| Basic Concepts: Romantic Individualism
The place of the individual in the Romantic world view is one of the chief elements that distinguishes romanticism from neo-classicism. For the neo-classicist, the value of the individual was secondary to that of society as a whole. The individual relinquishes a certain amount of independence and unbridled freedom in exchange for the security and support that life in community affords. In the "social contract," individuals covenant themselves into a "body politic," agreeing to support the general good. To the extent that the individual conforms to the interests of the majority, both the individual and the community may prosper. The case for the interests of the minority, however, is tenuous at best, and in its extreme, the community will sacrifice the individual when forced to choose between the public and the private good. . The Romantic position holds, however, just the opposite position: the individual represents the supreme value, and for cause. Because of the spirit of God resides in the soul of every human, the individual is an expression of God. Through the faculty of the intuition, each person can receive and interpret "inspiration." Because of this divine connection, every person exhibits infinite value that cannot be compromised away in exchange for some "general good." The state exists, moreover, only as a community of sacred individuals. Ultimately, for any society to sacrifice anything so precious as one of its members means the dehumanization of that society to at least that same degree. . Online Connections . For a useful examination of Emerson's concept of the individual, the faculties of perception and creativity, and the role of intuition, and the philosopher-poet's idealism, see H. G. Calloway's "Emerson and Romantic Individualism." For a most helpful overview of "individualism" in the context of other romantic motifs (themes) and key concepts, see "Romanticism." . Our Course Connection . In "To a Waterfowl," William Cullen Bryant acknowledges the "Power" within nature that not only provides divine "cues" for right living but the human faculty that can receive them. Emerson provides perhaps the most robust exploration of individualism. In "Self Reliance," Emerson argues that true greatness--the ability of every person to perceive truth and to define it--lies at the threshold of each person. Emerson decries self deprecation and reluctance that places the laurels of greatness at the feet of others of popular reputation. No living person has any less potential for divinely inspiration than anyone who has lived in the past, and on the basis of that inspiration, that person may live creatively. responsibly, and courageously. . Ever the activist and ethicist, Henry David Thoreau, in "Civil Disobedience," challenges each individual to act courageously upon that perception, even when to do so seems to go against the grain of popular sentiment or even legal statute. .  |