1. Set Focus
Frame the inquiry with these essential questions: When—if ever—does the common good outweigh individual freedoms?
2. Read and Discuss
Have students read the debate and then answer the following questions:
- What is the issue being debated? Why is the issue under debate? (The issue is whether the government should mandate Covid vaccines. It’s under debate because the Covid-19 virus is highly contagious and can be deadly, but the pandemic can be stopped if enough people are vaccinated.)
- Evaluate why these two authors might be interested in and qualified to comment on this issue. (Lipkin is a doctor and the director of the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University. Cannon is the director of Health Policy Studies at a libertarian think tank.)