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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Like you still have a ton of holiday shopping left to do.

You arrive home after an extended period away to discover your mother has been kidnapped. She's presumed dead. What do you do and why?

a) Mourn and move on.
b) Brood about it constantly. Perhaps write poetry.
c) Ignore the idea that she might be dead and go after her yourself. Upon finding her remains, torch the village she was in.
d) None of the above.

You're an excellent swimmer out for a walk in your new outfit. You hear the screams of a teenager crying for help from the water. There is no danger to yourself if you attempt a rescue. What do you do?

a) Rescue the kid.
b) Keep on walking. There is no moral imperative to save people and no legal obligation to try.
c) Try to find someone else to help.
d) None of the above.

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?

As a "special honor", the authorities who have captured you and your children will let you choose one of them not to die immediately. You will never see the other one again, as the two of you remaining will be sent to languish in the spice mines of Kessel, which are not known for their low mortality rates. Do you choose your older son or your younger daughter? And how do you deal with the guilt?

a) You choose to let your son live. He's older and might survive the intense labor in the spice mines.
b) You choose to let your daughter live. She's younger--perhaps one of the other prisoners will take pity on her and assist her.
c) None of the above.

After the exam is over, of course.

Thanks for a fun class!

Elphaba Thropp

Elphaba looked at the question for a moment, mulling over her thoughts.

Finally, she wrote.

While my mother has already passed, I will answer this question as if she were still alive. If I were to find my mother kidnapped, I would wish to go after her. However, hardly should a whole village be destroyed if she is killed. I hardly think a whole village would commit such crimes, and killing innocents would make you no better than those who killed your mother. So I suppose my answer is D. I would try to find her, but I would not murder innocents in my mourning.

Kennedy

William Murdoch

It'd been a long few days for Jaina, and since she'd missed Tuesday's visit thanks to her dad's visit, she found her way to his classroom once class was over. Or maybe she just needed to babble at someone, whatever.

"You are human again," she greeted him with a smile.

Anakin smiled a little wryly and turned in a little circle. "I am. I'll be groveling at home for a while, though."

"I tried to give Rory a heads up of what was going on," she admitted. "It's not like it was your fault..."

"Oh, she doesn't think it was," Anakin said, "but it didn't stop her from being stuck at home with a toddler while she was taking final exams."

"I can see the groveling now," she said immediately. "I was going to come check up on Tuesday, but Dad was in town and if he gets bored we're all in trouble."

Anakin winced. "Yes, a Han Solo left unsupervised is a bad, bad idea." They did things like break out of carbonite, assist with blowing up Death Stars and other annoying things. "What was he here for?"

"He let me take the kids up in the Falcon for the final," she said, and paused. "And got to quiz me on everything I've done the last four months. Added bonus for him."

"Was that his price for letting you borrow the ship?" Anakin asked. "If so, that was downright crafty of him."

Jonothon Starsmore

Jonothon kind of squinted at this one. Well, at least it wasn't a difficult question to answer.

A. My parents have all but disowned me as of a couple of years ago, and I was never terribly close with them to begin with. Mourning would be short, life does, indeed, go on.

It felt a little cold to put it into writing like this, but it was the truth. They wanted nothing to do with their freakish mutant son. He was better off without them.

Jono was staring at this one, but mostly because he could hardly believe that it was being asked in the first place.

A. Obviously. I can cut my bloody way out of my clothing if it comes to that, but I can't just let somebody drown. My trousers aren't worth anybody's life.

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.

Dana Scully

A question about hypothetical children that Jonothon doubted he was ever going to have anyhow? He supposed that was fair enough. Easy to answer, considering it wasn't real lives that he was playing with... and yet...

C. Neither. If the two survivors get sent together, they might be able to get one another through. Let both children live. Kill me, instead.

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Ethics [December 16, 2nd period]

Sign in [12/16]

Scenario #1

Scenario #2

Scenario #3

Scenario #4

Talk to Anakin [12/16]

OOC

Re: Sign in [12/16]

Re: Scenario #1

Re: Sign in [12/16]

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Re: Talk to Anakin [12/16]

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Re: Talk to Anakin [12/16]

Re: Talk to Anakin [12/16]

Re: Sign in [12/16]

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