Individualism and Dogmatism

Error is not based on an Inadequate Idea per se; rather, it obtains when an Inadequate Idea is taken as if it were Adequate. Now, Spinoza is keenly aware that the attainment of Adequate Ideas is rare and difficult. However, that excuses neither inaction nor the perpetuation of ignorance. For, the alternative is a commitment to conduct on the best evidence available, in combination with persistence in the determination of the latter, i. e. a principle that emerges in Pragmatism. So, the fundamental problem with the Individualism that pervades American society is not so much its Inadequacy per se, but its Dogmatism, i. e. the insistence that each member is inherently incapable of conceiving themselves as part of a larger Plurality.