The Individual and Society: A Comparison Between the Views of the Enlightenment and Those of the Nineteenth Century (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from The Individual and Society: A Comparison Between the Views of the Enlightenment and Those of the Nineteenth Century

It has not been thought necessary to refer to the ethical views Of either the ancient or mediaeval moralists, because for them there was no problem of alter and ego, at least not in the sense, in which the moralists Of the 18th and lgth centuries were confronted with it. To the ancient moralist man was a political animal; he was never thought of except as a part Of the state, indeed, it was that which gave him value and worth. The Greek could no more think Of an individual existing apart from society, than he could think of an arm existing apart from the body. Artistotle declared that one who is independent Of society is either a god or a beast; and he frequently employs the metaphor Of an Organism to illustrate the relation in which man stood to society,1 the family was regarded by him as the fundamental unit of all social life. For Plato, as for Aristotle, the social state was prior to the individual, and was necessary for the fullest development of his nature as a social being. It never occurred to the ancient moralist to think of the individual except as a member of a social state; nor do we find even the mediaeval thinker much concerned about the individual and society. It is not, indeed, until we come to the 18th century that we are seri ously confronted with the problem of ego and alter; with the coming of Hobbes, we are brought face to face with two very different views Of moral conduct.

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