Emma Rixhon - Philosophy
To what extent are acts of individual rebellion necessary for social progress?
Mill’s
view
that
“originality
is
the
one
thing
which
unoriginal
minds
cannot feel
the
use
of.” 12 This reinforces the point that only original individuals can bring
about more individuality, and consequently more progress to society, as they are
the only ones who feel the importance of it. The unoriginal units of society are
content with following the mass, whereas the individuals want a breakthrough.
Nietzsche continues to write in direct agreement with Mill when declaring that
governments
are
only
an
“adding-together of clever herd-men.” 13 This also
means that governments can be made up solely of unoriginal minds who consent
to
the
way
their
society
is.
For
fear
that
Mill’s
exceptional
individuals
find
themselves
entering
mediocrity,
they
“should
be
encouraged” 14 even by the
general mass to keep their originality in order that they may bring about a
certain change. In this case, it is not individual acts of rebellion that are key to
social progress, but individual people who can bring about an awareness of
society’s
need
to
improve.
The Existentialist View
Albert Camus, the absurdist philosopher and Nobel Prize winner, writes
in The Rebel an
essay
on
human
revolution
and
greatly
concurs
with
Mill’s
view
that individuals are responsible for social progress. Camus defines these
individuals as rebels rather than geniuses and therefore their progressive acts
are rebellions. The importance of self-worth and originality are explored
throughout as necessary to rebellion however he contradicts himself when
writing,
“rebellion…
undermines
the
very
conception
of
the
individual.” 15 Since a
rebel may die when acting out against the mass, there is a possibility that they
will be condemned or persecuted for their ideas, and therefore they act in
sacrifice for the greater good. This would seem to place rebellion as a
communitarian action rather than an individualistic one, and though it seems an
incongruous argument in relation to the rest of The Rebel, this passage
introduces the possibility of communitarian social progress, which Mill
Mill, JS. 2006 p74
Tanner, M. 2000 p41
14 Mill, JS. 2006 p76
15 Camus, A. 1971 p21
12
13
209
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