fandomhigh | Ethics [December 16, 2nd period]

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Ethics [December 16, 2nd period]

"Unlike some of the other teachers here, I still expect you to complete a final examination this week," Anakin said as he shut the door and began passing out paperwork. "I will provide you with a series of scenarios. You write down which option you would pick, and why. Since this is Ethics, there are no black and white absolutely correct answers to anything. What matters to me is that you have some sort of reason for your choice. If your logic is faulty or snide or clearly half-assed, that's when I will become...unhappy."

And when he was unhappy, final grades reflected it. He'd come a long way--he used to kill people when he was unhappy...

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An insane rebel who has threatened to explode several bombs in crowded areas has been caught. Unfortunately, she has already planted the bombs and they are scheduled to go off in a short time. It is possible that hundreds of people may die. The authorities cannot make her divulge the location of the bombs by conventional methods. In exasperation, some high level official suggests torture. This would be illegal, of course, but the official thinks that it is nevertheless the right thing to do in this desperate situation. What do you do and why?

a) Torture her to get the information. There's no time left to be reasonable.
b) Torture her and her family to get the information. If you're going to do something illegal, might as well be really, really thorough.
c) Continue working through the the legal structure of the judicial system and hope for the best.
d) None of the above. Perhaps your dimension works differently?

Oh. Oh, ow. Jono didn't care for this one in the least, either. But... To hell with it. If there was anybody around here that he could be honest about this with...

D. I'm a telepath.

Short. To the point. Moving on.

C) Torture is not only illegal and immoral but ineffective with the insane. The official is welcome to file a complaint, at which point he will be given a scathing commentary on how stupid and incompetent he is.

While any deaths that would occur would be a tragedy, the farther-reaching implications of torture would impact on our troops in enemy territories, our credibility in the international community, and our ability to get any other useful information out of the bomber at a future time. There is a reason it is against policy, totally aside from ethical considerations.

Also, it is entirely possible to evacuate a 600-person-occupied 50-story high-rise within 4.7 minutes, given a working fire alarm and a bullhorn, despite Astrolite bombs hidden in a vending machine.

(Or so I've heard.)

She was just going to stare in disbelief, first trying to answer if she considered not using her magic. But when she came with nothing but keep on searching, she decided to move along.

D. I can magically force someone to tell the truth.

After hopefully not a fatal amount of woolgathering, probably A. But I wouldn't really be worried about the legality of it by that point. I'd probably have problems morally, but in the end I'd be saving lives.

Jason didn't even have to think about it to circle A. Sometimes, extreme measures needed to be taken for the greater good.

b) If the person in charge has ordered torture, I'll follow orders. I'll do whatever's necessary to retrieve the information. I will also take it upon myself to do the actual torturing, so that no one else has it on their conscience.

This whole situation was way outside of Medusalith's paradigm. She spent a while just staring at the question. Finally she wrote,

D. If my people's conventional methods have failed, torture is unlikely to be effective. She was sure they could dig up at least one telepath for questioning, even if there weren't any high level ones around currently ~~haha honey if only you knew~~. The entire city would have been ordered searched immediately upon the discovery of the threat; surely it will be found in time.

Kennedy didn't think about this one too long before she wrote down her answer, a frown creasing her forehead.

D. I've got telepathic hookups I can call in. Torture is so not an acceptable option.

She'd reconsider this someday, at least partly, but for now she was convinced she was answering as truthfully as she could.

James wavered between A and B, thinking of Crowe. He picked A.

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Ethics [December 16, 2nd period]

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