fandomhigh | Ethics [Thursday, April 10]

"There's a very famous story on this world," Anakin began. "Of the lady or the tiger. For those of you not from this world, the short version is there was a fictional king with his own sense of justice--instead of a court system, he had an arena with two doors. Behind one door was a beautiful woman, handpicked by the king. Behind the other was a tiger. If you chose the tiger, you were eaten and declared guilty. If you chose the lady, you were considered innocent and married the lady. The king didn't care about your previous marital status or sexual orientation, apparently."

He began pacing. "One day the king discovered that his daughter had been having an affair with someone far below her station, so the man was arrested and tossed into the arena. Now the princess knew which door has what behind it, and her lover looked up to her for advice. She had two choices: watch her love die, or marry another woman. The story ends with the princess telling him which door to open, but leaves us hanging as to what waited behind it."

Anakin smiled. "Your task today is two-fold. First, pair up with a classmate and decide what the princess did. Then tell me what you would have done in the princess's place."

Stranded - Plumb

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"I think it depends how selfish the princess was," Romeo said, as he looked around for a partner.

"How do you mean?" Jenny asked.

"If you are selfish," Romeo said, "It's almost easier to want to see someone dead than with another. The princess must be willing to know her love was out there, but not hers, to give him to another lady."

Edited 2008-04-10 13:15 (UTC)

Jenny shook her head. "That's just--look, I could give you the 'where there's life there's hope' speech, maybe the girl dies of dysentery, maybe they just carry on behind her back, but--it boils down to, 'does she have the stomach to watch her boyfriend get ripped to shreds by a tiger?' It's really not a pretty way to die. I've heard stories."

"Having to watch him die that way does make giving him to the other a little easier," Romeo had to admit. "So you don't think the princess would hesitate, even for a second?"

"Not unless she's a sadistic bitch. Which she might be, I mean, this is a country that uses this as a trial-and-punishment system on a regular basis we're talking about here. The people in charge can't be quite on the mental level."

Romeo nodded in agreement. "Let's assume she's not a sadistic bitch, then." He still didn't think it was quite as simple as Jenny made it, but she was making her case well. "What I wonder is where the king finds ladies who are willing to be used as such chattel -- or perhaps it is their punishment as well."

"Again, might be a societal thing," Jenny mused. "Great honor, and all that. Doesn't make it suck any less, especially if the guy in the ring's accused of, say, rape. Or being in love with a potentially dangerous and jealous princess, I suppose."

"And I suppose in a world with arranged marriages, marrying someone on sight is almost no worse than any other wedding," Romeo said, something flickering through his eyes. "And you make me wonder if the princess would have enough power in her own right to have her love's wife killed."

"True," Jenny said. "Let's hear it for modernity, hey? And I guess the story doesn't give us enough information to guess, but I'd say your average princess has access to, say, highly trained bodyguards at the very least. Though they're probably of dubious loyalty...hmm. It's an interesting question."

"Guards can be bribed," Romeo said thoughtfully. "Though, I suppose, they might not want to face a tiger themselves, which might make them ultimately loyal to the king."

"Right," Jenny agreed, "that's what I was thinking, they're answerable to Daddy."

Ethics [Thursday, April 10]

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