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The Emergence of the Self and Individuality.
If we are going to learn to think sociologically, we are going to have to deal with the emergence of the self as a social historical development. If we are the inheritors of a long tradition of western individualism, we have a tendency to think that the division that we make between self and society is very real. ...
Being a complete person in this tradition is not just having a self that is mine and mine alone, it is also about being treated as competent, being treated with respect and being regarded as in control of one’s own life. ... If we judge that people do not have a self, then we may decide that they can treated in ways which are akin to the ways we treat animals. ... ”
For us, I mean people who think like me, being an individual person is about having a self. ... But what if you did not have a self to read to? ... St Augustine’s (354-430) “Confessions”, for instance, are placed by some scholars at the head of a very long and slowly developing literary and religious tradition which takes the self seriously. ... Augustine explores his inner self and his fears and feelings to find his God. ...
We have ample evidence of the growth of individualism and the uneven emergence of the self. ... There are many places that we could look: Ian Watt’s “The Rise of the Novel” examines the development of that peculiar literary form and its importance for understanding individuality. ... Shakespeare’s (1564-1616) work, is full of evidence of this transition to self-possession and the social emergence of the self. ... As the introduction to the Penguin edition puts it: “In the successive versions of the poem, the dreamer of visions is gradually identified with the self who is their author … there is no reason to doubt that here are the elements of genuine autobiography. ...
Religious culture also changed with the emergence of Protestantism in the sixteenth century and the emphasis upon the individual’s relation to his or her God and the stress upon the individual’s guide to God’s will which is situated within the individual. ... B Macpherson has called the politics of possessive individualism: “To every individual in nature is given an individual property by nature not to be usurped or invaded by any; for everyone as he is himself, so he has a self property, else he could not be himself, and of this no second [person – A. ... Note also that not only is the dominant metaphor one of property but that the emergence of private property in the person is paralleled by its growing domination of the real world.
The individual self emerges in this particular form as something private and separate from society. ... Nevertheless, self possession is not achieved by everybody and is linked to power. ... ” (Skeggs, 1997:3)
One of the developments associated with the rise of individuality since the 16th century has been the use of fashion and clothing as an outward expression of inner character, i. ... For those without power, whose self is not unquestionably their own, this can be deeply problematic:
This is Anne on dressing up to go out:
“All the time you’ve to weigh everything up: is it too tarty?
Approximate Word count = 2926
Approximate Pages = 11.7
(250 words per page double spaced)
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