Ethics [Thursday, January 10, 2013]

[sith_happened]

Anakin, as usual, was rigidly on time for class. Hopefully everyone else was as well because he closed the door behind him as he entered the room, coming within centimeters of catching his robe in the hinges.

"Good morning," he said. "I'm Anakin Skywalker and this is Ethics. If you're in the wrong place, now's the time to get up and flee."

If you were in the right place, it wasn't bad advice either, depending on Anakin's mood from week to week. He paced in front of their desks as he spoke, Jedi robe swirling behind him. "Most classes this week focus on introductions, but I'm the Dean of Students, so I'll figure out who's who as we go along. Fandom as you might have realized already, is a multi-dimensional nexus where beings from many different places and times come together." He made sure to look each student in the eyes as he spoke. "As such, what you may feel to be moral and immoral might be completely different than the person sitting next to you. I encourage discussion, even heated discussion, but it must be phrased in a constructive way. Responses like 'yes, but that's dumb,' 'yes, but you're dumb', or punching someone are not constructive and will not be tolerated in this class."

He'd had all of those reactions himself before but this wasn't about the ethics of the Ethics teacher.

"We'll touch on unpleasant subjects in this class, some of which might not be all that hypothetical to your life's experience," he added. "If you prefer not to discuss a particular scenario, just let me know by shaking your head and I'll skip you until the next week."

Anakin clasped his hands together. "Now, let's begin: if you had to choose between killing one person in order to save five others, or doing nothing even though you know that doing nothing means that those five people would die before your eyes, what would you do? And what do you think would be the right thing to do?"

He liked to start them off easy.

Comments

Sign in [1/10]

[sith_happened]

Wishing the class was about walking with a robe instead.

Re: Sign in [1/10]

[pulseof_life]

Paddra Nsu-Yeul

Re: Sign in [1/10]

[nips-your-nose.livejournal.com]

Jack Frost

Listen to the lecture!

[sith_happened]

Or the introduction. Whatever it was.

Answer the discussion question! [1/10]

[sith_happened]

"If you had to choose between killing one person in order to save five others, or doing nothing even though you know that doing nothing means that those five people would die before your eyes, what would you do? And what do you think would be the right thing to do?"

Re: Answer the discussion question! [1/10]

[pulseof_life]

In a really horrible way, he was starting off easy as far as Yeul was concerned.

"I would do nothing," she said simply and quietly. "And I think that the right answer depends on each person. It is not a simple thing to say good or bad about."

Re: Answer the discussion question! [1/10]

[sith_happened]

"Why would you do nothing?" Anakin asked, interested. Most of his students in the past had insisted on him providing more details before they could answer the question.

Re: Answer the discussion question! [1/10]

[nips-your-nose.livejournal.com]

"I... don't know," Jack admitted, frowning a little. He was, at the end of the day, an anthropomorphic embodiment of a force of nature. And of fun. This wasn't the sort of thing that winter tended to put much thought into. Especially since winter storms were not entirely without their casualties. "I guess it would really depend on the situation, and who the people are who stand to die?"

He shrugged slightly, fidgeting a little with the staff in his hand.

"If those five people were kids... I'd do what I had to do to protect them, I think. I mean, they're kids. They have their whole lives set out ahead of them."

And, on a slightly more selfish level, they were the ones who seemed to appreciate his snows the most. Grownups tended to curse him more often than not.

Re: Answer the discussion question! [1/10]

[sith_happened]

Anakin nodded thoughtfully. "So elderly people would be easier to kill?"

Re: Answer the discussion question! [1/10]

[ultron_junior]

"I have to kill the one," Victor said, sounding like he didn't much like that answer. "I mean, I really don't want to kill anybody, but ... five is more than one. I think that's the right thing to do."

Re: Answer the discussion question! [1/10]

[sith_happened]

"So it's a mathematical equation for you?" Anakin asked.

Re: Answer the discussion question! [1/10]

[rings-of-grace.livejournal.com]

"I'd kill the one," Po said simply. "One life in exchange for five is very easy math, isn't it?"

Re: Answer the discussion question! [1/10]

[sith_happened]

"Would it matter who the five were?" Anakin asked.

Re: Answer the discussion question! [1/10]

[mummyspromdate.livejournal.com]

Oh, great. Starting off with a happy topic that reminded Maddie of all the reasons she'd come here to begin with.

"Kill the one," she said, though she was thinking of people choosing to stay behind with the mansion more than anything. She still didn't like it, but the decision had made sense now that it was over and no one had actually died. "At least some people get to live that way. And what if the one person is a bad guy?"

Re: Answer the discussion question! [1/10]

[sith_happened]

"What if the five are?" Anakin countered with a little smile.

Re: Answer the discussion question! [1/10]

[dressedinblood]

"I think it would depend on who the one person and the five people are, and what's going on," Anna said. "If the one person is, say, a crazy guy with a gun who's going to shoot the five other people, that's very different from if they're your best friend and the situation's different." There was a pause, and then she amended, "To me."

She shrugged. "The five people could be evil."

Re: Answer the discussion question! [1/10]

[sith_happened]

"They could be," Anakin said. "Would that make your decision easier?"

Re: Answer the discussion question! [1/10]

[harpy-daughter.livejournal.com]

Surreal was just going to look at Anakin like he was possibly a bit touched in the head. "Am I getting paid, or is this supposed to be one of those 'out of the goodness of my heart' things?"

She was going to kill Sadi for signing her up for this. Slowly.

Re: Answer the discussion question! [1/10]

[sith_happened]

"Would your answer change if you were doing it for free?" Anakin wondered.

Re: Answer the discussion question! [1/10]

[abitlowkey]

"Who are those meant to die?" Loki asked. "And who is it I must kill to spare them?"

Re: Answer the discussion question! [1/10]

[sith_happened]

"What scenario would make you the most comfortable?" Anakin asked.

Talk to Anakin!

[sith_happened]

He's around after class for just that purpose.

Re: Talk to Anakin!

[pulseof_life]

"Professor Skywalker?" Yeul offered him a calm smile. "I wish to apologize, first, for having to ask to speak with you after. I appreciate your accommodating me."

Re: Talk to Anakin!

[sith_happened]

"Of course," Anakin said with a slight smile. "It's not the first time I've had a similar request."

OOC

[sith_happened]

God, I need a nap.