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Collectivism and Religion Versus Individualism and Ideology
The rise of the individual has led to the moral and existential crises we are witnessing today
Individual suffering is something I have been thinking about since I read an article by Jon Stewart, “Hegel and the History of Human Nature.” Stewart discusses how the philosopher Hegel documented the changes in society over thousands of years, from collectivism to individualism:
“Hegel analyses the ways in which what we today call subjectivity and individuality first arose and developed through time. He holds that, at the beginning of human history, people didn’t conceive of themselves as individuals in the same way that we do today. There was no conception of a unique and special inward sphere that we value so much in our modern self-image.”
The ideas that Stewart shares in his article draw parallel to the universal and timeless advice of the Tao Te Ching. Specifically, how to live a life of integrity, humility, and connection with others and the natural world in our modern age of individual liberalism and social disruption. Paradoxically, the Tao was written over 2,500 years ago — during a time of collectivism and imperial rule.
