fandomhigh | Ethics [Tuesday, October 2, 2012, 1st period]

"Morning, class," Anakin said leaning against his desk at the front . "I hope your weekends were as trauma-free as can be expected with relatives visiting. Today we learn about Immanuel Kant," he began, gesturing to the Korra ~~if she's there~~ to hand out information on the man. "He was an influential German philosopher on this planet several hundred years ago who thought every action should have pure intention behind it; otherwise it was meaningless. He did not necessarily believe that the final result was the most important aspect of an action, but that how the person felt while carrying out the action was the time at which value was set to the result."

In his mind, Anakin could hear Obi-Wan nattering on about how many of the truths people cling to depending upon their point of view. He shook his head to clear it and continued. "In other words, it's not the results that make something moral but why you made that decision, and Kant believed that only decisions made purely out of duty have moral worth. For instance, Kant spoke of a shopkeeper who passed up the chance to shortchange a customer only because his business might suffer if other customers found out. According to Kant, the shopkeeper’s action had no moral worth because he did the right thing for the wrong reason."

He paced the room. "What do you think of Kant's conclusion? Is he being too hard on that shopkeeper? What of people who are in the habit of being good without thinking? Is that being moral, or just being conditioned to interact correctly with society?"

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"Honestly, who the hell is it who gets to pick what the 'right' and 'wrong' reasons are, anyhow? The shopkeeper is covering his own ass, just like everyone does. We're human. We're animal. We're nice to people because we want people to like us, aren't we? So where's the difference?"

Sparkle was being extra jaded today. Don't mind him.

He so would have pocketed that change.

Edited 2012-10-02 12:50 (UTC)

"Well, if we don't care about people liking us, or blending in with society, does that cut us free from society's expectations?" Anakin asked. "If we don't mind getting kicked, can we go around kicking people who we think deserve it?"

If so, Anakin wanted that declared an island-wide holiday.

Edited 2012-10-02 13:27 (UTC)

"Of course not, unless you like hanging out in jail," Sparkle reasoned. "Then, shit, knock yourself out. Not wanting to get busted is half the reason most people do the so-called right thing, isn't it? If people were all so damn moral, we wouldn't need laws, have prisons full to capacity and not enough cops on the streets to deal with shit when it's going down. People call little kids so damn innocent, but you see them pushing one another around and stealing each others' toys all the friggin' time, it's not like selfishness is a learned trait or something."

National Kicking People Day would be pretty awesome, though.

"Most people don't learn morals when they grow up. They just learn how to cover their own asses better."

"So it's not wanting to be good, it's fear of reprisal that keeps us doing the right thing?" Anakin asked.

"Fear of getting in trouble, fear of being alone. Why do anything a certain way if it isn't because you want a certain outcome?"

Sparkle strongly suspected that if he were to ever meet Kant, the guy would hate him. A lot.

"So we're always a product of the environment we're in?" Anakin asked.

"Most of the time, at least," Sparkle replied, shrugging his shoulders easily. "Do you think most people would take the moral high ground all the time if they could get away with doing just what gets them ahead, instead, without consequences?"

"No," Anakin said flatly, "but I've met a lot of terrible people."

"Met a lot of good ones to balance that out?"

Sparkle hadn't.

Ethics [Tuesday, October 2, 2012, 1st period]

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