Eighteenth-century individualism was quantitative while the romantic version was qualitative

Evidence

The Romantic psyche feels its way through an endless succession of contrasts. At the instant it is being experienced, each one of them seems absolute, complete, self-contained; at the next instant, it is overcome by another, and in the difference between the two, the self of each is first fully appreciated. “He who holds fast to only one point,” says Friedrich Schlegel, “is nothing but a rational oyster.” — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 540 (#expands, via linked claim)

If you aim for a universal character you may end up with a vague or dull or windy one. If you set out to write a typical character you’re likely to produce a caricature, because people are typical only in the generalized qualities that lump them together. Typical is the most provincial adjective in a writer’s vocabulary, signaling that you’re writing only for those who share your assumptions. A “typical” schoolgirl in Dar es Salaam is a very different type from one in San Francisco. Furthermore, every person is typical of many things successively or simultaneously. She may be in turn a typical schoolgirl, bride, divorcée, and feminist. He may be at one and the same time a typical New Yorker, math professor, doting father, and adulterer. It is in the confrontation and convolution of types that much of our individuality is produced. — Janet Burroway; Elizabeth Stuckey-French; Ned Stuckey-French, Writing Fiction, Tenth Edition, 284 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The eighteenth century made abstract universal humanity sacred over particular persons — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 532; The Romantic self is constituted through successive contrasting experiences — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 540; Modern love attaches to unanalyzable individuality rather than to any specific attribute — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 580 (+3 more)

Related

• Modern individuality values being this specific irreplaceable person, not mere freedom (similarity 0.84)
• A second individualism of uniqueness replaced the quantitative one (similarity 0.83)
• The eighteenth century equated individuality with freedom and assumed natural human equality (similarity 0.83)
• The eighteenth century made abstract universal humanity sacred over particular persons (similarity 0.82)
• Individuality and universal equality historically arise as twin reactions to inequality (similarity 0.81)
• Eighteenth-century thought held races varied but humanity unified (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Qualitative individualism’s division of labor produces a powerful anti-liberal state #expands (0.85)
• The Romantic self is constituted through successive contrasting experiences #expands (0.82) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 540
• The eighteenth century made abstract universal humanity sacred over particular persons #expands (0.80) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 532
• Individuality emerges from the layering and clash of overlapping social types #expands (0.80) — Janet Burroway; Elizabeth Stuckey-French; Ned Stuckey-French, Writing Fiction, Tenth Edition, 284
• Modern love attaches to unanalyzable individuality rather than to any specific attribute #expands (0.78) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 580