Introduction 



We apply the term "individual" to a human being to emphasize the 

 distinctive unique features which such a person possesses. We note 

 his appearance, motor reactions, the expression of his face and his 

 psychical states, especially those which have a social significance. By this 

 designation we accentuate, in general, our impression that the different persons 

 we meet are more or less distinct from one another, although there may be 

 variations in the degree of these differences. Some persons appear to be more 

 like others, while other persons show marked peculiarities which differentiate 

 them sharply from the rest. Attention is given especially to the modes of 

 thinking, feeling, to the emotions, imagination, creativeness, to the behavior 

 in certain social constellations. 



We apply the term "personality" to a human being, to state our reactions to 

 him in social intercourse, and our opinion as to whether we find him forceful 

 or weak, pleasant or unpleasant, serious or light. 



Individuality is here used as the general term, while by personality is under- 

 stood that part of human individuality which manifests and maintains itself in 

 the social intercourse and struggle. We rnay define this distinction also some- 

 what differently. Individuality may be conceived of as the original physical 

 and psychical state of an organism, which has developed in accordance with 

 the genetic constitution of this organism with the co-operation of a sequence 

 of more or less fixed physical-chemical environmental conditions. In the course 

 of the natural and social struggle in which a human being is involved, tradi- 

 tions, suggestions, experiences of many kinds, mold this individuality in 

 various directions and thus determine the characteristics which the individual 

 takes on in becoming converted into the personality which develops in the 

 course of time and which alone we know. In this sense we are acquainted not 

 with individualities but only with personalities. The basic individuality is, 

 then, a mere mental construction, which we cannot know but some properties 

 of which we can surmise. However, secondarily, it is customary to express the 

 distinctive features or characteristics of a certain person, which differentiate 

 him from other persons, as his individual characteristics. 



These are not sharply defined terms. Like all other beginnings of scientific 

 analysis, they express not yet fully correlated and analyzed experiences ; they 

 represent crude approximations to the understanding of reality. 



The term "individual" is extended from man to other living organisms 

 which also show distinctive features, and it is applied even to non-living 

 things. In a literal sense, it signifies that an organism or a thing is an integrated 

 whole, which cannot be further divided without ceasing to be this particular 

 organism or thing, without losing its identity. Among the more primitive or- 

 ganisms it may be difficult to distinguish from one another individuals in a 

 given group, but it is possible to differentiate between the larger groups, 

 varieties, species, genera, orders and classes to which the individuals belong. 



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