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 6

[sith_happened]

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

Re: Question 6

[saddeserthermit]

And there it was. There had been far more than that in the Temple, and Obi-Wan was almost inclined to take more than one step forward. (He didn't.)

Re: Question 6

[sith_happened]

Finally, a step forward. Anakin's lips quirked up as he remembered his first trip into the Jedi archives. He hadn't known there was that much knowledge in the whole universe.

Re: Question 6

[thegreywaren.livejournal.com]

Ronan thought about it and stepped forward, right back to where he'd been. Hey, they had money, there were books and lots of electronics around.

Re: Question 6

[notacokeperson.livejournal.com]

Karina didn't even have to think about this question: she took a step forward.

Re: Question 6

[nolizardhere]

They'd had ready access to computers, of course, so Andros took another step forward.

Re: Question 6

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy easily owned fifty books herself. That was a step forward, though she was still back from the line.

Re: Question 6

[gavegoodface]

Yeah, Face was taking a step forward. Again.

Re: Question 6

[pasunereveuse.livejournal.com]

And once more, Celia stayed put. All her books were her own acquisitions, and more often than not, they were seized upon discovery.

Re: Question 6

[sarcastic-vamp.livejournal.com]

Carmilla really hadn't counted, but she didn't think there had been that many, so she stayed where she was.

Re: Question 6

[princessarcasm]

Please. The Raudenfeld home had celebrity magazines, not books. Amy stayed in place.

Re: Question 6

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

... Well, that whole 'royal library' thing meant that she was taking a step forward, and tempted to take a few more at that. She didn't, though. Just the one. More than that would look too much like gloating, here.

Re: Question 6

[not_a_moonie]

Between books and datapads, Alana's family had this covered. (Especially when she factored in her personal library.) She stepped up.

Re: Question 6

[bjornstjarna.livejournal.com]

Soren didn't remember much about his childhood home, but he remembered there had been several shelves of books. And Sanctus Sigurd's had certainly had a library. Obviously the Veedub hadn't had room for such things, but he figured that he'd had easy enough access to books for a significant enough period of time that he stepped forward.

Re: Question 6

[beautifulsenshi.livejournal.com]

Minako had access to the family computer, although she had to share it and Mama SUPER limited her time on it. Still, she took her first step forward.

Re: Question 6

[wildandbrave]

Well, on the one hand it wasn't another step back, but it wasn't another step forward either; Cosette stayed where she was, thinking having that many books available to her now probably didn't count.

Re: Question 6

[notamascot]

Books? He had to be kidding. But, looking around, apparently not. Still, Kaylin stayed put. She'd only recently even learned to read.

Re: Question 6

[thegc161kid.livejournal.com]

Between her parents and Annie, there had been way more than 50 books in the house so Alex took a step forward.

Re: Question 6

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

The only thing Eleanor had been encouraged to do was to sharpen her mind. She'd been surrounded by textbooks and Mother's scholarly periodicals. Presumably, those counted, so Eleanor took her first step forward.

She noticed, then, the number of people who weren't stepping forward, and considered herself very lucky, indeed.

Re: Question 6

[justwantedfriends]

As the daughter of a college professor, Kira actually felt bad about only taking one step forward.