Individuality increases as the social circle expands

Evidence

Individuation of personality, on the one hand, and the influences, interests, and relationships that attach the personality to its social circle, on the other hand, show a pattern of interdependent development that appears in the most diverse historical and institutional setting as a typical form. Individuality in being and action generally increases to the degree that the social circle encompassing the individual expands. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 591

Categorization

• DEFINE: States the central proposition of the whole chapter: individuation grows in direct proportion to the enlargement of the social circle around the person.
• XREF: This is the core theory linking to the ‘blasé attitude’ reading purpose — expansion of social circle drives individuation, the very condition under which blasé detachment develops. — connects to: Rare and brief city encounters push people to stylize themselves as sharply individualized — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 759; The individual’s inner mental relations mirror social relations among persons — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 354; Individuality emerges from the layering and clash of overlapping social types — Janet Burroway; Elizabeth Stuckey-French; Ned Stuckey-French, Writing Fiction, Tenth Edition: A Guide…, 284 (+14 more)

Related

• Greatly widened circles permit misanthropic detachment and extreme individualism (similarity 0.89)
• Larger social circles expand possibilities for developing unique inner lives. (similarity 0.88)
• Expanded social circles throw the individual back upon himself (similarity 0.88)
• Larger social circles encourage individual freedom; smaller ones restrict it (similarity 0.86)
• Each person holds a constant ratio of individual to social factors (similarity 0.85)
• In narrow circles individuality requires leadership or complete inner independence (similarity 0.84)
• Individualism of equality and individualism of inequality both require large social circles. (similarity 0.84)
• Individualization loosens ties with the near to enable ties with the distant (similarity 0.84)
• Richer individuals need wider choice circles to satisfy their specific needs (similarity 0.83)
• The individual’s inner mental relations mirror social relations among persons (similarity 0.82)
• Extreme social control occurs in both the widest and narrowest circles simultaneously (similarity 0.82)
• The cash economy correlates social expansion with individual differentiation (similarity 0.81)
• The narrow circle and the large circle yield equal life chances (similarity 0.80)
• Rising individuality necessarily yields belief in mankind’s ideal unity (similarity 0.79)
• Overwhelming objective culture forces individuals to exaggerate their peculiarities (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Larger social circles encourage individual freedom; smaller ones restrict it #expands (0.80) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 642
• Expanded social circles throw the individual back upon himself #contradicts (0.80) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 699
• Individuality emerges from the layering and clash of overlapping social types #corroborates (0.75) — Janet Burroway; Elizabeth Stuckey-French; Ned Stuckey-French, Writing Fiction, Tenth Edition, 284
• Greatly widened circles permit misanthropic detachment and extreme individualism #exemplifies (0.75) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 648
• Extreme social control occurs in both the widest and narrowest circles simultaneously #complicates (0.70) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 641
• The cash economy correlates social expansion with individual differentiation #expands (0.70) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 663
• Larger social circles expand possibilities for developing unique inner lives. #exemplifies (0.65) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 655