Hard Problem of the Individual

The tension between the self as a unique, autonomous agent and the self as a socially constructed node. We experience ourselves as free, coherent individuals with an inner essence ("me"). Yet neuroscience, sociology, and psychology reveal that our thoughts, desires, and identities are shaped by genes, culture, language, and circumstance. The hard problem is: Where is the "true" individual in that web of influences? If you remove all the social programming and biological determinism, is anything left? The concept of the sovereign individual may be a necessary fiction for law and morality, but a fiction nonetheless.

Example: You choose a career as an artist, feeling it's your authentic passion. But how did that "passion" form? Through childhood exposure to certain books, a teacher's encouragement, and societal messages about creative expression. Your "free choice" is the output of a million inputs. The hard problem: To hold you responsible for your actions, society must treat you as an indivisible, choosing self. But to understand you, science must dissolve you into constituent processes. The individual is both the foundational unit of modern life and a philosophical mirage that disappears upon close inspection. Hard Problem of the Individual.

by Enkigal January 24, 2026

Theory of Constructed Individual

The counterintuitive argument that the modern concept of the unique, autonomous, inward-looking "self" is a historical invention, not a universal human truth. In this view, our sense of having a private, consistent identity with personal desires and rights is shaped by culture, language, and institutions (like psychology and law). You are not just expressing your true self; you are performing a self that your society has taught you how to be.

*Example: "My great-grandfather saw himself as part of a family, village, and church. I see myself as a 'unique individual' with personal dreams. The Theory of Constructed Individual says we're both right—our sense of self was built by different worlds. My 'authentic self' is a performance scripted by 21st-century individualism, just as his was by communal obligation."*

by Abzu Land January 31, 2026