Ethics [Thursday, September 2, 2nd period]

[sith_happened]

Anakin walked into his classroom precisely on time and gave the students assembled there an appraising glance-as the door clicked shut behind him. "I'm Master Anakin Skywalker," he said in a voice that was intended to carry. "You may address me either as Master Skywalker or Professor Skywalker. This is Ethics, and we're going to skip the introductions--I'll figure out who you are, if I don't recognize you already--and move straight to our first discussion."

His cloak flared out behind him as he handed out the syllabus. "Today's topic," he said, pointing to the top of the page, "is self sacrifice: knowing the difference between saving people and being a pretentious twit."

Anakin wasn't a great believer in softening his language.

"Any time I ask a a group of people what they would do to save someone they love, they blither on about how they would set the world on fire, lie, cheat, steal, kill, die, et cetera, et cetera. I've been at this school five years now and realize that half of you have probably already been put into this situation. I'm never in a mood to hear adolescent ramblings about how wonderful you were or might hypothetically be."

He leaned back against his desk. "What I want to know is what would make you walk away. When do you decide that the risk isn't worth the cost?"

Comments

Sign in [9/2]

[sith_happened]

Like you wish you had a cool swirly cloak.

Re: Sign in [9/2]

[wrongkindofsith]

Cara has no cloak, Cara needs no cloak

Listen to the lecture [9/2]

[sith_happened]

Take notes, pass notes, wonder how many hours he practiced to get his hair to look like that...

Re: Listen to the lecture [9/2]

[wrongkindofsith]

However long Anakin had taken on his hair, Cara was of the opinion it was time wasted. It was even stupider than Richard's had looked when Zedd had dyed it blonde.

Re: Listen to the lecture [9/2]

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

Scully had her computer out and was typing away, vaguely wondering if some kind of superpower were used to swirl the cloak. Kind of like Raven's teleportation... thing.

Re: Listen to the lecture [9/2]

[nohaircutsplz]

Considering that Medusalith's hair was, in every possible way, substantially superior to what any human's could ever hope to be, she gave no thought whatsoever to Anakin's hair. She did, however, note that human ethics seemed to be completely alien to Inhuman ethics. This class was going to be tricky, she suspected.

Re: Listen to the lecture [9/2]

[nothornlessrose.livejournal.com]

Cassidy was paying close attention to everything Anakin was saying and taking copious amounts of notes.

Re: Listen to the lecture [9/2]

[squire-hand.livejournal.com]

James started taking notes, trying not to focus on this guy's hair.

Re: Listen to the lecture [9/2]

[give-areason.livejournal.com]

She wasn't taking notes or wondering about his hair. Rosalind was seated, listening, and firmly keeping a frown off her face.

Re: Listen to the lecture [9/2]

[didntchewgrass.livejournal.com]

While Elphaba took notes, she wondered how hard this course would be. These matters were all to messy, most of the time.

Re: Listen to the lecture [9/2]

[brat-intraining.livejournal.com]

It wasn't Anakin's ability to keep his hair looking like that in class that impressed Kennedy; she'd seen him fight in Azarath and on the way to the machinery under the school, and maintaining fabulous hair in that situation had impressed her.

The cloak thing, though... she couldn't help rolling her eyes a little.

Re: Listen to the lecture [9/2]

[talks-backwards.livejournal.com]

This one was going to be interesting.

Read: a royal pain where the sun doesn't shine.

Zatanna was taking notes anyway.

Re: Listen to the lecture [9/2]

[furnaceface]

Jonothon, who had found himself a seat somewhere near the back, well away from most everybody else, was paying careful attention to the lecture. Very careful attention to the lecture.

Better the lecture right now than the things that were eating at him.

There were notes.

Re: Listen to the lecture [9/2]

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

Squall leaned back and put his hands behind his head with an almost pleased expression.

He was going to LIKE this class.

Re: Listen to the lecture [9/2]

[azuldragon.livejournal.com]

She had ethics class. Again.

Answer the discussion question [9/2]

[sith_happened]

When wouldn't you consider stepping forward and sacrificing yourself? When do you decide that the risk isn't worth the cost? If it's not about you? If it doesn't involve people you know? If it's all so very far away?

Just how many pathological do-gooders did Anakin get in this semester's Ethics class?

[OOC: Make the threads messy, folks!]

Re: Answer the discussion question [9/2]

[wrongkindofsith]

Considering that Cara still considered not being able to shoot Kahlan in the back that one time a personal failing... her reply of "Never." shouldn't have really been that surprising.

Thank you decade-and-a-half of brainwashing and indoctrination, as well as your good friend crippling self-worth issues.

Re: Answer the discussion question [9/2]

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Wesley knew the answer right away, but it was not one that was going to cast him in a particularly flattering light.

"Well, I myself would be rather hard-pressed to identify a situtaion in which I would be inclined to sacrifice myself," he admitted. Then elaborated, "I - I used to be rather certain that if ever a threat arose against my Slayers - that is to say, the girls I was honor-bound to protect - that I would be willing to do whatever necessary to ensure their safety. However, the, er, reality of being present in a life-or-death situation is rather unnerving, and one's personal convictions do tend to go out the window when confronted with that."

Basically he was confessing that he chickened out. Smart, Wes. That should endear him to his professor.

Re: Answer the discussion question [9/2]

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

Scully was still typing. It helped her think. What was giving up? And stepping away? And what wasn't?

Shot Mulder? (Otherwise he'd have murdered Krycek) Missy shot by Consortium? Didn't shoot Cardinale? (not that it mattered later) Testified before Senate idiots and passed out doing so? Shot by idiot co-worker? Stung by bee, woke up in Antarctica?

... came to Fandom, gave up job, enrolled as sophomore when circumstances became untenably dangerous on all counts?

Yes, that worked.

"When any attempt to, as you say, 'sacrifice' myself, would only be an attempt to prove I could do the job, when I clearly couldn't." Scully grimaced. "It's not about the perceived danger, but a realistic assessment of what I can accomplish. There's always a next time to follow up on. Not every situation is a last stand situation. There are others who may be more suited to fixing whatever is wrong."

Re: Answer the discussion question [9/2]

[nohaircutsplz]

Well, obviously, if her death would negatively impact her people. Like if it would make Crystalia first in line for the throne (and thank Agar there were Blackagar and Maximus between them and that) or something. It would also be inexcusable to allow her death to end her family's genetic cache (in which case she supposed Crystalia would already be dead, which would take the 'Crystalia as queen' concern out of the equation), but that fell, also, under the category of 'negatively impacting her people.' But she was supposed to be German, so she supposed she couldn't say that.

This was all very trying sometimes.

She supposed she could be more general about it.

"If my sacrifice would ultimately negatively impact my people and society as a whole, I would obviously refrain from doing so."

Re: Answer the discussion question [9/2]

[faithandscience.livejournal.com]

The mention of sacrifice immediately brought to mind, for William, the notion of the sacrifice. It had been drilled in to him from rather a young age that self-sacrifice was something of a virtue, although he suspected that the concept was not meant to be taken literally, at least in the case of your average man.

"I should think I would cease if the odds of my sacrifice achieving my goal were rather narrow. If I fail, I've only made things worse for whomever I'm trying to save, and then I will no longer be around to help them. If I wait, perhaps in time there will be another, better option worth taking." William wasn't overly fond of failure, or of rushing in to things.

Re: Answer the discussion question [9/2]

[dontvotemeout]

Jason thought about the question for a minute, trying to reconcile Robin training with his own ideas.

"If by sacrificing myself, you mean dying...then I think right there, the cost is too great, unless I was saving a lot of people in the process. Dying to save a few people versus living and getting to protect a lot more people in the future--it's not even a question. It does suck a lot when you can't save everyone though."

Re: Answer the discussion question [9/2]

[aliceseesthings.livejournal.com]

"If it wasn't going to save my family," Alice said. "If one of us was in danger and it wasn't going to save us or help at least someone get out of it."

Bella was the one who'd probably be sacrificing herself needlessly, thank you very much.

"Or else if it wouldn't help the situation in general. One more dead person is one less living person to try and figure it out."

Not that she was alive. Pfft, details.

Talk to Anakin [9/2]

[sith_happened]

Especially if you're interested in being a TA.

Re: Talk to Anakin [9/2]

[nothornlessrose.livejournal.com]

Cassidy approached Anakin when she thought that he looked like he might have a moment to speak. She was nervous, because she never had done anything like this before, and she wasn't exactly sure she'd be any good at it.

"Pri--Professor Skywalker? Do you have a moment, sir?"

She really needed to quit thinking of him as a Warlord Prince.

OOC

[sith_happened]

Yay ethics class!

Re: OOC

[didntchewgrass.livejournal.com]

"Anakin Skywalker: The Best at What He Does"?

He's Wolverine now?