The Private versus the Social Man

Abstract

It is basically argued that, as the world economy progresses and the means of transportation and communication become increasingly available, the interdependence among means and ways of life also becomes inevitable and human relations tighten accordingly. However, though every individual tends to follow the patterns and directions of his (her) society′s way of living, he or she often conserves some peculiarities which can be identified with his or her personality. Individual and social behaviours are today becoming so interdependent that it is difficult to demarcate between “privacy” and “sociality”. This is particularly true in an advanced and complex society in which conflict between private and social interests is apparent. It is proposed that with effort this conflict can be removed or at least attenuated by adopting a more pragmatic approach to the humanistic economic system in which both private and social interests are allowed to be traded off without one necessarily impinging on the other.

Citation

Thisen, J.K. (1989), "The Private versus the Social Man", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 16 No. 8, pp. 35-48. https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000000445