saddeserthermit (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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fandomhigh2016-09-22 01:59 pm
saddeserthermit) wrote in fandomhigh2016-09-22 01:59 pm
Entry tags:
Ethics, Thursday
"There is a very old work of fiction from this planet," Anakin said as he passed around copies of a short story, "that uses a hypothetical situation to debate a larger moral question."
"It speaks of a king in a distant land, who meted out justice by putting the accused in a large arena. The arena would hold two doors. Behind one laid a hungry tiger; behind the other, a suitor the accused had to wed immediately, regardless of the accused's marital position prior to winding up in the arena," Obi-Wan continued smoothly. "This king had a daughter, and his daughter had a lover - one she was not meant to have."
Anakin coughed, shooting Obi-Wan a slightly guilty look. "As sometimes happens, yes. The king eventually found out, and immediately tossed the hapless youth into prison to await his sentencing. Everyone knew he was guilty of the crime of loving someone above his station, but the king insisted on his instant, impartial justice system. The boy would go into the arena with the two doors, choose one, and end up either tiger food or wed to the most beautiful woman the king could procure--not, of course, his daughter."
"The princess, being so close to the king, knew which door was which," Obi-Wan said. "She even knew the suitor the king had picked - a beautiful girl she loathed. And her lover knew she would know, which was why, as he walked into the arena, he looked up to catch her eye, hoping for a hint as to which door to pick."
"She pointed him to the right-hand door without hesitation," Anakin said, "and he opened it...and that's where the story leaves us. Did she send him to the lady or to the tiger? Read the story for yourselves--there's nuance in it we have skimmed over--and then pair up and discuss it. Which do you think she chose for him?"
"It speaks of a king in a distant land, who meted out justice by putting the accused in a large arena. The arena would hold two doors. Behind one laid a hungry tiger; behind the other, a suitor the accused had to wed immediately, regardless of the accused's marital position prior to winding up in the arena," Obi-Wan continued smoothly. "This king had a daughter, and his daughter had a lover - one she was not meant to have."
Anakin coughed, shooting Obi-Wan a slightly guilty look. "As sometimes happens, yes. The king eventually found out, and immediately tossed the hapless youth into prison to await his sentencing. Everyone knew he was guilty of the crime of loving someone above his station, but the king insisted on his instant, impartial justice system. The boy would go into the arena with the two doors, choose one, and end up either tiger food or wed to the most beautiful woman the king could procure--not, of course, his daughter."
"The princess, being so close to the king, knew which door was which," Obi-Wan said. "She even knew the suitor the king had picked - a beautiful girl she loathed. And her lover knew she would know, which was why, as he walked into the arena, he looked up to catch her eye, hoping for a hint as to which door to pick."
"She pointed him to the right-hand door without hesitation," Anakin said, "and he opened it...and that's where the story leaves us. Did she send him to the lady or to the tiger? Read the story for yourselves--there's nuance in it we have skimmed over--and then pair up and discuss it. Which do you think she chose for him?"
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