Ethics [Thursday, September 16, 2nd period]

[sith_happened]

"'Do unto others as you would have done unto you,'" Anakin quoted as the students found their seats. "On this planet, that phrase is known as the Golden Rule. It sounds quite altruistic, which might be why they are more than a few more cynical versions of it around: 'do unto others before they can do unto you,' and the like. The rule also seems to be assuming that everyone wants the same things done to them. But what if you don't mind getting poked in the stomach? Does it follow that you could aimlessly poke people? What if you don't see anything wrong with stealing, or killing, or hating entire groups of people?"

He shrugged. "I suppose the Golden Rule could be simplified as 'be nice to people, so 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?"

He smiled. "I like to ask nice, easy questions."

Comments

Re: Answer one of the many, many questions! [9/16]

[furnaceface]

//I think th'point of the rule isn't, 'do unto others as you don't mind people doing unto you,// Jonothon noted, crossing his arms over his something-like-a-chest and raising his eyebrows. //Even if somebody didn't mind being poked, I should think they would mind if somebody else chose not to respect their personal levels of comfort. And stealing is an inside-out notion entirely, really. A better question to ask would be, 'what if you don't see anything wrong with being stolen from, or murdered, or hated because of what you are?'//

He shook his head and narrowed his eyes a little, somewhere toward his desk.

//I can't think of many people who are terribly keen on any of that, really.//