Name:
Date:
"Calendar"
Assignment for Day 24
Which way human progress: Individual conscience or collective judgment?
Guest
Speaker, Adam Kissel!
· “On individuality, as one of the elements of wellbeing,” Chapter 3 in On Liberty (1859), by John Stuart Mill.
Writing assignment (1 page):
John Stuart Mill argues in Chapter 3 of On Liberty that “it is only
the cultivation of individuality which produces, or can produce, well-developed
human beings.” To what extent, then, should others—our families, government
bureaucrats, legislators and the laws—be allowed to tell us what we may or may
not do? Consider one of the following examples and describe what Mill’s
argument has to offer to the debate in terms of individuality and customary
beliefs:
·
I am terminally ill and depressed about it, and
I want to die via physician-assisted suicide (which is legal in three states).
Should the state or my physician or my family be allowed to judge whether I may
die?
·
I want to donate an organ, such as an extra
kidney, to whomever I want, and pay all the expenses myself. Why should anyone
else care what I do?
·
My sister and I are conjoined twins. Everyone
treats us like strange monsters, so we want to get separated. The chances of
survival are 90% for me and only 50% for my sister. Can’t we give it a shot?
·
I was born with ambiguous genitalia, and now
that I’m an adult I’m pretty sure that my parents chose the wrong gender for
me. Should I be allowed to have gender reassignment medicine and surgery?