Subjectivity

Capitalism flourished in Europe due to the emergence of protestant ethics, which encouraged people to work, develop their own enterprise, and engage in trade and accumulation of wealth for investment. This protestant work ethic was a force in the development of capitalism. Both these schools of thought emphasised the idea of individual who is free and undetermined. It created an individual who is free from all kinds of compulsions both internal and external. It rejected deterministic approaches in the understanding of the individual. But the thinking of Sigmund Freud provided a point of departure for questioning autonomous Subject, which was the foundation of capitalism. Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis brought fresh debates in the way one understands the individual. He brought the idea that an individual is nothing but a mass of impulsions and is determined by various factors. He introduced the concept subjectivity. Accordingly, subjectivity is a state of existence and various factors, both external and internal, have gone in to produce it.

Reference

Pinto, anil. "Subjectivity." Bangalore: Christ University, 18/11/10. Discussion.