This article describes the transition from a time in history when the individual was the center of society to the modern world, emphasizing that the relationship between society and the individual has evolved into a dialectical one that develops through interaction.
The further back in history we go, the more important the individual seems to be to society. This is because social structures were more individual-centered, and industry and politics did not require the complexity of modern societies. Societies did not require the complex systems and large organizations that we have today, and families and small communities were the basic units of society. In this environment, the role of the individual was more than just a member of society, but was often perceived as important, guiding the community as a whole through leadership or wisdom. Because individuals come together to form a society, it has been assumed that society is for individuals and that individuals are the masters of society. This way of thinking was a natural product of a time when society was closer to people.
However, in the modern era, all aspects of society, including politics and economics, have come to be centered around society rather than the individual. The Industrial Revolution, starting in England, forced the socialization of the economy, and the French Revolution emphasized the socialization of politics. These revolutions were the catalysts for changing the existing individual-centered social structure and introduced a new form of collective thinking. As a result, people increasingly focused on the welfare and stability of society as a whole rather than the individual, which has become one of the main characteristics of modern society.
The various branches of social science that were born in the middle of the 19th century demonstrate the rapid transformation of our lives into a socially centered system. The development of social sciences has played an important role in systematically analyzing and understanding the complexity of human society. In the process, the tendency to study the structure and function of society as a whole rather than individuals has been strengthened, and society has taken on an increasingly important position. Thus, whereas in the past the individual was seen as the center and society as an incidental phenomenon, today it is thought that society is the center and the individual is a part of it. In particular, the argument that society shapes the people of that era has been gradually solidified. In fact, when we look at our lives today, we are living together rather than living alone. Today’s reality is that “we live together” refers to society, a group of political, economic, and other organizations.
This change in modern society is deeply connected to the development of technology. In particular, advances in information technology and communications have connected the world and tied individual lives more closely to the overall flow of society. This connectivity makes it clearer that individuals cannot exist in isolation and independence, and that the norms and structures of society have a profound impact on their lives.
Whether or not this is justified and should be the case is another matter. Earlier, people such as Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche strongly appealed to the dignity and value of the individual. They emphasized how important it is for individuals to maintain their independent values within the framework of society and warned against social uniformity. These opposing views of society and the individual still persist today. However, neither the view that society is everything and the individual is meaningless, nor the assertion of the absoluteness of the individual, which undermines the role of society, are legitimate. On the contrary, today we find in the individual the society of which he is a part, and in that society we find the individual. Society and the individual are deeply interrelated. There can be no society without individuals, and it is impossible to think of an individual who does not belong to a society.
What is the relationship between the individual and society? Some people seem to think of the relationship between the two like the dynamics of atoms and matter. Without atoms, there is no matter, and without matter, the existence of atoms is irrelevant. The relationship between individuals and society would be similar if it centered only on their existence. But that doesn’t explain the relationship between individuals and society. Some people think of the relationship between individuals and society like the relationship between a cell and an organism. This is because the principle of creation for life is implicit. “Herbert Spencer, who was influenced by Charles Robert Darwin, had a similar idea. However, the relationship between the individual and society in the true sense belongs to a higher level, which is not just a process of existence or generation. It is a relationship that exists and creates, and creates and creates cultural history. It is, therefore, a dialectical relationship that allows for progress and leaps forward.
This dialectical relationship is even more pronounced in modern society. For example, modern political systems guarantee individual freedoms and rights, while at the same time regulating individual behavior to maintain order and stability in society as a whole. Similarly, economies encourage individual creativity and productivity, while introducing various institutions to address social inequality and economic instability. In this way, individuals and societies affect each other, and their relationship consists of complex interactions that go beyond mere existence or creation.
