Ethics [Thursday, October 29, 1st period]

[sith_happened]

Judging from what Raven had told him about Tuesday night and what several members of his class had seen, Anakin believed that this lecture probably couldn't have come at a better time.

"Today we talk about diligence, temperance, and forgiveness," he said quietly, "and we're going to use examples from the midterm exam to do so."

He flipped the hologram to life with a wave of his hand and it focused in 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 Sith Lord arrived, you certainly had the option of retreating and leaving the mission for someone else to complete. A Sith's job, after all, is to kill Jedi, and there were only two of you against him. 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

Sign in [10/29]

[sith_happened]

With your most unforgiving icon.

Re: Sign in [10/29]

[trigons_child]

Raven

Watch the Historical Footage!

[sith_happened]

Oooh, movie time!

Don't fall asleep or ask for popcorn, though.

Re: Watch the Historical Footage!

[trigons_child]

Raven watched with great interest, of course. She had no doubt that Anakin would've done the Right Thing and spared the Sith to let the courts judge him.

Re: Watch the Historical Footage!

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Katchoo watched the footage quietly, through narrowed eyes. It might not be hard to guess what her answer was going to be.

. . . a few people in the room might not even need to see that to guess.

Re: Watch the Historical Footage!

[glacial_queen]

Yeah. Karla was seeing how this discussion could push a few buttons. Hopefully, she'd make it through without picking any fights...

Of course, her peoples' view on this matter was pretty diametrically opposed to everyone else's, so a few fights might be inevitable.

Re: Watch the Historical Footage!

[longislandiceme]

Bobby watched, and only barely resisted the urge to ask for popcorn. Barely.

Re: Watch the Historical Footage!

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

Jonas watched though he didn't really know what he was seeing. He recognized the weapons from last week and one person in the footage seemed familiar but everything else was just a blur for him, a mass of words and images that he had no context for. Still, he appeared interested and engaged.

Re: Watch the Historical Footage!

[life_inshadow]

Tara frowned a little as she watched the movie. Violence, even if it was for a reason, always made her uncomfortable.

Answer the discussion question: diligence

[sith_happened]

When you're outmatched, when does diligence turn into foolhardiness?

Answer each other's replies, make the threads messy, etc., etc.

Re: Answer the discussion question: diligence

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

"...wait, two on one is dangerous?" Hayley said, confused.

Re: Answer the discussion question: diligence

[trigons_child]

"As long as there is a chance, and the mission is one of importance, it is not foolish," Raven said. "But if it is certain death when retreating and planning a new approach is an option, then it becomes a pointless sacrifice."

She'd been paying attention in the class on self-sacrifice, see?

Re: Answer the discussion question: diligence

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"It doesn't matter," Rose said. "You do the job and you protect the people you're supposed to protect. Putting them in danger by retreating isn't an option."

Re: Answer the discussion question: diligence

[gods-gymnast.livejournal.com]

"Can't they be both at the same time?" Maron asked. "If it turns out okay, people say it wasn't foolish, but if it doesn't then they would--so it's really not one or the other, it's the outcome that people are judged on."

Re: Answer the discussion question: diligence

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"How often do people even give a crap about how diligent you are?" Katchoo was just going to retreat back behind her wall of cynicism here. Too many people in this class had too much of a clue already. "How smart is it to keep risking your ass for people who don't care if you do?"

Re: Answer the discussion question: diligence

[longislandiceme]

"You do what you signed up for," Bobby said with a shrug. And completely oblivious to the fact that his very presence in this class was a blatant contradiction of that statement.

Re: Answer the discussion question: diligence

[glacial_queen]

"I have been told--quite frequently, recently--that there are times when duty and responsibility must be put aside," Karla answered, staring at her hands. "It depends on what your life--and your death--will mean in the grand scheme of things. What will the outcome be if your mission succeeds, at least in your best estimation? What will it be if you fail? It isn't easy to turn your back on the duty you were born for. It hurts and it eats away at you. But if you run away now so that you can come back stronger and better and more ready and able--then it's worth the cost. Even if it's others who have to pay it."

Totally hypothetical, let's be clear. No personal feelings on the matter at all.

Re: Answer the discussion question: diligence

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

"It depends on the situation," Jonas said after some thought and after listening to some other responses. He had no real template for this sort of thing, no real outline so he picked various things from what he did know.

"If there's someone else in the situation, I don't think it ever becomes foolhardy," he said, thinking of Gabe, thinking of that escape from the Community. "No matter how many people you're up against. If it's just you, then sacrifice for no good reason means it would just be a fight for a fight. Sacrifice for the good of someone else is different."

Re: Answer the discussion question: diligence

[life_inshadow]

"I think you have to do your job, if you can," Tara said. "I -- I guess I would rather go out fighting than back away and see someone else get hurt."

Her tone was resigned.

Re: Answer the discussion question: diligence

[thatsamilkshake]

Francine didn't bother to answer what others already had: that it mattered why. That a job wasn't the same as a person. That there were people who, fair or not, right or not, ethical or not, mattered more.

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

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

"Killing people because you think they're bad is wrong," Hayley said, with extreme vehemence. "Very, very wrong."

Answer the discussion question: forgiveness

[sith_happened]

Can you forgive yourself for making a wrong choice? Would you have chosen to save the chancellor if you'd known it was going to screw up the future?

Re: Answer the discussion question: forgiveness

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

Another thing that oddly hit home for Hayley.

"...you were only doin' what you thought was right at the time," she said. "Why would you want to torture yourself?"

She seemed uncomfortable, though.

Talk to the TAs

[sith_happened]

Hello, TAs!

Re: Talk to the TAs

[trigons_child]

Raven was there, quiet but not as exhausted as she had been for the past few days.

Talk to Anakin [10/29]

[sith_happened]

He's rather hoping at least a few of you might....

Re: Talk to Anakin [10/29]

[trigons_child]

Raven, of course, had to ask. "Did that truly happen?" she said softly. "Was that you?"

OOC

[sith_happened]

I love that iharthdarth icon, omg.