Expressive individualism

Expressive individualism (EI) is a label used to describe an ideology that has arisen during the past several hundred years, an ideology that has gathered steam and now dominates Western culture. EI is the view that the whole point of a person’s existence is to be authentic; that, for individuals to be authentic, they must align their lives with their deepest desires; and that, for societies to be authentic, they must applaud individuals for aligning life with their deepest desires. ― Expressive Individualism: Our Twenty-First Century American Ba’al

A society’s understanding of the notion of “self” has broad implications for the cultural, moral, and political spheres. The modern notion of self, which can be called “expressive individualism,” to use Robert Bellah’s term, lies at the heart of current cultural conflicts, including abortion, pornography, the ethics of life and death, radical racial politics, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion. Expressive individualism holds that human beings are defined by their individual psychological core, and that the purpose of life is allowing that core to find social expression in relationships. Anything that challenges it is deemed oppressive. Building a society based on a true understanding of the human person begins with an acknowledgement of the situation in which we find ourselves. ― How Expressive Individualism Threatens Civil Society | The Heritage Foundation