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Full Idea
The 'individual' ...is an error: he does not constitute a separate entity, an atom, a 'link in the chain', something merely inherited from the past - he constitutes the entire single line 'man' up to and including himself.
Gist of Idea
There are no 'individual' persons; we are each the sum of humanity up to this moment
Source
Friedrich Nietzsche (Twilight of the Idols [1889], 8.33)
Book Ref
Nietzsche,Friedrich: 'Twilight of the Idols and The Anti-Christ', ed/tr. Hollingdale,R.J. [Penguin 1972], p.86
A Reaction
I'm not sure I understand this, but you can sort of imagine yourself as a culmination of something, rather than as an isolated entity. I'm not sure how that is supposed to affect my behaviour.
Related Idea
Idea 20367 Individual development is more important than the state, but a community is necessary [Nietzsche]
| 5648 | For Hegel knowledge of self presupposes objects, and also a public and moral social world [Hegel, by Scruton] |
| 22788 | A human only become a somebody as a member of a social estate [Hegel] |
| 22792 | Individuals attain their right by discovering their self-consciousness in institutions [Hegel] |
| 22598 | The authentic self exists at the level of class, rather than the individual [Marx, by Dunt] |
| 20368 | There are no 'individual' persons; we are each the sum of humanity up to this moment [Nietzsche] |
| 8044 | Goffman sees the self as no more than a peg on which to hang roles we play [Goffman, by MacIntyre] |
| 7422 | A subject is a form which can change, in (say) political or sexual situations [Foucault] |
| 7386 | Selves are not soul-pearls, but artefacts of social processes [Dennett] |
| 18658 | The 'Kantian' self steps back from commitment to its social situation [Kymlicka] |
| 4939 | A sense of self begins either internally, or externally through language and society [Edelman/Tononi] |
| 10349 | To be considered 'an individual' is performed by a society [Kusch] |
| 5502 | Locke's intrinsic view of personal identity has been replaced by an externalist view [Martin/Barresi] |
| 20942 | Nazis think race predetermines the self [Bowie] |