Philosophy classroom: Ethics class #4, Monday, 2-4pm

[brambless.livejournal.com]

"Today's topic is power and responsibility, and I would like to remind you all that your grade comes from your discussion, not your presence. If you don't feel comfortable talking, write something down and hand it in to me. Being a silent warm body in the classroom is no different than not turning up."

[ooc: And I would remind you that I leave posts open for the whole week. If you post 'shows up and takes a seat' I know you're still alive, but you need to actually address the discussion topics to pass the class.]

Comments

First Hour

[brambless.livejournal.com]

"Power and Responsibility, I said. Now, I know we've got a mix in this classroom of students, some of whom have actual powers. Superpowers, even. Today I'd like you each to assume you all do. What superpowers is up to you - even if it's just wealth and status - but to put us on a level, we're all extraordinary. This is just us, though. Assume that you're in the vast minority, and the world still consists of ordinary human beings.

As a superhero, what are your responsibilities? To your family, to your friends, to your society - to yourself? And are they different from the responsibilities of 'normal' people? Discuss."

Re: First Hour

[maias-notebook.livejournal.com]

Maia's eyebrow raised for a moment listening to Tara's speech for the first hours discussion.

"As a superhero I think my responsibilities would be to the greater good. As a human though I am selfish and will think of my family and friends first and then society last. To myself I think I owe dettachment from things of the Greater Good just for peace to exsist in my head."

Maia thinks about the second question for a moment "Yes they are different, 'normal' people don't deal with all the things superheros deal with. They just go along 'la la I don't care' and then some superhero comes along to bail them out when they are in trouble everytime"

Re: First Hour

[shane-mcc.livejournal.com]

"That's bullshit," Shane all but snarls under her breath.

Re: First Hour

[maias-notebook.livejournal.com]

Maia turned in her seat and looked at Shane "Why do you say that?"

Re: First Hour

[shane-mcc.livejournal.com]

"I'm normal," she says quietly, watching her hand as she rests the end of her pen against the desktop. Her eyes have faintly gray rings beneath them that are visible, even behind her glasses and her jaw is noticeably tight. "I don't have any powers. I help people."

Re: First Hour

[maias-notebook.livejournal.com]

Maia looked at Shane studying her for a moment and her face softens "I know you do Shane. What I was saying was for the discussion question, not about real life people." Maia frowned then and whispered "I just based it off the superman movie when nobody helped the little boy who fell in the water at Niagra Falls."

Re: First Hour

[http://users.livejournal.com/sydney_bristow_/]

"Well a superhero is expected to keep people safe and secure. You don't want the ones you care about to be hurt, so you put on a facade." Sydney says, she knew a bit about that. "You're still expected to follow the rules, you're not above the law and there are real consequences for the actions that you take, justice is not revenge." She feels like the biggest hypocrite saying that, since she wants to kill the people that killed Vaughn, but it was true.

Re: First Hour

[brambless.livejournal.com]

"Okay... you're expected to keep people safe and secure. That's a responsibility of the powers. Do you get to take a day off? Are you allowed vacation time, or a personal life?"

Re: First Hour

[http://users.livejournal.com/sydney_bristow_/]

"I think what's important to recognize is that superheroes are people too, and they deserve the same rights, responsibilites, and everything that an everyday person can have, but society puts pressure on them to be different."

Re: First Hour

[egyptianlove.livejournal.com]

Evelyn thought for a moment.

"Your responsibilities don't change if you suddenly have all of this power. The responsibility you have as a human being is all the same...you act with common decency."

Re: First Hour

[allie-cameron.livejournal.com]

Allie looks over and smiles.

"I agree. If people in general acted with more common decency, superheroes wouldn't have to swoop in to save them."

Re: First Hour

[miss-monochrome.livejournal.com]

[Watching the little drama go on, Chiana debates whether she actually wants to say anything. She'd been under the impression that everybody was allowed to say what they thought here and not have to expect to be punished for it.]

I...I don't think somebody with...with powers has any more responsibility to...to help people than an ordinary being does. If...if I See somebody in trouble, I don't think I *havta* do somethin' about it. If...if it's one of my friends or...or somethin' like that, then yeah, I'd save 'em. But if I Saw, like, my worst enemy in trouble, I wouldn't. ::shrugs:: I think the...the only extra responsibility somebody with powers has is to...to protect them from being abused. Not let them be...be used for evil or somethin'.

Re: First Hour

[brambless.livejournal.com]

"So would you agree that the more powerful you are, the more careful you have to be about your moral choices?"

Re: First Hour

[miss-monochrome.livejournal.com]

::frowns:: Well...maybe. I'm not sure whether it's about your moral choices as much as like... like...

Ok, like, say you had this... this really powerful ability. Somethin' that could...could help alot of people or hurt alot of people. Now, I think that you don't really have a responsibility to help anybody with it. You could just use to...to help yourself or your friends or just...just pretend you don't have it. But you do have a responsibility to stop people from trying to...to make you use that power for evil or...or take that power from you to use on their own. So, maybe you're right, that that is a moral choice. It's not exactly choosing to do good, but it is choosing to stop evil, I guess. ::shrugs::

Re: First Hour

[brambless.livejournal.com]

Tara smiles, nodding. "Thank you, Chiana. That's very well put."

Re: First Hour

[chasingangela]

Angela raises her eyebrows, considering the idea.

"I'm not sure," she says. "I mean, I totally believe that everyone should, like, do the best they can to make the world a good place. But if you happen to be born with superstrength or the ability to fly or whatever, you should still sometimes be allowed to get PMS and sit around watching bad TV and eating chocolate ice cream."

"I guess as a superhero, my responsibility would be to, um, overcome my tendency toward not doing anything and try to help as many people as possible. I don't think my responsibility to my family or friends outweighs my responsibility to people as a whole."

Re: First Hour

[notstakedyet.livejournal.com]

"Fundamentally I don't think they're any different from the responsibilities of 'normal' people," Angelus said. "It's just that they go about them in different ways. Just like how all parents have a responsibility to feed their kids, but the rich ones are more likely to fulfill that with steak and caviar."

Re: First Hour

[shane-mcc.livejournal.com]

Shaking her hair out of her eyes, Shane picks up her pen again, taking a deep breath as she considers the question. "I don't think they're different," she says, her voice sounding faintly hoarse. Swallowing, she clears her throat before speaking again. "I just... think that... the only thing that really separates the superheroes from the 'normal' people is their powers -- and I don't... mean that in... like a racist way or anything."

Tapping her pen on the desk, Shane frowns for a moment. "I just mean... superheroes... whatever powers they have... they're still people. They have this ... other thing they can do that makes them different, but... they still have feelings... just like anyone else does. So they can love someone... have friends... be in the chess club. Whatever. I -- I know people that can do things that would make them superheroes... and... they're my friends. They're people I care about."

"The responsibilities ... don't change," she concludes quietly. "Because either way, it's just... people... doing what they think is best."

Re: First Hour

[ten-and-chips.livejournal.com]

((Awwww. Shane gets big hugs from her pseudodaddy.))

Re: First Hour

[defiantlyyours.livejournal.com]

One's responsibilities as one vested with special abilities should be no different than when one is without. One must seek freedom, justice, escape and/or destruction of tyranny whereever it may be found. This can be accomplished without special powers, so adding them into the equation simply means you have less of an excuse for complacently accepting the rot of society.

Re: First Hour

[master-of-fear.livejournal.com]

People are responsible for their own actions, regardless of who they are. That doesn't change just because you have super powers. It would be wrong to expect some one to be responsible for so much more on that basis alone.

Outside of that, we decide what we care about and who we are responsible for. It is impossible to prescribe responsibility to anyone. If we push the extra responsibilty on a superhero, they'll just end up resenting it.

Re: First Hour

[soldtoarmenians]

Xander taps on his desk with the eraser-end of his pencil. "I don't think you're necessarily a bad person if you have powers but don't use them to help people. Having abilities doesn't mean you're responsible for every person who could possibly be saved with them. Like, if you don't have superpowers, but maybe you're really good at fundraising or something, you're not morally responsible for spending every waking second of your life trying to raise money for every caise that needs money, just because you're good at it."

He shakes his head. "But maybe there's a line. If you see something happening right in front of you, something you could help with but you choose not to because you don't feel like it... it's hard to see the difference between that and people who see somebody getting beaten up in the street and just look the other way."

Re: First Hour

[wannabelawyer.livejournal.com]

Pretty much what's been said already. You should feel a responsibility to your fellow, ah, people no matter if you're superpowered or not. You should use the resources that you have, superpowers or money or whatever, to do what's right.

But I think more than anything, if you've got power, you need to make sure you use it responsibly. That's important for you and for everyone else. You have to make sure you're not being exploited and you have to make sure you're not exploiting others because you have power.

Re: First Hour

[stykera]

If you have power, any sort of power, it should be used. You should help others if you can. But you should do that anyway, even without power. Not doing so is...is the same as hurting them, really. But you have to use power well, have to use it right, not to hurt not to do evil. Friends and family come first. Same thing, really, family and friends, I think. Those you love or care for, you have a responsibility to do right by them and they by you. Otherwise they aren't family or friends, if you're not treating them right.


((ooc:I in no way forgot to comment to this class for the entire week. Nope. Not me. Except for how I totally did. Bad mun, no biscuit!))

Re: First Hour

[mycanonhatesme]

Chloe looks down for a few moments, thinking about Clark. He may not be a classically defined superhero, but he's certainly a superhero to her. She thinks about all the responsibilities he's had that he never should have, not when he's a high school student who shouldn't have more to worry about than doing his chores and getting all of his homework done.

"I think superheroes have more responsibilities to everyone, especially themselves, and even if people don't know they're a superhero. I think if I had special powers, I'd feel as though I had to use them. If something happened that I could have fixed or prevented, and I didn't, I'd feel responsible, even if I had nothing to do with it."

"Of course, that can be something normal people can feel too. There are a lot of super-empathetic people in the world, and they also seem to feel responsible if things go wrong around them, even if they had nothing to do with it."