Values of Individualism and Collectivism

Running head: VALUES OF INDIVIDUALISM AND COLLECTIVISM
VALUES OF INDIVIDUALISM AND COLLECTIVISM
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1VALUES OF INDIVIDUALISM AND COLLECTIVISM
1. Response to Question Number 1
 Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) was a British philosopher who was believed to be one of
the pioneers of the Social Contract Theory. According to Hobbes in his book Leviathan, every
individual on the face of the Earth was cruel and there should be an institution which would have
the authority to control the brutal human behaviour to avoid war like situation and make the
society stable and well governed (Hobbes, 2016). Hobbes was of the notion that human beings
should not be allowed to live a life of complete independence because that would bring conflict
amongst each other due to the difference in their personal ideologies. Therefore, Hobbes opined
that there should be an ultimate authority of the state where individuals would summon some of
their rights to the governing authority so that peace and order could be maintained in the state
and individual would die a death due to violence.
 John Locke
John Locke (1632-1704) was an English philosopher who laid down the idea that the
government is obligated to safeguard the rights of its citizens by protecting their life, liberty and
property. Locke was the opinion that the government must be selected by the people through
individual voting and he was not in favour of the divine rule of the king/monarch. He was also of
the opinion that people should have the right to go against the government, if it failed to serve
the citizens in the right manner (Schouls, 2018). Locke also developed the theory of empiricism
where he stated that when a human is born, the mind is like a blank slate, and the individual
gathers knowledge and wisdom from the experiences the individual gains through his senses by
observing the different phenomena of the world. Locke was one of the pioneer writers to

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influence several revolutions around the world. Locke’s theory was based on the philosophy that
every individual was created by the supreme almighty and every individual possessed their own
rights as given by their creator.
 Jean-Jaques Rousseau
Jean-Jaques Rousseau (1712-1778) is one of the most well know French philosophers
from the 18th century, which is also commonly known as the Age of Enlightenment. Rousseau
was of the opinion that human beings are far better in their natural state, rather than being
corrupted by the civilization of the society (Rousseau, 2018). Rousseau stated that civilization
bring inequality among human beings which results in the conflict of ideas, whereas, in the
natural state, human beings are governed by their natural instinct of self-governance with a
feeling of compassion and pity towards themselves. Though, Rousseau also mentioned that due
to the rise in population, human interaction was inevitable and the requirement of an authority
was necessary, to control all the natural rights of human beings in order to save themselves to be
governed by other individuals, that is, absolute monarchy.
2. Response to Question Number 2
The world is not seen from the same perspective by every individual on this Earth. Every
individual have their own way of seeing things and believing it to be the most appropriate.
Identity is factor by which a person is known to the world and every identity has its own
uniqueness. Personal identity would refer to the uniqueness an individual possesses by the kind
of belief system and values the person has, which differentiates that individual from others
(Shoemaker & Tobia, 2018). Collective identity on the other hand, would refer to the collective
representation of identities by a group of individuals who have a common set of beliefs and value

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system. Collective identity depends on various factors like, religion, faith, culture and language
(Sedikides & Brewer, 2015).
3. Response to Question Number 3
I agree with the statement of Mahatma Gandhi because the Earth is made up of enough
resources that can be helpful for the survival of every individual on this planet, but it can never
satisfy the constant greed for more resources by individuals, which as a result poses a threat to
the deficiency of resources to other individuals. The world has seen the growing level of
corruption and the greed for more power by a section of individuals at the cost of the survival of
other individuals. This phenomenon creates imbalance in the society where a section of people
become powerful and simultaneously the other section develops difficulty in surviving.
4. Response to Question Number 4
The environment is the greatest factor on which the lion’s share of human survival
depends. If the environment ceases to persist, then any kind of survival, for any species of living
beings becomes impossible (Radhouani et al., 2014). Environmental degradation has become the
most popular issue of concern in every part of the world today. Climatic changes are rapidly
taking place which has already started to pose grave threats to the entire mankind’s survival
(Kjellstrom & McMichael, 2013). Environmentalism is the most important ideology that is
needed to be taken at the earliest by all individuals to make the Earth a better place to live in the
coming future. Several political parties around the globe have taken up the ideology known as
Green Politics, in order to uplift the environmental conditions of their respective countries. As
individuals, our lifestyles have also significantly changed by learning the consequences of