Abstract
Gbadegesin offers a summary of a dialectical relationship between individualism and community. Focusing on collective social action, the chapter draws attention to the evil effects of the Enlightenment ethic, which contributes to the weakening of traditional societies with their communal values that were based on affection, kinship, the common good and historical attachments. Looking at the ways in which modern culture is arranged, Gbadegesin argues that modern society interprets success and progress in terms of how much an individual creatively innovates, acquires, possesses and controls the objects of his or her gaze. The chapter concludes with a suggestion for a return to the social and interactive character of communal ritual action.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Gustavo Benavides, “Modernity” in Critical Terms for Religious Studies, Mark C. Taylor (ed.), (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998), pp.186–204, see p. 187 in particular.
- 2.
Benavides, “Modernity,” 188.
- 3.
- 4.
A Brief Exploration of History of Western Individualism https://philossophy.wordpress.com/2010/04/05/individualism/.
- 5.
Immanuel Kant, ‘An answer to the Question: “What is Enlightenment?”,’ in Political Writings, tr. H.B. Nisbet, ed., Hans Reiss, 2nd edn., Cambridge, 1991.
- 6.
Richard Stivers “Ethical Individualism and Moral Collectivism in America” in Humanitas, Volume XVI, No. 1, 2003, 56–73. See page 65 in particular.
- 7.
Rene Descartes, Descartes Selections, edited by Ralph M. Eaton (New York: Scribner, 1955), 38.
- 8.
- 9.
Here J.S. Mill was reacting to John Locke’s conception of individuals in his An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Ed. Alexander Campbell Frasier, (New York: Branes and Nobles Publishing, 2004), according to which “Because governments are a necessary evil, individuals sacrifice the absolute freedom of the state of nature in return for the security of government.”
- 10.
See J.S. Mill, Utilitarianism, (New York.: Bantum Classics, 1993), 201–2.
- 11.
Quoted in Philip Schuyler Bishop, “Three Theories of Individualism” A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of the Arts Department of Philosophy College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida, April 15, 2007, 7.
- 12.
Bishop, “Three Theories of Individualism”, 4.
- 13.
Roger Schmidt. Exploring Religion (Belmont, California: Wardsworth Inc. 1980), 249–250.
- 14.
A. Maurice Low, “What is Socialism? III: An Explanation of ‘The Rights’ Men Enjoy in a State of Civilized Society,” The North American Review, vol. 197, no. 688 (March 1913), p. 406 gotten online from https://www.theobjectivestandard.com/issues/2012-spring/individualism-collectivism/ 26/2/2016, 11.14 am.
- 15.
see Stivers, Ethical Individualism and Moral Collectivism in America, p.63; Stivers is here quoting Soren Kierkegaard from Concluding Unscientific Postscript, trans. Howard and Edna Hong (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992).
- 16.
These authors speak with respect to the American culture of individualism, which according to them has continued to affect American social life . See their article on https://www.scu.edu/ethics/ethics-resources/ethical-decision-making/creating-the-good-society/.
- 17.
Ernst Troeltsch, Protestantism and Progress: The Significance of Protestantism for the Rise of the Modern World. (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1986 edn.), 20.
- 18.
Troeltsch, Protestantism and Progress, 30.
- 19.
Quoted in Claire Andre and Manuel Velasquez’s essay “Creating the Good Society” in https://www.scu.edu/ethics/ethics-resources/ethical-decision-making/creating-the-good-society/
- 20.
Alexis. de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, vol. 2, (New York: Vintage Books, 1990), 98.
- 21.
Toyin Falola , “Nationalizing Africa, Culturalizing the West , and Reformulating the Humanities in Africa”, in Sola Akinrinade, Dipo Fasina, David O. Ogungbile and J.O. Famakinwa (eds.), Rethinking the Humanities in Africa. Faculty of Arts of Obafemi Awolowo University’s publication, 2007, 25–44 see page 36 in particular.
- 22.
Ibid., 36.
- 23.
At the time of writing, the Nigeria naira to a dollar is N414.00 on the parallel market (aka black market). See many of the daily newspapers in order to get the sense of the exchange rates of foreign currencies vis-à-vis naira.
- 24.
Falola , “Nationalizing Africa”, 37.
- 25.
Stivers, “Individualism and Moral Collectivism,” 59.
- 26.
See Stivers, “Individualism and Moral Collectivism,” 59.
- 27.
Louis Dumont, “On Value, Modern and Nonmodern,” in Essays on Individualism (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986), 234–68.
- 28.
Stivers, “Ethical Individualism and Moral Collectivism,” 62.
- 29.
Moremi Àjàsorò was a princess from Offa in the present Kwara State, but was married to the then king of Ile-Ife, and was to become the queen. She was said to be a very beautiful and brave woman who tried to alleviate the plight of the people of Ile-Ife who were constantly being enslaved by the Igbo warriors who usually appeared dressed in raffia palm. Her heroic attempt to do something about it ended in her capture during a subsequent raid of the Igbo warriors/marauders. When she got to Igbo kingdom she was able to discover the secret of the warriors through their king, who had taken her to be a wife because of her beauty. See Oyeronke Olajugbu, Women in the Yoruba Religious Sphere (New York: State University of New York Press, 2003), 29.
- 30.
This occasion was one of the Students Associations’ special programs in Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, specifically on February 13, 2016 in front of the Student Union building .
- 31.
Friedrich Nietzsche, Will to Power, trans. Walter Kaufmann and R.J. Hollingdale, edited by Walter Kaufmann. (NY: Vintage Books, 1968), 11.
- 32.
See the front page of Sun News online titled: I was richer than Kwara before becoming Gov. http://sunnewsonline.com/i-was-richer-than-kwara-before-becoming-gov-saraki/, downloaded May 11, 2016.
- 33.
My interpretation of Hobbes’s state of nature as an individualistic mode of behavior is open to debate; I find it difficult to give this kind of individual competing with each other any other interpretation than individualistic or selfish behavior. See Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, London, 1651.
- 34.
See Sun Online of May 11, 2016 with the headline that reads: I was Richer than Kwara before becoming Gov-Saraki. http://sunnewsonline.com/i-was-richer-than-kwara-before-becoming-gov-saraki/ downloaded May 11, 2016.
- 35.
See Karen Armstrong, Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life, (Canada: Borzoi Books, 2010), 40.
- 36.
Ibid., 30.
- 37.
Ibid., 72.
- 38.
Tutu Desmond, No Future Without Forgiveness, incomplete citation.
- 39.
See Britannica Encyclopedia online titled: Welfare State. http://www.britannica.com/...welfare state, accessed on 4/9/2016.
- 40.
Britannica Encyclopedia, Welfare State, http://www.britannica.com/...welfare state, accessed on 4/9/2016.
- 41.
Aafke E. Komter, Social Solidarity and the Gift, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 175.
- 42.
Komter, Social Solidarity, 118.
- 43.
Roger Schmidt, Exploring Religion (Belmont, California: Wadsworth, Inc. 1980), 343.
- 44.
Durkheim Emile . The Division of Labour in Society (New York, The Free Press, 1933), 337.
- 45.
Ibid., 103.
- 46.
Schmidt, Exploring Religion, 163.
- 47.
Aliko Dangote is from Kano state and he is regarded as one of Africa’s richest men. He is into manufacturing and production of cement, flour, sugar, rice and so on. He was born in the year 1957. His wealth is estimated at $14 billion. He is a degree holder. His grandfather Alhaji Sanusi Dantata was regarded as the man behind Dangote’s success in business because he had already set Dangote on the path of business before he died. See https://www.forbes.com/profile/aliko-dangote/
- 48.
See Morris Adler, Likrat Shabbat, 85, quoted in Roger Schmidt, Exploring Religion, 164, additional emphasis mine.
- 49.
See Moses E. Ochonu’s article of Mar 25, 2016 titled: “The Dangote Paradox,” which criticized Dangote for manipulating Nigerian political leaders to his own advantage in order to continue to cause more devastation to the Nigerian economy .
http://saharareporters.com/2016/03/25/dangote-paradox-moses-e-ochonu. In yet another school of thought, there is an argument that Dangote is a major part of the cronyism that has selfishly cornered society’s wealth for personal use, and occasionally sends a pittance to ameliorate the poverty and misery which elite actions and inactions have unleashed on the people.
- 50.
William R. Lafleur, “Body” in Critical Terms for Religious Studies edited by Mark C. Taylor (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998), pp. 36–54. See page 45 in particular for this quotation.
- 51.
Robert N. Bellah. “Understanding Care in Contemporary America” Originally published in Susan S. Phillips and Patricia Benner, eds., The Crisis of Care: Affirming and Restoring Caring Practices in the Helping Professions. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 1994, 21–35. See also http://www.press.georgetown.edu/book/georgetown/crisis-care.
- 52.
Marcel Mauss, Mauss, Marcel. The Gift: The form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies, translated by W.D. Halls, With Foreword by Mary Douglas, New York: W.W. Norton, 1990, 80.
- 53.
Mauss, The Gift , 81.
- 54.
Mauss, The Gift , 81 (emphasis added).
- 55.
Mauss, The Gif t, 18.
- 56.
John Rawls, A Theory of Justice. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1971), 14–15.
- 57.
Mauss, The Gift, 13.
- 58.
Maurice Godelier, “Some Things You Give, Some Things You Sell, but Some Things You must Keep for Yourselves: What Mauss Did not Say about Sacred Objects” in Edith Wyschogrod, Jean-Joseph Goux and Eric Boynton (edited), The Enigma of Gift and Sacrifice. (NY: Fordham University Press, 2002), 19–35. See p. 24 in particular.
- 59.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/02/nigerias-per-capita-income-drops-now-2748/ accessed today 16/1/2017, 10.07 pm.
- 60.
Pierre Englebert, Africa: Unity, Sovereignty and Sorrow (Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2009), 45.
- 61.
See Daniel Bell, Communitarianism, First published Thu Oct 4, 2001; substantive revision Mon Mar 21, 2016. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/communitarianism , downloaded 16/1/2017 10.36 pm.
- 62.
Komter, Social Solidarity and the Gift, 115 italics in the original.
- 63.
Komter, Social Solidarity and the Gift, 115.
- 64.
Zygmunt Bauman, Individualized Society (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2001), 49.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Gbadegesin, E.O. (2018). Collective Social Action: Enlightenment Ethic and the Rise of Modern Individualism. In: Falola, T., Kalu, K. (eds) Africa and Globalization. African Histories and Modernities. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74905-1_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74905-1_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-74904-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-74905-1
eBook Packages: HistoryHistory (R0)