Examining the concept of individuality and the ideology of individualism in terms of a dialectic between the self and the social order, the author draws a distinction between the person as an identity-a "someone"-who conforms to social roles and norms, and the individual as a nonidentity-a "no one"-who holds particular nonconformist perceptions of truth that result in conscious and independent moral discrimination and innovation.

Originally published in 1979.

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