fandomhigh | Ethics Class, Monday, 2-4pm

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Ethics Class, Monday, 2-4pm

Tara's face is tight and drawn as she addresses the class.

"For those of you who heard about Friday's class - we're not talking about that. If you wish to talk to me in my office hours you are very welcome to ~~although they will be slowplayed liek woah, because I'm single parenting this week~~. However, I would appreciate it if we could keep in-class discussion today on the topic at hand.

"The topic, such as it is, will be chosen today by you, not by me. Here's what I want you to do:

"Raise an ethical issue. Give us your opinion on it. I don't mind what you choose - there are hundreds of issues we haven't touched on yet in class. Go wild. Have some fun with it, if you want to, just make sure there is an ethical question to be addressed. Respond to another person's raised issue with your opinion - beyond just 'I agree'. I'd love to see you all engage in some proper debates with one another, and I'm quite happy to give extra credit for people who engage in multiple debates."

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...

Raise an issue, address someone else's. Talk with one another.

"I've got an out of class assignment for you to complete between now and next week, but I can't tell you the details of it. Just like today's class, this is one you're going to have to shape for yourselves.

"Much to the disappointment of Plato, there is a difference for most people between what we believe is right, and what we actually do. I, for example, am occasionally self-centred and insensitive, though I try not to be. This week I want you to choose one such behaviour pattern - that you personally do not like about yourself, and feel you would be a better person without - and try to go just one week without it. I don't necessarily expect you to succeed, but I do expect you to log your progress. Next week I want you all to report back, with the aim of exploring why knowing what is right and doing what is right are two different things."

There if you need it.

RL issues take precedence over IC issues, always. Speak up if you have a problem!

John gets to class early and collapses in a chair.

"Man has a right to his freedom. Of thought. Of action. He should not be locked in a cage and spoonfed brain acid."

Angela cocks an eyebrow at Six. "Brain acid?" she asks. "I mean, I think I agree with you, I just have no idea what that is. it sounds like it would suck."

Angela's arms are wrapped around her body, and she looks relieved when Tara announces the new class topic. Or lack of topic.

"Could we talk about the ethics of theft? I mean, I think it might be okay to steal if it's your only option to feed your family or whatever, but some people would say it's unethical no matter what."

Angela writes this down, chewing on her pen. She has to try to quit the thinking-too-much thing again, doesn't she? Even if it does make me a really shallow person.

"I'm all for not locking people in cages," Xander agrees. "I can't think of any time I've ever been locked in a cage that I'd call fun. Though usually there was something about to eat me when that happened, so it was more about stomach acid."

Xander nods in response to her question. "Yeah, I kind of wonder whether there's not some difference between...wrong, and...unfair, or something? Like, you steal a loaf of bread from some store owner to feed your family because you've got no other choice, and he loses money, and maybe that hurts him, and that's not fair. But is it the wrong thing to do, or is just something you have to suck it up and take the consequences for if you get caught? If the other choice is to let your family starve, it's pretty hard to call that as a 'right' one."

{ooc - HA! So not Xander's problem behavior pattern!}

[OOC: It's her canon New Year's Eve resolution (though she decides to dump it pretty quickly)! I HAVE to use it.]

"That's a really good point," Angela says, chewing on a thumbnail in thought. "It's like -- there's absolutely wrong, as in killing, and then there's .... I kind of want to say "mostly" wrong. Like theft, where it might help the person doing the "wrong" thing more than it hurts the victim."

"Maybe it's not even 'wrong' or 'right' in that case, but... good or bad? Stealing's bad -- it's bad for the person who gets his stuff stolen, and it's bad for the thief if he gets caught, and probably even if he doesn't, if he feels guilty but like he didn't have a choice. And if he didn't have a choice, then things were probably pretty bad to begin with. But not necessarily wrong, if we mean 'the thing you shouldn't do.'"

Archie leans back in his chair quietly, thinking this over for a very long time.

"Drawing from my personal experience . . . what are the ethics of mutiny? Say that your superior officer can be proven to be a threat to the lives and well-being of his crew -- say if he is credibly mad. However, you are bound by the law to adhere to the chain of command and the command of said superior officer. To obey his commands, on the other hand, would be a detriment to not only the ship and crew, but to the fleet as a whole. Can it be argued, one way or the other, that mutiny is the more honorable option?"

He smiles, a little bitterly. "I never did get to find out the answer for myself."

"That's a tough one," Angel agreed. "In war and similar situations you need the structure of that chain of command to help organize everyone and keep people alive. But if the commander is a bad one how exactly do you deal with that?"

Angel ~~broods~~ thinks about this one long and hard.

He decides to try talking to people more. ~~Except Callisto because talking too much to Callisto might make him lose the soul.~~

"Theft isn't always wrong. Taking things out of greed is wrong. Taking things out of necessity is not."

"How about privacy?" Angel suggested. "When is it right to violate someone's confidence? Sure there's cases like child abuse that seem cut and dry. But what if it's something like knowing a friend cheated on their boyfriend or girlfriend? If you know that knowledge will hurt their lover, is it your responsibility to tell?"

Xander stares at his notebook page, which remains stubbornly blank. It's not that there's nothing he dislikes about himself; it's that jeebus: he wouldn't know where to start.

I've been known to make the occasional stupid joke," he scribbles down finally, "instead of saying whatever it is I really want to say. Usually it's because I don't know what I really want to say. Doesn't happen with people I can't stand; them I've got no problem telling it like it is. But people I like... not always so much."

[Relieved that today's class apparently wasn't going to be a repeat of what she'd heard about Friday's, Chiana thinks for a microt before picking a fairly calm topic.]

Well, I've always been told that...that lying is wrong. I've always ignorned it, but that's a different discussion. Kinda the...the opposite of Angel's question, I guess, but isn't there times when lying would actually be better than telling the truth? Might not exactly be "right" but, if the truth would only hurt the person and not...not do anybody any good, is tellin' a lie still the wrong thing to do in that case?

::blinks:: I'm right there with ya up to the "spoonfed brain acid" bit. Is that one of those Earth sayings? But, uh, yeah. That sounds like it would be bad.

"Yeah," Angel said. "It's one thing if you're perjuring yourself, another if you're telling a white lie. 'I didn't steal that money' might be bad - um - assuming you did steal it. But 'Yes, you look fat in those pants.' isn't exactly a nice thing to mention. Um, not that you do, Chiana. Just making up an example."

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Ethics Class, Monday, 2-4pm

Before Class

Class Discussion

Assignment

Emo Closet

OOC Discussion

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