Ethics [Tuesday, September 16, 2nd period]

[sith_happened]

When the students came into the classroom, they found Anakin scrawling a quote on the board:

“In general, pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes.”--John Ruskin

He turned around with an eyebrow raised. "Is Master Ruskin correct? How about Master Lao Tzu? He said: 'Pride attaches undue importance to the superiority of one's status in the eyes of others; and shame is fear of humiliation at one's inferior status in the estimation of others. When one sets his heart on being highly esteemed, and achieves such rating, then he is automatically involved in fear of losing his status.'"

He began pacing around the room. "Does pride always go before a fall? Do we have to be humiliated before we can learn? How high do the stakes have to be before we'll admit we've made a mistake, or have been fooled?"

"In order to deal ethically with other people, we need to acknowledge this very human flaw in ourselves and others. We want to believe that we are different, better than everyone around us." His gaze sharpened. "We're not. Everything is connected. You, me, the desks, the rocks outside, the deer in the preserve, the annoying person in the dorm who plays their music too loudly. Take pride in being yourself, certainly," he concluded. "But don't for a moment believe that who you are makes you more than the person sitting next to you. Because that kind of pride is where you make your first mistake."

Comments

Re: Answer discussion question #2 [9/16]

[sith_happened]

"Being dead does make it harder to learn from the error, yes," Anakin said, eyes twinkling.

Re: Answer discussion question #2 [9/16]

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri flinched, the gesture not so much physical as a flash of pain that she tried to damp down, but nodded. "Mistakes get made," she said, "but lately it's pretty hard to hide them. They'll come out, and in a pretty messy way, so what's the point in pretending they didn't happen?"

Re: Answer discussion question #2 [9/16]

[sith_happened]

Anakin's emotions flashed back with a quick burst of sympathy and guilt. "It depends on the mistake," he said quietly. "And sometimes people who aren't responsible for the mistake take the blame anyway."

Re: Answer discussion question #2 [9/16]

[weetuskenraider]

"What if there's no way to convince people that someone's innocent?" asked Tahiri, thinking of Ithor -- and maybe of how Han had blamed Anakin for Chewie's death for so long. "Then we're right back to the question of stupid self-sacrifice, aren't we?"

Re: Answer discussion question #2 [9/16]

[sith_happened]

He nodded. "Ethical questions have a nasty way of interlocking," he said. "Even in this, everything is connected." A half-smile crossed his face. "Obi-Wan would be amused by that."