Ethics, Tuesday, January 27, 2015, 2nd period

[sith_happened]

The desks had been shoved to either side of the room and a large white strip of tape had been placed down the center. Looked like it was an interactive class activity today, kids!

"Please line up along the line," Anakin said, then waited for the students to comply before continuing. "There's a philosopher from this world named John Rawls who believes that most principles of justice are things everyone would accept and agree to from a fair position. In Fandom especially, we are coming from a variety of cultures and traditions to examine ethical dilemmas, and so the idea of a 'fair position' is a bit of a moving target. The choice that might be right for you might be completely contrary to my own life experiences, but that will not make your point of view less valid."

"And so, what is a fair position?" Obi-Wan said. "This philosopher held his own ideas: he believed in a 'veil of ignorance' we had to assume, to forget the privileges and the responsibilities of our place in history." He glanced towards Anakin. "We cannot - nor would it be ethical if we could - simply put this veil on you, but we can knock you all down to the same level, so to speak."

He gestured towards the line on the floor.

"This is our veil; it is where we all begin, before circumstance steps in. Whatever your position in life - wealth, knowledge, midichlorian levels..." Hi, Anakin, "On this line, you have none. And then we begin our count."

Anakin rolled his eyes at the midichlorians and added, "Or your age or Inner Rim accent. We'll ask ten questions, see where you end up ahead or behind the line, and then we'll discuss how your perception on the world affects your reactions to things."

Like how being a slave for almost a decade could leave you with a giant, giant chip on your shoulder, for instance.

Obi-Wan looked faintly amused. "Perhaps we should join them," he said.

Anakin arched up an eyebrow. "I'm up for it if you are."

"It would be setting a good example."

And with that, Obi-Wan strode forward until he was standing on the line.

Comments

Question 4

[sith_happened]

"If your parents told you that you could be anything you wanted to be, take one step forward."

Re: Question 4

[saddeserthermit]

Obi-Wan didn't move here, either.

Re: Question 4

[sith_happened]

Yeah, no. Anakin continued to stay put.

Re: Question 4

[thegreywaren.livejournal.com]

While Niall Lynch had been a decent father, he hadn't been a father who told his sons they could be presidents or CEOs or anything. He'd been busy with his own things so Ronan stayed where he was.

Re: Question 4

[notacokeperson.livejournal.com]

Admittedly, her dad kinda regretted that, if only because of how much skin her costume showed...

Karina took a step forward.

Re: Question 4

[nolizardhere]

Okay, that one was true. Andros took his first step forward.

Re: Question 4

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy hesitated for a moment. Her parents had never told her that she could be anything she wanted; they'd always had very strict ideas of what she could be and do. But since their expectations fell in lines with a career of some prestige--one that would have been off-limits to her by gender and ethnicity just a few generations before--Kathy decided to take a step forward.

Re: Question 4

[gavegoodface]

In retrospect, Face suspected there'd have been dire consequences against all three of them if he'd decided as a kid he didn't want to continue acting, but his parents had never been anything but supportive, so he took a step forward.

Re: Question 4

[pasunereveuse.livejournal.com]

Celia pointedly stayed in place, trying not to look around jealously at anyone moving forward.

Re: Question 4

[sarcastic-vamp.livejournal.com]

Carmilla could barely remember her parents. She stayed where she was.

Re: Question 4

[princessarcasm]

Amy stayed put.

Her mom was supportive enough, but most of her dreams for Amy were things that Amy didn't really want.

Re: Question 4

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

And once again, Elsa was remaining put. She was sort of locked into the royalty gig. She'd never had the option.

And beyond that, she was sort of locked into hiding. She didn't have much in the way of options ahead of herself.

Re: Question 4

[not_a_moonie]

Ha.

Alana stayed right where she was, arms folded as if she dared anyone to say anything about it.

Re: Question 4

[bjornstjarna.livejournal.com]

Soren bit his lip in thought before finally speaking. "And if your parent made choices intended to keep you from your fated path?"

Re: Question 4

[beautifulsenshi.livejournal.com]

AHAHAHAHA NO. Minako stayed right where she was.

Re: Question 4

[wildandbrave]

Cosette's father was wonderful, but he'd never said anything like that to her. It wouldn't have been realistic of him back home, anyway. Once again, she stayed where she was, two steps back of the line.

Re: Question 4

[notamascot]

Kaylin stayed right where she was. Her mother had known she couldn't be anything she wanted. And her father, well, she didn't even know who he was.

Re: Question 4

[thegc161kid.livejournal.com]

Yes her parents had told her that but she had a feeling part of it was to inspire her to be like Annie, still she took a step forward.

Re: Question 4

[justwantedfriends]

Oh hey, look at that, Kira finally moved, although she wasn't sure if forward was the way she wanted to be going.

Re: Question 4

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

Eleanor's mother would never have dreamed of saying such a thing. She stayed put.