Ethics [Tuesday, February 10, 2nd period]

[sith_happened]

Anakin was in a very good mood this morning. Something about seeing old friends and a wife's ex-boyfriend transformed into a girl had cheered him right up.

"Today we talk about something called the Golden Rule, a concept which unites many separate religions on this planet," he began, leaning against his desk and stared around the classroom. "It sounds altruistic: 'do unto others as you would have done unto you', but there's a couple of logical flaws in it. What if you don't mind getting poked in the stomach? Does it follow that you could wander around aimlessly poking people? What if you don't see what's wrong with stealing? Or killing? Or hating entire groups of people on principle? If the practical application is supposed to be you randomly help people because they could be good, wouldn't the opposite be that you could randomly harm people because they might be evil?"

He shrugged. "I suppose the Golden Rule could be broken down to 'be nice to people, and they'll be nice to you' but out here in the real world, we all know it doesn't exactly work like that, and the concept could also be reinterpreted as 'it doesn't bother me, so why does it bother you?' Is this a case of aiming for an ideal and hoping that it will cause a ripple effect of positive things, or something overly simplistic that taken to its logical extreme renders itself useless? Has seeing it on everything from coffee mugs to tea towels made the very idea of it trite, or does it still have a place in the mind of someone trying to lead an ethical life?"

Comments

Answer discussion question #1 [2/10]

[sith_happened]

Logical flaws of the Golden Rule! Should you go around poking people in the stomach because you don't mind getting poked? Randomly hurt people just in case they're evil?

Re: Answer discussion question #1 [2/10]

[talks2objects.livejournal.com]

"I always try to treat other people nicely, in the hope that they'll be polite in return," Dor said thoughtfully. "But I don't expect others the follow my example. In fact I think the idea of the rule is really what you do and say reflect who you are as a person. Or something like that."

Re: Answer discussion question #1 [2/10]

[sith_happened]

It had never once occurred to Anakin that the rule wasn't, you know, a rule. "How well does that work?" he asked interestedly.

Re: Answer discussion question #1 [2/10]

[talks2objects.livejournal.com]

"You tell me," Dor said with a shrug. "Do you think I'm a nice guy? That's what I try to be."

Re: Answer discussion question #1 [2/10]

[likes-chicken.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, but... someone once told me that what's 'nice' is kinda relative," Hurley said. "So... it's hard to make rules and... stuff."

Re: Answer discussion question #1 [2/10]

[sith_happened]

Anakin nodded. "I'm not very good at nice," he said, "but it doesn't mean I wander around kicking puppies for fun."

Re: Answer discussion question #1 [2/10]

[likes-chicken.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," Hurley said. "And like, friends tease each other to show that they're friends, sometimes... but if someone else teases someone, it's not okay. And stuff."

Re: Answer discussion question #1 [2/10]

[intraspective]

"What's nice?" she asked, after shooting a bit of a glance at Hurley. "I mean, sometimes someone is being nice but the other person thinks they're a jerk 'cause their 'nice-nesses'," that was totally a word in Ino's opinion, come on, "don't match up."

Re: Answer discussion question #1 [2/10]

[sith_happened]

Anakin smiled. "For you, only say half of what you're thinking," he teased.

Re: Answer discussion question #1 [2/10]

[intraspective]

She flushed. "I'm always trying to do what's best when it comes to my friends," Ino said. "And sometimes that means being not as nice as they'd like."

Re: Answer discussion question #1 [2/10]

[gobrookeyourself]

"Maybe just don't suck?" Brooke suggested.

Really, she'd done a lot of things she wouldn't have wanted to dhave done to her. She made up for the things she felt bad about...

Re: Answer discussion question #1 [2/10]

[sith_happened]

"And what would be your definition of suck?" Anakin asked.

Re: Answer discussion question #1 [2/10]

[gobrookeyourself]

"Don't do things that hurt other people. Don't be a jackass and aim for 'good person' instead. It's a loose definition."

Re: Answer discussion question #1 [2/10]

[future_sandworm]

"The rule does not take into account differences of value or of position," Leto replied. "It expects two parties to be equal, which is hardly ever the case. Of course, one might extrapolate and expect everyone to enter the mindset of the other when determining the right action, but that is not inherent in the rule.

Re: Answer discussion question #1 [2/10]

[sith_happened]

Anakin nodded. "A ruler's idea of nice could include things like 'well, I won't kill you today,' which seldom enters the thoughts of middle management," he replied.

Re: Answer discussion question #1 [2/10]

[future_sandworm]

Leto gave a nod. "Unless middle managment has the authority to consider that option."

Re: Answer discussion question #1 [2/10]

[joan-notjane.livejournal.com]

"Well, just because you don't mind getting poked doesn't mean you necessarily want people to poke you," Joan pointed out. "And if you don't want people to hurt you in case you're evil, then you shouldn't do that to them."

Re: Answer discussion question #1 [2/10]

[sith_happened]

"But what happens when others don't follow that same logic, though?" Anakin asked. "Do you poke back if they started it first?"

Re: Answer discussion question #1 [2/10]

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

"If you look at it that way they are certainly logical flaws. But the basic idea of being good to others seems quite basic," Helen said.

Re: Answer discussion question #1 [2/10]

[sith_happened]

"Well, yes," Anakin said. "But does it work? Thousands of years of wars and conflict among every species I've ever encountered seems to suggest otherwise."

Re: Answer discussion question #1 [2/10]

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

"The fact that people ignore the rule in favor of doing whatever they want doesn't mean the rule's no good," Helen said reasonably.

Re: Answer discussion question #1 [2/10]

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

"It's a dumb rule."

Triela didn't feel the need to elaborate. It was, after all, obvious why, right?

Re: Answer discussion question #1 [2/10]

[sith_happened]

"Why?" Anakin asked. Because he was maddening like that.

Re: Answer discussion question #1 [2/10]

[justwantsquiet.livejournal.com]

"Um. Well, I can usually tell right away if a person doesn't deserve my kindness," Sookie said slowly, "but I always go in with the assumption that people are nice and deserve a smile."

Re: Answer discussion question #1 [2/10]

[sith_happened]

"Really?" Anakin said, unable to hide the surprise in his voice. He wasn't going to mention her ability aloud but half the reason--at least, according to him--he was so bristly was hearing what people were thinking.