In recent years many have expressed a concern that Western individualism has created a society of atomised, isolated selves. At the same time, the values of personal choice and autonomy remain sacrosanct. Individualism is thus seen as both the great achievement and bane of Western civilisation.
ReadWe have different conceptions of the self the world over not because selves differ, but because at different times and places people have more or less concern with different aspects of selfhood. They provide different answers to the question “What is the self?” because that apparently singular question in fact contains any number of different ones.
ReadOur omni-connected age endlessly feeds us shallow pleasures that demand little time and effort, when most of what is valuable in life requires a fair bit of both. They are the digital equivalent of chunks of cheap milk chocolate: tasty and harmless enough by themselves but ruinous when eaten endlessly.
ReadBefore we tell people that they should cultivate a winning personality, we have to demonstrate to them that winning is more than just a distant possibility.
ReadIn Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Polonius’s advice to the young prince – “To thine own self be true” – has become a self-help cliché. Yet far from being a glib platitude, these six monosyllables raise profound questions. Being “true to thine own self” is more easily said than done…
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