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 9

[sith_happened]

"If you had servants in your house, take one step forward. If your family were the servants in a house, take a step back."

Re: Question 9

[saddeserthermit]

No. Not moving, no.

Re: Question 9

[sith_happened]

Anakin stayed put. Servants meant they'd gotten paid. Besides, he'd worked in the shop.

He was being stubborn and didn't want to move another step back, either.

Re: Question 9

[thegreywaren.livejournal.com]

Oh look, Ronan got to take a step forward. He'd almost forgotten that was a possibility.

Re: Question 9

[notacokeperson.livejournal.com]

She hesitated a moment and then decided that with her family's wealth and the fact that they fairly regularly hired a maid service to come in and clean rather than do it themselves that it was more in the spirit of the thing to take that step forward.

Even if they didn't precisely have servants.

Re: Question 9

[nolizardhere]

Did robots count? Andros couldn't decide if robots counted or not, and wound up staying where he was.

Re: Question 9

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy stayed where she was.

Re: Question 9

[gavegoodface]

Even if once again he wasn't stepping backwards, Face was at least a little relieved that he wasn't taking every single forward step possible.

Re: Question 9

[pasunereveuse.livejournal.com]

Celia paused for a moment before taking a hesitant, small step forward.

They hadn't had regular servants, no, but there had always been cook wherever they were, and someone to tidy up when her father didn't make her do it herself -- more often than not, it was hotel staffing, yes, but it didn't change the place of privilege from which Celia hailed, in that regard.

Re: Question 9

[princessarcasm]

Yeah, there was a housekeeper who came weekly. Amy took a step forward.

Re: Question 9

[not_a_moonie]

Alana took a step forward, self-conscious. She figured a weekly housekeeper was probably enough to count.

Re: Question 9

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

And that was a sort of self-conscious step forward. Even after most of the servants had been asked to leave the castle, there had been Gerda and Kai. There had always been Gerda and Kai.

Re: Question 9

[sarcastic-vamp.livejournal.com]

Carmilla skipped forward, paused, then shuffled back, and finally returned to her starting point.

Re: Question 9

[bjornstjarna.livejournal.com]

Though (most) berserkers were bound to do Odin's will, and followed him rather blindly in Soren's opinion, they were more of a military force than servants, so he stayed where he was.

Re: Question 9

[beautifulsenshi.livejournal.com]

Minako stayed where she was.

Re: Question 9

[wildandbrave]

Her father had said something about hiring a servant after they left the convent, but he hadn't gotten around to it before they suddenly moved here; Cosette wasn't sure if that balanced out how she'd definitely been . . . well, 'servant' was a generous way to put it. Probably not, so she weighed the options of staying where she was and stepping back again, and found herself eight steps back of the line.

Re: Question 9

[notamascot]

"What if you weren't even considered good enough to get a job as a servant?" Kaylin asked.

Re: Question 9

[thegc161kid.livejournal.com]

Once again Alex stayed where she was.

Re: Question 9

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

Mother's followers had worshipped her -- and herself, as well -- but so far as she knew, there had not been servants. Mother had insisted that Eleanor do her own chores.

She stayed put.