The question of individualism was widely discussed in the 1960s. I suggest some
of you read Joseph Agassi's article on methodological individualism which
appeared in the 1960 British Journal of Sociology pp241-70 (available on JSTOR)
and his follow up in the 1975 volume with an article titled Institutional
Individualism, pp. 144-55. An if you are adventurous you can read chapter 2 in
my 1982 and 2003 books.
Lawrence Boland