"個人主義"是五四時期最重要的思潮之一,對于渴求個性解放和個人獨立的五四青年具有巨大的影響力。但五四新文化運動之后不久,對"個人主義"的正面闡揚逐步退潮,與奉獻"國家""社會"相比,單純追求個人獨立幾乎成為"自私自利"的代名詞,反復遭到批判。其原因有二,一是"個人主義"與中國崇尚群體道德倫理的傳統相抵觸,二是一戰以后社會主義思潮興起,"個人主義"作為資本主義私有制產生的理論基礎,其啟蒙價值遭到嚴重質疑。抗戰全面展開后,救亡圖存的時局亦有利于"社會有機體論"和"團體主義"價值觀的弘揚和傳播,"個人主義"遂徹底走向沒落,最終讓位于具有濃厚意識形態化色彩的集體主義精神。

Individualism was one of the major intellectual themes in the May Fourth period. It had enormous impact on the May Fourth youth who were eager to pursue individual liberation and independence. However,soon after the May Fourth and the New Cultural Movement,the discourses advocating individualism gradually diminished. In contrast to the devotion to the nation and society,the pure pursuit of individual independence was almost regarded equal to egoism and criticized frequently. There are two reasons for this. First,individualism is incompatible with the Chinese traditional ethics that values the collective high. Second,due to the rise of socialism after WWI,individualism as the theoretical foundation of capitalism and private ownership was questioned severely. After the outbreak of the total war against the Japanese aggression,the situation was suitable for the spread of the theories of social organism and collectivism,so individualism completely lost popularity and was replaced by collectivism in terms of ideology.