Individualism is a political, ethical and social philosophy that emphasizes personal freedom, personal interests and self-control. In essence, it is a world outlook that looks at the world, society and interpersonal relationships from the perspective of individual first and individual as the center.

This theory holds that: the individual is an end in itself, and society is only a means to achieve personal goals; All people are morally equal. The same French word is individualism, which comes from the Latin word Individuumium, meaning "individual" and "inseparable thing". It was first used by Tocqueville, a French sociologist, and was described as a kind of moderate egoism.

Individualism appears with the emergence of private ownership of means of production and develops with the development of private ownership: capitalism is the last and most complete social form of private ownership of means of production, and individualism has reached its peak in the bourgeoisie. Thinkers in the modern bourgeois revolution summarized individualism as eternal human nature, and made it the basic content of morality and the main criterion for judging good and evil, as an ideological weapon against feudal morality and religious asceticism.

Individualism has a wide range of meanings: as a value system, it advocates that all values are centered on individuals, and individuals themselves have the highest value; As a general attitude towards political, economic, social and religious behaviors, it includes highly evaluating personal self-confidence, personal private life and respect for individuals, and opposing authority and all kinds of domination over individuals.

The Concise Encyclopedia of Britain defines individualism as "a political and social philosophy that attaches great importance to individual freedom, and widely emphasizes self-domination, self-control, and that individuals or themselves are not bound by external constraints. ..... As a philosophy, individualism contains a value system, a theory about human nature, and a general attitude towards certain political, economic, social and religious behaviors. "

According to this understanding, individualism, as an individual's attitude, tendency and belief in participating in social life, has its historical inevitability. In other words, in the process of civilization in western society, individualism, as a way of life, outlook on life and world, has an overall and universal significance, which constitutes the basic way and existing state for westerners to grasp the relationship between man and the world. Specifically, the infiltration of individualism in all aspects of western social life can be roughly summarized as philosophical humanism, political democracy, economic liberalism and cultural self-awareness.