Emma Rixhon - Philosophy
To what extent are acts of individual rebellion necessary for social progress?
Throughout this essay, both the terms rebel and individual will be somewhat
interchangeable.
The Liberal View
Mill goes as far as romanticizing the necessity of individuals within a
society when he writes about geniuses as rare beings who along with their close
environment must be nurtured in order to preserve and cultivate their
brilliance 3 . He declares these geniuses to be the ultimate individuals, and that
they are incapable of fitting into societal norms. These extreme original beings
however need not fit into society, as their existence would struggle to be
comfortable in the moulds of the generic mass. If they shut down when forced
into a mould, they will lose their precious genius; if they fight back and break the
mould, they will be considered uncontrollable,
“erratic” 4 , and therefore unfit for
society. Their brilliance therefore must be admired and taken for what it is,
without a desire to fit it them into society.
Mill directly claims that there are only a few individuals whose ideals
could
lead
to
social
progress
when
writing
that
“there
are
but
few
persons…
whose experiments, if adopted by others, would be likely to be any improvement
on
established
practice.” 5 These extraordinary individuals may be the geniuses
that Mill otherwise mentions. What separates these individuals from others is
that their theories would not simply change society, as this can be somewhat
done by anyone with intelligence or power, but would develop it further. In
order to bring about a positive change to society, one cannot be a static follower
of
the
“established
practices,”
as
going along with these fully implies an
acceptance of them. Once one blindly accepts the social norms, it is impossible to
consider why one would want to break or change them, let alone go about doing
so. Original people are therefore necessary for the growth of society as a means
to
avoid
civilization
ever
becoming
“a
stagnant
pool.” 6 These original individuals
3 ibid.
p74
ibid. p74
5 Mill, JS. 2006 p73
6 ibid. p73
4
207
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