Why the individual must be defended – seemingly against all anthropological odds

This chapter challenges the prevailing line of anthropological reasoning – from Durkheim to Mauss to Dumont and beyond – that debunks the focus on the individual with its proclaimed personal autonomy and presents it as a Western particularity rather than an idea of universal applicability. The author identifies four main reasons – situated within the fields of logic, social theory, epistemology, and morality – why the universality of the individual must be defended. The argument ultimately reaffirms the continuing relevance of the predicaments surrounding the paradoxes of personal autonomy for both social theory and legal practice.