ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the analytical differences between different specific conceptions of the individual and their relationship to the more general process of the Discovery of the Individual. Kropotkin held that anarchist communities would function collectively, partly by the spontaneous recognition by individuals of each other's needs and wants, and partly by a system of mutual aid. Socialism and anarchism are clearly doctrines that are often espoused by political movements. Naturally, socialism main target is capitalist society, one of whose prominent vices is egoism and the anarchy that the relentless pursuit of self-interest brings. Individualism is the discourse of the individual which has the widest currency and greatest importance in the history of capitalist societies in Europe and the United States. Many people associate European Romanticism with an absorption with oneself and the significance of individuality. The notion of individuality and its associated concept of positive liberty are, as Steven Lukes points out, often thought of as characteristically German.
