Ethics [Thursday, April 17]

[sith_happened]

"Next week is your final exam," Anakin said, leaning against his desk. "So this week is your final chance to ask me any questions you might have been wondering this semester. You can ask me about ethical scenarios you or someone else might have encountered. You can ask me my favorite deadly sin. You can ask what makes me think I'm so qualified to teach this, anyway."

His lips pressed together. "Though I wouldn't recommend that final question. Ask whatever you like. I'll try to answer it honestly."

He glanced around the room. "Who wants to start?"

Comments

Ask Anakin questions!

[sith_happened]

Maybe not "who stuck a lightsaber up your butt?" but anything else is fair game.

Re: Ask Anakin questions!

[withoutverona]

"What are the ethics of redemption?" Romeo asked, almost quietly, not sure he really wanted to go where he seemed determined to go. "That is, when and why should you forgive yourself, if you know you have acted unethically?"

Re: Ask Anakin questions!

[sith_happened]

"There are some things you will never forgive yourself for," Anakin said. "Spur of the moment mistakes--making a wrong choice in the heat of battle, saying something stupid because you were angry--this was why the Jedi valued calm, learning to control your emotions."

He ran a hand through his hair. "Which is why if you've coldly calculated something terrible, it's that much harder to get over it."

"You can forgive yourself for being an idiot if you've learned from your mistake," he said finally. "If you're still justifying why you did it, you haven't learned."

Re: Ask Anakin questions!

[withoutverona]

Romeo was having a momentary argument with himself about the difference between a good reason and a justification, but he had enough of an idea what Master Skywalker would say that it didn't seem worth sharing.

He'd never calculated anything, anyhow.

"Thank you, sir."

Re: Ask Anakin questions!

[death-of-hope.livejournal.com]

"I still don't understand who gets to decide what's ethical and what isn't," Anemone called out. "I mean, what gives someone the right to force their moral code on someone else, let alone an entire country or world or whatever?"

Re: Ask Anakin questions!

[sith_happened]

He smiled. "Because when you try to leave it up to everyone to decide for themselves, some idiot always screws it up. It's the difference between living in chaos and living in a society. Some things are always wrong, regardless of culture or time."

Re: Ask Anakin questions!

[death-of-hope.livejournal.com]

"People are just going to put that idiot in charge anyway, because most people are sheep," she snorted. "Are some things really always wrong?" Because she doesn't believe that, it makes things too pat and tidy and neat.

Re: Ask Anakin questions!

[sith_happened]

"Slavery is always wrong," Anakin said, voice steely. "Hurting people because you can? Always wrong. Killing children? Always wrong. Some things aren't negotiable."

Re: Ask Anakin questions!

[death-of-hope.livejournal.com]

Privately, Anemone felt that if someone had killed the Novak brothers as children, her world would have been a lot better off.

She doubted Master Skywalker would agree, however, so she just kept quiet.

Re: Ask Anakin questions!

[the_merriest]

Rikku raised her hand, uncertainly.

"Are there things that ... you'd consider unforgivable?" she asked. "Either just you personally or in general, I mean. Things that are just too awful or unethical or whatever to ever be okay."

Re: Ask Anakin questions!

[sith_happened]

"I have a list," Anakin said, nodding.

Most of which he'd done. That part he'd keep to himself.

"Blowing up a populated, defenseless planet ranks way up there for things that are unforgivable."

Re: Ask Anakin questions!

[the_merriest]

"So what happens then?" she asked, chewing on her lower lip. "If someone's done those things. They're just ... beyond reach?"

A defenseless planet wasn't the same as a sector of the slums crushed under a plate, but that seemed mostly a difference of scale.

Re: Ask Anakin questions!

[sith_happened]

"For me, yes," Anakin said. "Other people have other standards."

Re: Ask Anakin questions!

[the_merriest]

She nodded, carefully. "Thanks," she said, still weighing the issue in her mind.