fandomhigh | Ethics class, 8-10am Friday morning

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Ethics class, 8-10am Friday morning

Tara leans against her desk, smiling as she watches the students come in. Some of the faces she recognises, and gives a nod. The room is filled with soft, comfortable chairs, which are positioned in a circle. Each chair has a wooden insert in one arm, to lean on while writing, and each wooden insert has a blank piece of paper on it.

When everyone has taken their seats, Tara begins.

"The first rule of ethics class is that you do not talk about things that happen inside of ethics class. The second rule of ethics class is that you do not talk about things that happen inside of ethics class. Allow me to clarify: you may discuss your revelations, challenge your friends and mock the teacher all you like. But if anything said inside this class is ever used against another member of it, it will mean instant detention. You will, however, have the opportunity to explain yourself before I drag you before Principal Connor. This class cannot function if people are afraid to speak."

She looks around the classroom, stopping briefly on each face. "This school is very unusual. Yes, obviously the squid is a bit odd, but what's more interesting to me is that there are individuals sitting in this room" she nods to Angelus, "who identify themselves as evil. That, ladies and gentlemen, is what the first section of the course will be discussing. Evil, good, and what makes the difference between the two. Your evil classmates have perspectives you need to think about and consider. Don't ignore them in a mistaken belief that they have no ethics."

"Each class runs for two hours. Ordinarily this will be broken up into two sections: discussion and debate - today, however, there will be two discussion sections instead. The majority of your assessment will come through your involvement in class discussions. Every student is expected to participate every week. If you are painfully shy, write your thoughts down and hand them in to me. If I don't know what you're thinking, you don't get credit for it. After this week a formal debate will be held once a week. For those of you unfamiliar with debating, this means two teams of three students taking opposing sides on an issue determined by me. You will each be expected to debate three times during the term, with a week's notice to prepare for each one. At the end of semester a practical exam will be held. This will assess not what you choose to do, but how accurately you have come to an understanding of your own ethical code. I expect you to be honest with yourselves.

Friday and Monday classes are identical. Please feel free to switch between them if you have commitments that interfere with your regular attendance."

"I will want two teacher's assistants for this course, whose function it is to prompt discussion and challenge your thinking. These students will be expected to attend both Monday and Friday classes. Today's discussion will serve as your audition. If you are interested, please say so on your paper, or see me after class."

She smiles. "Alright, enough from me. Here's your first challenge: I want you to identify something you have done in the course of your life that another person might consider to be evil. I want you to explain to me why you did it, and whether you would make the same choices again if placed into a similar situation. You do not have to share this with your fellow students. Throw ideas around, talk about what different people consider evil, but write your final answers down on your piece of paper."

(Second challenge will be posted in the comments below. Discussion will be closed Thursday next week, for those who need to slowplay.)

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Parker blinks, and looks floored. "You're welcome? I guess."

"Out of curiosity," Angelus said, "why the basic assumption that humans are the ones who are supposed to win?"

"Because I am one, for starters, and if we're going with that 'all life is sacred' premise, humans have a better shot at surviving without killing." Parker smiles sweetly. "And because any system which harbors parasites becomes compromised eventually anyway, and if we want to preserve the *most* life, killing the parasites means the survival of the most variety of species, and the persistence of living existence as a whole."

"You can't survive without killing something," Angelus said. "I don't care if you're vegan, I know plenty of demons who'd tell you all about how much a carrot doesn't like to be munched on. And if you took all the wolves out of the woods, that doesn't mean life's going to be better for the deer who will now overpopluate and starve themselves to death. It's the circle of life, not the straight line."

"True enough. But Professor Maclay was defining sentient life as life with intelligence, that could communicate, and attempt to preserve its own life. The vegetable argument falls down on all three. Maybe you rate vegetable life as just as important as human life, but most of the time? I gotta pick my classmates over a salad.

Wolves kill according to a pattern that actually helps preserve the ecosystem as a whole: they feed on the weak and infirm, allowing the strong to flourish. They also go for quick kills; they don't torture or torment their prey. They also don't have a choice about killing, not being fully sentient.

Vampires and humans do. Humans can and do choose not to kill sentient life, most of the time, and at least admit that the ideal is to not kill at all. Vampires, historically and realistically, don't. You can put that down to lack of conscience, soul, or enough hair gel. It's still the same thing. They kill indiscrimately and cause terror for no reason other than glee, and weaken the *entire* population, rather than just those who are already genetically or physically compromised.

So I'm going to ask you: why do you think the vamps should win? What's so freakin' special about them, that they should be allowed to break the rules that apply to human beings?"

"I don't care about vamps winning," Angelus said. "I care about me winning. I like being alive, same as you. Ultimately that's what it comes down to for all of us.

"But I gotta challenge some of your assumptions there," Angelus continued. "You think plants don't talk or think because you don't speak their language or see their brains. Hell, I don't either. But it doesn't mean they don't do it or have them, just means we don't know.

"And vamps don't come from anywhere special," Angelus said. "They're made from humans. If a vamp is super-nasty evil, it's because as a human he wasn't too fluffy to begin with. Loser in life? Loser in death too. Not every idiot with fangs is going around in the opera cape and menacing the local populace. And as I was just telling one of our classmates, I've never seen a vamp make the history books for genocide. War? Nukes? Global environmental destruction? All humans."

"Ultimately, it comes down to more than just the individual, though. Or it should. Otherwise this entire debate is pointless. A society functions with a certain consensus of rules. Humans try to live within them. Vampires don't."

Parker shrugs about the plants. "And yet, I lose no sleep. The day it's proven that they have brains and we can photosythesize our food, call me. It's still not comparable to the mayhem vampires create knowingly."

"That's right. Made from humans. But where's that extra-special sauce come from? Don't you know? Or are all of you that ignorant and uncaring? That would put you back in the animal category, wouldn't it? A life unexamined... Anyway. I'm the last person who should defend the worthiness of the human race. We suck. Just as much if not more than vampires, sometimes. But we can improve, and learn. Has any vampire ever wanted to be more than a parasite? What have *you* ever contributed to life as we know it?"

"I wouldn't talk about vampire society until you've cracked a book or twelve," Angelus said. "There's orders of vampires with rules and regulations about the when, where, why, and hows of unliving that would put an Orthodox Jew to shame. And I don't have to prove that I contribute a damned thing to society unless it's also a requirement that each and every human does the exact same thing. And, frankly, I don't remember the last time a one day old baby discovered the cure for cancer, so sounds to me like there's a double standard afoot."

"I plan on it." Parker's smile has-- bite.

Then she shrugs. "A day old baby has the potential to do that. A vampire, again, doesn't, from everything I've read or seen. Besides, I was asking about *you*. If you're going to claim the species has value, give me an example. Despite our flaws, humans have saved each other, created music and art, and by and large, are the most social and *least* violent species on the planet. You ever seen a Discovery Channel special on ducks? Or rabbits?" She grimaces. "Vampires fit right in with them. If you want to claim priviledges we reserve for humans, give me an example of any vampire out there trying to save dolphins."

"What kind of scary-ass ducks are on your planet, Parker?" Angelus shook his head. "And you're still making false comparisons. You're comparing the best of humanity to the worst of vampirism. Pardon me if I point out there's six billion of you on this planet alone. By definition there's more evil members of your kind than there are of mine, and that's even if I give you an allowance rate of up to 80% pure, snuggly, wholesome goodness that the whole family and the baby Jesus could love and then let the other 20 hit as much black and white and shades of gray as gets their rocks off.

"Moreover, even if we do assume that all vampires kill and all vampires are pure evil who get hard ons about taking candy from babies - which they don't, but let's just assume for the sake of argument that it was true. But even if they all did, at least they're coming from a standpoint where if they've got a touchy relationship with other mammals it's because somebody up there put them there on the food chain. What excuse does a human mass murderer have for turning on his own kind?"

"None. That's why we execute them. After a trial at which all circumstances are taken into account, and society as a whole is asked to render judgement through the legal process."

Parker rolls her eyes. "Right or Good aside, I'm not advocating vigilantism. Too much potential for too many 'innocents'-- vampires or humans-- to be killed."

"I can't debate the ratio of good to evil for vamps and humans; I need to do more research. But I'd bet the percentages of vamps who find it easier to be bloodsucking mass murdering fiends is a lot higher than it is for humans. Pure numbers? Sure. Evil humans may outweight and outnumber evil vampires. And we expect them to pay their dues and accept the consequences of their actions too."

"As for the ducks... If you don't know (http://www.nmr.nl/deins815.htm), I'm not telling you."

"In my world, we've got that system in place," Angelus said. "The Powers have seen fit to make Champions and Slayers and all kinds of heroic types to step in and try to take out the worst of the worst. So sounds to me we've got exactly the structure you're asking for."

[ooc: I don't want to know what else came up on google when you searched for that ;) ]

"Which leads to two more questions. If we accept that that structure works-- who do these Powers account to? What is their agenda? Why would they make Slayers, if not to take out the vampires and monsters? Isn't that proof, that killing a vampire in your world is acceptable? And if not, why not?

"And two." Parker snorts and looks from Faith to Buffy. "Is the only reason you're alive is that these two are wimps, or because they're restricted by the rules of Fandom High?"

_{[ooc: You really, really don't. It's ew. And the bunnies. Eeeek!]}

"My point exactly," Angelus said. "Who's to say who the real top dog is? Consider that on my world the Powers chose one girl in all the world to fight against the demons. Is that a sign that they're confident that's all it needs or a sign that maybe the Powers actually like a world with a healthy number of demons on it? And, either way, what makes that the right answer?"

"And either way, I still prefer humans to vampires." Parker's smile turns poisonous. "Although, I have to concede, you're not a statistical sample. My bad. For all I know, you're the only twink of an evil vampire who needs killing in your world, and the others are Bunnicula."

_{[ooc: And I'm not sure, but I think he won this one. Damn, it's hard to debate as Parker.]}

"Precisely," Angelus said. "And for the record: I don't see a damn thing wrong with you saying you want humans to win because you are one. Frankly I don't see any other answer making sense."

[ooc: This is Angelus's new favorite class. Yay for Tara!]

[ooc: yay for everyone who's actually debating! *Loves on students*]

_{[ooc: Seriously, don't click on that link unless you want to be grossed out about ducks.]}

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Ethics class, 8-10am Friday morning

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