fandomhigh | Applied Ethics B: Fourth Period [27.07]

Harriet smiled at the students as they arrived. Once everyone was settled she stood up from behind her desk. "All right, last week you had a chance to decide what the right thing to do was in a very specific situation. Interestingly enough, for the most part, you decided to keep quiet, and most of you did it because you thought it would be wrong to sell out your partner. Which leads us quite nicely to today, and I'll try not to go on, but I'm afraid a little bit of talking's necessary at this stage.

Ethics is about doing what's right, I think everyone would agree with that, even if no one can really agree on what right is." She shook her head a little at the understatement. "Everyone's heard the expression: a means to an end? Most ideas of what's right start at one of two basic places: Adherence to principles, or means, and dedication to results, or ends.

An example of the first is living your life according to set rules of behaviour, whether set down by religion or law, no matter what happens. Thou shall not steal, even if it means you or your family starve. The consequences never come into consideration -- they don't matter, all that matters is that you stick with those rules. This is one of the most basic ideas of what is ethical, and it tends to revolve around the idea that there is a moral duty to be a good person. You are a good person if you follow these rules.

And then we have the other side of the coin. The greatest good for the greatest number: I'm sure everyone's heard that, it's probably the most common expression of the 'only results count' school of thought. It sounds lovely, doesn't it? Except that it doesn't mean the greatest good for the most individuals, it means the greatest amount of good over all - it reduces happiness to a mathematical equation, and it's unfortunate for you if you happen to be one of the unhappy people. It focuses only on consequences, and people as unique individuals don't really come into consideration.

Now - and I grant you this is a rather far-fetched example, but it illustrates the problem nicely - imagine that someone has maliciously sent a trolley hurtling towards five innocent and immobile people at the end of a track. The only way to stop the trolley and save the five people is to throw one innocent bystander in front of the trolley.

If you adhere strictly to principles that say you mustn't hurt other people, you can do nothing but watch them die -- unless you choose to throw yourself under the trolley, and that's not an option if your principles prohibit suicide. If all you care about is outcomes, you can grab one of those innocent bystanders and toss them under the trolley. Good for the five, not so great for the one, but you have achieved the greatest good for the greatest number.

In the exercise last week, everyone stuck to a principle and didn't worry much about outcomes. Luckily everyone did that, or a number of you might have found yourself in jail for quite some time.

In an ethic based on following set rules of behaviour, the end can never justify the means; in an ethic based on results, the means don't matter, only the ends." Harriet handed out some material, then returned behind her desk.

"What I'd like you to do now is to discuss these two ways of looking at what is right: which one fits you better? Why do you think that is? What are some of the problems with each of them, what are some of the benefits? Have you followed one or the other at some point? What happens if either is taken to extremes? Just some suggestions," she added. "None of them are mandatory.

If you get tired of talking, there are computers set up with a version of last week's exercise, only here you can decide what your co-accused's ethical stance is, and see what the outcome will be. Alternatively, and I grant you this has only the slightest relation to what we're talking about, if you go through that door," she pointed and smiled at the class, "there's a maze, which you can pair up and work your way through. The outcome - getting to the end - is all that's important, but how you get there matters. If you don't find your way to the end before class is over, the maze will disappear."

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[ooc: I go on and on and on this week, but this is an incredibly simplistic explanation of the difference between teleology/consequentalism and deontology. If you want to try the maze, the link is to a picture of it, and go nuts modding it - animals, plants, fountains, walls, make it as easy or as difficult as you want. Whatever you like, really, but nothing that will actually hurt anyone, and feel free to use any of your character's powers or abilities to get through it as easily as possible, up to and including flattening it or blowing holes through the walls.]

[

Wait for OCD.

And it's up!]

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Anemone

Claire Bennet

Marco

Jaina Solo

Anne Shirley

Edward Elric

Will Vandom

Naminé

Sabriel

Raphael

Rodney McKay

Qui-Gon Jinn

Talk, take notes, doodle, be bored, fold origami cranes, whatever takes your fancy.

Anne took copious notes, nodding fervently every time she agreed with something -- which meant to say she found herself nodding at both sides of the coin, and therefore feeling a little confused.

For once, Anemone wasn't doodling. She spent the lecture staring at a perfectly blank page in her notebook.

Ends or means?

"Both are important," Edward said. "And you can't lose sight of the goal by getting caught up in the details. But at the same time, if ...if the price is too high, it's not worth it. The principle of equivalent exchange is still generally in effect."

"Ends. You have to keep your will focused on the goal, or you'll never get anything done. At the same time, everything has a price. Everything. If you aren't willing to pay it, then the goal either isn't worth it, or it isn't actually for the greater good."

"I used to be focused initialy on achieving the goals, on focusing on just the mission to be accomplished that would help a lot of people out. But... after awhile, I started seeing stuff that would happen to people if you forgot about the means, and it often wasn't pretty. So I still think that you need to work towards a worthy cause, but you have to think about how you're getting there, in order to not hurt people along the way."

"I think ..." Naminé cleared her throat, and when she spoke her voice was softer. "I think the m-means have to matter. Because ... if you let yourself h-hurt or kill people in the name of Good, then ... how can you be Good at all? Aren't you the same as the darkness you're fighting?"

"The only acceptable sacrifice is oneself," Ronan said, a bit flatly, "and only then as a last resort. If there is any other solution, it should be pursued prior to the throwing away of a life."

"Overall, I believe that the ends do justify the means. Adhering to your principles is all well and good, but it will be a poor comfort to the people who died as a result." Rodney paused to consider the example Harriet had given. "If I really was stuck in a Kobayashi Maru and couldn't save everyone, the only logical alternative would be to save as many as possible. 'The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.'"

Whatever you'd like.

Anemone raised her hand. "What determines the greatest good? Can there be such a thing as the 'greatest good' if no one can agree on what it is?"

"That is the fundamental question," Harriet replied. "In this case, they're talking about happiness. The greatest good is whatever creates the greatest amount of hapiness in a given situation. Many people would disagree with that, and do. So you can have a greatest good, it's just not going to be a universal greatest good."

On the computer terminals (http://www.princeton.edu/~mdaniels/PD/PD.html). See what happens when you can decide your partner's stance, and also what happens when you play long enough to establish a pattern.

Go on, head off through the door with a partner (or a trio, or more, if you want) and try the maze. Mod away!

Anemone looked around for someone to traverse the labyrinth with.

After she pings in.

There's tea.

I can't believe I don't shut up.

My availability is shot to hell due to a flu/cold like thing combined with the fact that five different brides decided that now is the time to work on their weddings. *sneezes*

Availability == little to nonexistent the rest of today, most likely.

Applied Ethics B: Fourth Period [27.07]

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