A Study on American Individualism美国个人主义 英文论文.doc

A Study on American Individualism I Introduction Individualism is the very core of American culture and the main value in America.We can say that individualism has been influencing all the fields of politics,economics and society,even the character of the nation. The self--reliance, Individual freedom, equal competition which are emphasized is different from the concept of individualism in China. Individualism is a western concept, and the origin can be traced back to the period of Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation. In the period of immigration and Westward movement, Individualism was intensified. Although over self--centered canbring negative effect, from the whole historical point of view, there is no big social events which violate the stable situation, thisis because the concept of commitment has been in the heart of Americans for a long time. Individualism supplied the nation with a rationalization of its characteristic attitudes,behavior patterns and aspirations. It endowed the past, the present and the future with the perspective of unity and progress. It explained the peculiar social and political organization of the nation—unity in spite of heterogeneity and it pointed toward an ideal social organization in harmony with American experience. Above all, individualism expressed as the universalism and idealism most characteristic of the national consciousness. This concept evolved in contradistinction to socialism, the universal and messianic character of which it shared. Individualism, the love of enterprise, and the pride in personal freedom have been deemed by Americans not only their choicest, but their peculiar and exclusive possession. Individualism, the love of enterprise, and the pride in personal freedom have been deemed by Americans not only their choicest, but their peculiar and exclusive possession. Individualism is perhaps the primary concept that, transcending such categories as race, gender, class, age and region, unites Americans acros