> This kind of comments resembles the thinking process of a person with "product manager" position in a small/medium size company. Deep down (consciously or subconsciously) they don't really respect or see the value of the individual developer, but they see the team more like a bunch of horses going around the mill. They optimize for "the product" and throw around sophists-like pseudo-philosophical thoughts that appeal to like-minded individuals or to their bosses.

There’s some truth to that somewhat cynical description. :) But how do you organize software development without falling into that hole? A product has to make sense as a whole, and the only/easiest way to accomplish that is to make a single person responsible for its high-level specification. From there the negative cultural fallout you describe is to some extent inevitable (although you can and should counteract it of course).