Ethics [Tuesday, October 21, 2nd 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 battle was moving at least three times as fast as the exercise had. The older Jedi went ricocheting into a wall, then the second one, fire in his eyes, closed in on their opponent. A few moments later the Sith dropped to his knees 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

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

[stupid-toasters.livejournal.com]

"Yes," Lee said. "If he wasn't killed, he'd go keep killing others and I might be in the next batch of those killed. Take him out now, stop that from happening."

Re: Answer the discussion question: temperance

[sith_happened]

"But there is a system in place for dealing with people who have done wrong," Anakin replied. "Shouldn't you let the system work?"

Re: Answer the discussion question: temperance

[endsthegame]

"How dangerous is he going to keep being if he's captured?" Ender asked, "There's no point to killing him if he's not making you." He had enough deaths to his name. But the immediate ones, the human ones, had been in the moment, and a battle like this could be ended in the courts. "There's no immediate threat left."

And maybe he could believe that he would, too. He'd been tried and tested about this before.

It left him with the feeling he was still lying through his teeth, strategically sound as his words had been.

Re: Answer the discussion question: temperance

[sith_happened]

"He's almost singlehandedly responsible for beginning an intergalactic war," Anakin replied. "We don't have a guidepost for figuring how dangerous he'd be captured. We don't even know if he'd allow himself to remain captured. Does that change anything?"

Re: Answer the discussion question: temperance

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

Dōjima really hated this class.

"How, exactly, are you supposed to bring him to trial?" she asked dryly. "He's dangerous, even without that flashy stick, and trying to keep him alive is just going to put anyone you come into contact with at risk. The longer he's alive, the greater the chance of a higher body count, and then it will be your fault."

Re: Answer the discussion question: temperance

[sith_happened]

Anakin nodded. "But you are supposed to stand for justice--it's the entire point of being a Jedi. How would you resolve the conflict within you if you kill him in cold blood?"

Re: Answer the discussion question: temperance

[yourwhiteknight.livejournal.com]

"In this case where the man was clearly guilty, yes. He would have just kept on killing people if you hadn't," he said. "Letting him go, even if you think you have him captured, is dangerous and irresponsible."

Re: Answer the discussion question: temperance

[sith_happened]

"Interesting," Anakin said. "Killing him in front of the galactic chancellor, though--is that too risky?"

Re: Answer the discussion question: temperance

[bad-nose-job.livejournal.com]

"No," she said.

Re: Answer the discussion question: temperance

[sith_happened]

"Not ever?" Anakin said. "It's almost a form of self-defense."

It wasn't.

Re: Answer the discussion question: temperance

[noboynextdoor.livejournal.com]

"It would depend on how good the courts are," Jess said. "If I could trust that he'd be taken care of accordingly, I'd let them deal with him and not have his blood on my hands."

Re: Answer the discussion question: temperance

[sith_happened]

"At this particular time in history the courts were...iffy," Anakin admitted with a twist of his lips. "The Sith work in pairs. The one being held under the lightsabers was the one we knew about. The other was hidden somewhere inside the Republic government. We hadn't found him yet."

Re: Answer the discussion question: temperance

[darkangelsawyer.livejournal.com]

"I don't really ever want to have to kill anyone," Peyton said quietly.

Re: Answer the discussion question: temperance

[sith_happened]

"If you are in a 'yay killing' mood," Anakin commented dryly, "you should definitely not being doing it. Sometimes the moment forces you into that position, though."

Re: Answer the discussion question: temperance

[ella-obeys.livejournal.com]

"No," Ella said. "Life or death is not a decision to take lightly. I'd capture him instead if that were at all an option."

Re: Answer the discussion question: temperance

[sith_happened]

"And if the chancellor was ordering you to kill him?" Anakin asked. "What then?"

Re: Answer the discussion question: temperance

[finding-x-dream.livejournal.com]

"Kill him?" Agnes asked. She was very obviously uncomfortable with the question. "I don't... I don't know. If you don't kill him, will justice be done?"

Re: Answer the discussion question: temperance

[sith_happened]

"It depends," Anakin said. "You're turning him over to a court system that is being corrupted from the inside."

Re: Answer the discussion question: temperance

[kestrelswolf.livejournal.com]

"Yes," Firekeeper said firmly. "He threaten your pack. Is sense in showing mercy in fight like this only if letting him live would help pack survive. I do not think he help much."

Re: Answer the discussion question: temperance

[sith_happened]

"He doesn't help much at all," Anakin replied, his lips quirking up.

Re: Answer the discussion question: temperance

[meg-powers.livejournal.com]

"I might want to. But I couldn't not in cold blood. My job was to apprehend him. Not to play judge, jury and executioner."

Re: Answer the discussion question: temperance

[sith_happened]

"Good," Anakin said. "Would anything change if the chancellor told you to do it?"

Re: Answer the discussion question: temperance

[pyroliz.livejournal.com]

"I couldn't kill anyone deliberately," Liz said softly. She'd had enough trouble being responsible for hundreds of accidental deaths, she didn't need any more.

Re: Answer the discussion question: temperance

[laidanegg.livejournal.com]

"No," Dick said. "I'd probably find it more satisfying to just break his nose or something. Sure, he dies if you kill him, but with a broken nose, he's going to be feeling that for a while. Especially since he's old. He heals slowly."