1. Théorie qui fait de l'individu la valeur principale (par opposition au marxisme par ex.).
2. Défaut de celui qui n'a aucun sens social.
ETYM Cf. French individualisme.
1. A belief in the importance of the individual and the virtue of self-reliance and personal independence.
2. The doctrine that government should not interfere in commercial affairs; SYN. laissez faire.
Belief that individual interests and rights are paramount.
In politics, a view in which the individual takes precedence over the collective: the opposite of collectivism. The term possessive individualism has been applied to the writings of John Locke and Jeremy Bentham, describing society as comprising individuals interacting through market relations.