fandomhigh | Final Ethics Class, Friday 8-10am

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ethics

Final Ethics Class, Friday 8-10am

"Over the course of this term, we've looked a lot at your personal moral stance on things. Today we're going to be looking more generally - on how morals are taught to children, often insidiously.

"A good medium for this is fairy tales. Every culture has them - stories that are told to children, bearing little moral gems to shape and guide. The first thing I want you to do is a select a fairy tale. Don't worry if it's not one I'll know, just pick one you're familiar with."

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"Bringing moral development back to you - because this is our last session, and ultimately this course has always been about you, the individual. Lawrence Kohlberg suggested six categories of moral justification. I want you to put yourself into one of them."

Tara gestures to the board. "Here is your scenario."

A woman is near death from a unique kind of cancer. There is a drug that might save her. The drug costs $4,000 per dosage. The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money and tried every legal means, but he could only get together about $2,000. He asked the doctor scientist who discovered the drug for a discount or let him pay later. But the doctor scientist refused.
Should Heinz break into the laboratory to steal the drug for his wife? Why or why not?

"Please not that your reasons are far, far more important than whether you decide he should or not."

"Sure, why not?" Bel said. "If you want something, you take it. And it's not like he doesn't have reason enough to want it."

Veronica rolled her eyes at Bel's reasoning.

"He should steal it. His wife is dying and there's something that could help. Money should never be more important than another person's life."

[ooc: *pokes you to do the self-analysis thread as well... for both characters*]

"Why is the medicine so expensive and is there a specific reason the doctor scientist is being such a tightass?"

Tara chuckles. "Those are very good questions, Buffy, but I'm afraid I don't have answers for you. I suspect he's citing policy - if he makes an exception for Heinz, he'd have to make an exception for every hard luck case, and there's nobody fighting for the life of a loved one who isn't a hard luck case. But that's beside the point - we're talking about what Heinz should do."

"He should steal the medicine, then. His wife is dying and I'm having a moral problem with the doctor making the medicine so expensive. Why is he putting such a high price on life? The doctor-scientist has now set a standard that says only the very rich are able to live through such things as a rare cancer."

Okay, I'm assuming that there are no medicare options or county hospitals and that this is the only option, right?

Steal it. Definitely. Something's not right when someone has the means to save a life and doesn't. If the guy's willing to sign a contract to pay off whatever amount each week or month or whatever, somethings problematic with the guy who's willing to let the woman die.

It's the Jean Valjean thing - he stole bread to stay alive. He risked - and endured - imprisonment because even that life was better than no life.

And I would assume the husband would feel the same way. He'd rather have her live and risk having to be imprisoned than have to live free without her.

Life trumps *everything*. Financial gain, risk of punishment, risk of social disaproval. Life wins everytime. It has too, because without it, what's the point?

"She's family." Beka said simply. "He breaks in, or holds the scientist dude at gun-point. You don't mess with family."

"Steal it, but make amends later. The wife's life trumps whatever the money's for, but that doctor can't make more of it if he doesn't have supplies and money to do it. Immediate need cancels out any of the reasons that doctor may have, although he might feel bound not to show bias to one customer."

"He should get some dirt on the doctor and bribe him into treating his wife. Everyone's got some secret they don't want getting out. That way he gets what he wants and minimizes his risks for trouble. Extortion is a lot harder to prove in court than theft."

"He should definitely steal it. The life of his wife is far more important than doing the right thing in this case."

"If he wants the medicine that badly, he should just take it."

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Final Ethics Class, Friday 8-10am

Second Hour

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