Ethics [Thursday, March 1, 2012 1st period]

[sith_happened]

"Welcome back from your break," Anakin said, striding to the front of the class--where the students' desks had been pushed against the walls--to lean against the blackboard. "Today we move away from Kant and onto an American philosopher named John Rawls. He's a more modern philosopher, and the main tenet of Rawlsianism is that most reasonable principles of justice are those everyone would accept and agree to from a fair position. The question, naturally, then turns into 'what is a fair position' and his use of something called the 'veil of ignorance' that magically makes everyone unaware of their positions in society in order to determine if something is fair or not."

He pushed off of the wall and paced down the center of the room. "Rawls also argues that even meritocracy—a distributive system that rewards effort—doesn’t go far enough in leveling the playing field because those who are naturally gifted will always get ahead. Furthermore, says Rawls, the naturally gifted can’t claim much credit because their success often depends on factors as arbitrary as birth order or how you were raised as a child."

He waved his hand, indicating the students should form a line in the center of the classroom. "Today we'll conduct a little experiment in demonstrating privilege. Afterwards, I want you to discuss if such things matter in Fandom like they do back in your home universes, and if not, why not."

He reached for a piece of paper. "Let's begin."

Comments

Re: Exercise in Privilege--6

[sith_happened]

"If there were more than 50 books--or the technological equivalent in your universe--in your house when you grew up, take one step forward."

Re: Exercise in Privilege--6

[ancientbschamp.livejournal.com]

. . . there hadn't even been fifteen scrolls in all of Poteidaia, because there were only a handful of people in the village who could read at all, which meant Gabrielle wasn't gaining a step forward from the ones she'd lost here.

Re: Exercise in Privilege--6

[hurtingzeebo]

Nope, no stepping for Sam. The TV got more than fifty channels, but she was pretty sure that didn't count.

Re: Exercise in Privilege--6

[withasword.livejournal.com]

Books was one thing their base in Savannah was not short of. Not that they spent a large amount of time there.

One step forward for her, none the less.

Re: Exercise in Privilege--6

[iwishiwasbig.livejournal.com]

Dave did some quick math in his head and realized that a set of encyclopedias alone got him halfway there already, so he finally moved forward.

Re: Exercise in Privilege--6

[ihavediabetes.livejournal.com]

Stacey wasn't sure how many books there were. But it seemed like it could be a lot, so she stepped forward.

Re: Exercise in Privilege--6

[godofxbox]

Hahaha, books. In his dad's house. That was so funny Alex sort of snorted. And stayed where he was.

Re: Exercise in Privilege--6

[abitlowkey]

With the great library in Asgard, it would be a lie for him to not step forward.

He wondered if he ought to take another step as he was one of the few who went there.

Re: Exercise in Privilege--6

[selfhelphero]

Considering there were at least 50 books just in his room, Billy didn't have to think much before stepping forward.