This is something I've been considering for a very long time in terms of useful work. To summarize somewhat broadly, "what moral and ethical duties does a creative person or an artisan in any field, science or industry or any broad field of endeavor have to oneself vs. the requirements of larger society?"
In one sense, we can say that any person who exhibits creativity is inherently unique and finding ways and means to enhance their creative output over the course of a lifetime is in the best interest of the creative individual and in what utility and quality that person can contribute to society? In the best case scenario, both of these vague and generalized entities benefit where maximum utility and maximum quality of life converge. This is a very idealized case but one that has been born out to a significant extent by the success of democratic legal frameworks and market capitalism in tandem, to a point.
Where the more general case from an ethical standpoint starts to become more interesting is where the individual diverges from society given that absence of a clear path to reasonable utility and quality of life? I think I want to give this line of inquiry more thought and get more deeply engaged in a series of posts, so I hope you will be patient while I refine my thinking on some of these questions?
-GJS
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