This study conducts an analysis of the Classical Liberal doctrines, namely Natural Rights, Utilitarianism, and Social Darwinism, in the context of historical events contributing to the successful establishment of autonomous governance by the Kurdish population in Iraq. The research methodology employed is qualitative case study, with the case subject being the Kurdistan region in northern Iraq. The study draws upon secondary sources encompassing scholarly books and articles, to gather pertinent information. Throughout the course of history, the Kurdish people have ardently aspired to create their own homeland, Kurdistan. Despite their determination and historical occurrences, the four constituent parts constituting Kurdistan have not been able to coalesce into a unified entity. Nevertheless, the Kurdistan region in Iraq has made remarkable progress and presently governs itself autonomously within the Iraqi state. This progress can be attributed to a myriad of historical events, ranging from major turning points to subtle influences. In the comtext of this study, all three aforementioned Liberal doctrines hold relevance, although to varying degrees. Utilitarianism and Natural Rights emerge as the primary influential doctrines, while Social Darwinism, though present, exerts a lesser impact on the studied developments.

The purpose of this paper is twofold. Firstly, it makes a normative idea analysis concerning organ donation, by comparing the perspectives of utilitarianism and classical liberalism. Secondly, it applies these perspectives on the Swedish legislation, in order to understand it in a political philosophical view. As a theoretical framework, the paper uses the two perspectives´ overarching ethical standpoints, but also try to discern their views on four - for the topic -appropriate concepts, these being the concepts of liberty, consent and self-ownership. These are then bundled together into two so-called ”ideal types”, to use for making normative statements about what the most morally right legislation would be concerning organ donation. In utilitarianism, an agent-neutral overall happiness is at the forefront, which leads it to prioritize an increase in donations over the autonomy of the individual. This makes the case for a conscription of organs or the softer notion of an opt-out system. Classical liberalism focus more on the right to self-ownership and negative liberty, and therefore argue for an opt-in system, which requires the explicit consent of the individual. Lastly, the paper makes the claim that the Swedish legislation falls in a category inbetween the normative judgements of the two perspectives, as it prescribes an opt-out system, but reserves the right of the family to refuse a donation, in case the deceased had not made a choice ante mortem.