Ethics [Thursday, November 1, 1st period]

[sith_happened]

Anakin leaned a little uncomfortably against his desk as he waited for the students to take their seats.

"Today we talk about diligence, temperance, and forgiveness," he said quietly, "and we're going to use examples from last week's exercise to do so."

He flipped the hologram to life, focusing on a shot of Palpatine's face. "The goal was to save this man, the democratically chosen leader of your galaxy, at the cost--if necessary--of your own lives. After the first dozen or so droids shooting at you, you certainly had the option of retreating and leaving the mission for someone else to complete. So when does diligence turn to foolhardiness?"

The holocam switched to footage of two Jedi, blue blades flashing, taking on an older man wielding a red lightsaber. The older Jedi went ricocheting into a wall, then the second one, fire in his eyes, closed in on their opponent who dropped to his knees moments later with two lightsabers held to his throat.

The Jedi wielding the lightsabers looked an awful lot like their teacher.

"Temperance," Anakin said softly. "Do you kill him now? He's dangerous. He held the head of a galaxy-wide government hostage. He injured your partner. He certainly tried to kill you first. Or do you capture him and leave him to the whims of the courts?"

He shook his head. "Finally, forgiveness. You save the chancellor, at great personal expense, only to discover he's not the kind of man you thought he was. Your act of heroism has managed to make the situation at home much, much worse. How do you forgive yourself for it? Can you forgive the others who put you into that position?"

Comments

Sign in [November 1]

[sith_happened]

...

Re: Sign in [November 1]

[intraspective]

Yamanaka Ino

Answer the discussion question: Diligence

[sith_happened]

When they're shooting at you, when does diligence slip over into foolhardiness?

Re: Answer the discussion question: Diligence

[intraspective]

"If you're assigned the mission then it's your duty to complete it. Sometimes even at the cost of your own life." Ino offered with a frown, "You can think mission is stupid and still have to go ahead with it."

Re: Answer the discussion question: Diligence

[solo_sword]

"If you commit yourself to a mission, you should do everything you can to follow it through," Jaina said. "I mean, even with droids shooting at you, you'd still have to get out anyway, and would still be running the same risks to escape. You stick to it until you can't anymore."

Re: Answer the discussion question: Diligence

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

"It's your mission. It's your job to finish it or die trying," she replied, shrugging. "A losing battle is still one worth fighting, because nothing is definite."

Re: Answer the discussion question: Diligence

[jedi-qui.livejournal.com]

"In many cases, large number of droids shooting at you are just a sign that you're on the right track," Qui-Gon pointed out.

Re: Answer the discussion question: Diligence

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

River looked uneasy about the subject. "Requires understanding of your own limits. Overstep them and you're crossed the boundary to foolhardiness." She wasn't sure she knew her own.

Re: Answer the discussion question: Diligence

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Like everyone's already said: You do your best to get the job done," John said.

Re: Answer the discussion question: Diligence

[mrodneymckay.livejournal.com]

Rodney only considered the question for a moment. "It becomes foolish when there's no real probability for success. If the only likely outcome includes not only your own death but also the failure of the mission, there would be no point in continuing," he elaborated. "While some people might think dying in pursuit of a hopeless goal is a noble exit, it really just leaves everyone else stuck in the same situation as they started out in but now with the added burden of having to pick up the pieces the dead 'hero' left behind."

Rodney didn't know why, but he had the strangest urge to glare at John.

Re: Answer the discussion question: Diligence

[key-of-heart.livejournal.com]

"Well if the assignment is to save the leader and get him out, then..." Sora paused to think, not looking overly sure. "Well you would just take out the ones that are blocking your path to safetly."

His mind wasn't on the hologram that Professor Skywalker showed, but his own experience getting Queen Minnie away from the heartless.

Re: Answer the discussion question: Diligence

[sarcasm-guy.livejournal.com]

"You need a realistic assessment of your abilities," said the kid without any semblance of one.

"If there's no chance of succeeding, then you're screwed. But if there's a small chance, sometimes you need to take it. It depends on what would happen if you failed."

Answer the discussion question: Temperance

[sith_happened]

The man was old, definitely evil, and pissing you off. Kill him?

Re: Answer the discussion question: Temperance

[intraspective]

"I'd want to." Ino said, "Definitely. But the mission orders would come first."

Re: Answer the discussion question: Temperance

[solo_sword]

"I'd try to bring him in. I don't think he would have made it easy at all, and I can't guarantee he wouldn't be dead by the time we got back because of that, but I don't think serving up personal justice was in the mission outline," answered Jaina.

Re: Answer the discussion question: Temperance

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

"No. You don't kill him," she said, very softly.

Aravis might have been having a tough time with this one.

Re: Answer the discussion question: Temperance

[jedi-qui.livejournal.com]

"In the heat of the fight, especially with someone as skilled or moreso than you, you have to fight for the kill," Qui-Gon said. "Anything less will be more likely to get you killed. But afterwards, if the heat of the moment is over, that is an entirely different situation. Killing an opponent who is currently defenceless and at your mercy... doesn't that make you as bad as the person you're killing?"

Re: Answer the discussion question: Temperance

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

The question was clearly disturbing to River. She dropped her head on to her desk, sliding he hands into her hair. "Yes," she whispered.

Re: Answer the discussion question: Temperance

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

John thought back to last week's simulation. "I'm pretty sure we know what I'd do."

Re: Answer the discussion question: Temperance

[mrodneymckay.livejournal.com]

Rodney was a bit unsure of his footing on this one. "I can't imagine killing someone if it isn't an act of self-defense. If my life was in immediate danger then yes, I would kill him. But if my enemy was already down, I don't think I could go through with it."

Re: Answer the discussion question: Temperance

[key-of-heart.livejournal.com]

Sora frowned deeply. "You shouldn't kill him..." he said cautiously. "But I don't know if I could keep myself reigned in like that."

Answer the discussion question: Forgiveness

[sith_happened]

Can you forgive yourself for making a wrong choice? Would you have chosen to save the chancellor if you'd known it was going to screw up the future?

Re: Answer the discussion question: Forgiveness

[intraspective]

"Hindsight is twenty-twenty." She looked irritated, "It's all very well to look back and say 'you shouldn't have done that' but the fact of the matter is that there's no way you could have known you we're making the wrong choice at the time. So you'd just have to suck it up and live with it, try and make things better." Ino tossed her head, "You can only live in the present."

Talk to the TA

[sith_happened]

Who should be used to these kinds of "lessons learned" breakdowns of missions.

Re: Talk to the TA

[jedi-qui.livejournal.com]

Qui-Gon was there, frowning slightly at the fighting style of the old man that was the opponent in the senario, feeling as if he was missing something important.

Talk to Anakin

[sith_happened]

The footage you saw was purely hypothetical, of course. Really.

Re: Talk to Anakin

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

"Was that you?" Aravis asked, after waiting until everyone was gone.

OOC

[sith_happened]

I'm around most of the day, huzzah!