<ref name=Russell>G. A. Russell (1994), ''The 'Arabick' Interest of the Natural Philosophers in Seventeenth-Century England'', pp. 224–62, [[Brill Publishers]], {{ISBN|90-04-09459-8}}.</ref> in early 12th century Islamic Spain and [[John Locke]] in late 17th century England viewed the individual as a [[tabula rasa]] ("blank slate"), shaped from birth by experience and education. This ties into the idea of the liberty and rights of the individual, society as a [[social contract]] between [[Rationality|rational]] individuals, and the beginnings of [[individualism]] as a doctrine.

===Hegel<!--linked from 'Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel'-->===
[[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel]] regarded history as the gradual evolution of Mind as it tests its own concepts against the external world.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6188.Georg_Wilhelm_Friedrich_Hegel|title=Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel|website=www.goodreads.com|access-date=2019-11-22}}</ref> Each time the mind applies its concepts to the world, the concept is revealed to be only partly true, within a certain context; thus the mind continually revises these incomplete concepts so as to reflect a fuller reality (commonly known as the process of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis). The individual comes to rise above their own particular viewpoint,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Zovko|first=Jure|s2cid=149279317|date=2018-05-12|title=Hegel's concept of education from the point of view of his idea of 'second nature'|journal=Educational Philosophy and Theory|volume=50|issue=6–7|pages=652–661|doi=10.1080/00131857.2017.1374842|issn=0013-1857}}</ref> and grasps that they are a part of a greater whole<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004EYSWG2/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i1|via=www.amazon.com |title=Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel: The Science of Logic (Cambridge Hegel Translations) |edition=Kindle |last1=Hegel |first1=Georg Wilhelm Friedrich |translator=George Di Giovanni|date=19 August 2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |access-date=2019-11-22}}</ref> insofar as they are bound to family, a social context, and/or a political order.

===Existentialism===
With the rise of [[existentialism]], [[Søren Kierkegaard]] rejected Hegel's notion of the individual as subordinated to the forces of history. Instead, he elevated the individual's subjectivity and capacity to choose their own fate. Later Existentialists built upon this notion. [[Friedrich Nietzsche]], for example, examines the individual's need to define his/her own self and circumstances in his concept of [[the will to power]] and the heroic ideal of the [[Übermensch]]. The individual is also central to [[Sartre]]'s philosophy, which emphasizes individual authenticity, responsibility, and [[free will]]. In both Sartre and Nietzsche (and in [[Nikolai Berdyaev]]), the individual is called upon to create their own values, rather than rely on external, socially imposed codes of morality.

===Objectivism===
[[Ayn Rand]]'s [[Objectivism]] regards every human as an independent, sovereign entity who possesses an inalienable right to their own life, a right derived from their nature as a rational being. Individualism and Objectivism hold that a civilized society, or any form of association, cooperation or peaceful coexistence among humans, can be achieved only on the basis of the recognition of [[individual rights]]&nbsp;— and that a group, as such, has no rights other than the individual rights of its members. The principle of individual rights is the only moral base of all groups or associations. Since only an individual man or woman can possess rights, the expression "individual rights" is a redundancy (which one has to use for purposes of clarification in today's intellectual chaos), but the expression "[[collective rights]]" is a contradiction in terms. Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a [[Tyranny of the majority|majority]] has no right to vote away the rights of a [[minority group|minority]]; the political function of rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities (and the smallest minority on earth is the individual).<ref>Ayn Rand, [http://www.aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/individualism.html ''"Individualism"'']. Ayn Rand Lexicon.</ref><ref>Ayn Rand (1961), [http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/individualrights.html ''"Individual Rights"'']. Ayn Rand Lexicon.</ref>

==See also==
{{wikt}}
{{Main|Outline of self|Individualism}}
{{columns-list|colwidth=22em|
* [[Action theory (philosophy)|Action theory]]
* [[Autonomy]]
* [[Consciousness]]
* [[Cultural identity]]
* [[Identity (social science)|Identity]]
* [[Independence|Independent]]
* [[Individual time trial]]
* [[Person]]
* [[Self (philosophy)]]
* [[Self (psychology)]]
* [[Self (sociology)]]
* [[Self (spirituality)]]
* [[Structure and agency]]
* [[Will (philosophy)]]
}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
* Gracie, Jorge J. E. (1988) ''Individuality: An Essay on the Foundations of Metaphysics''. State University of New York Press.
* Klein, Anne Carolyn (1995) ''[[iarchive:meetinggreatblis0000klei|Meeting the Great Bliss Queen: Buddhists, Feminists, and the Art of the Self]]''. {{ISBN|0-8070-7306-7}}.

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[[Category:Self]]
[[Category:Individualism]]
[[Category:Personhood]]
[[Category:Concepts in social philosophy]]
[[Category:Metaphysical properties]]