fandomhigh | Philosophies of Good and Evil, Tuesday

“We’re going to keep it simple this week,” Atton said, standing in front of two blackboards with a marker in hand. “One of the biggest questions moral philosophers argue about is how hewn in stone good and evil really are.”

He wrote ‘absolutism’ on one of the two blackboards. “One team says that ‘good’ and ‘evil’ are very specific things you can easily define. Stealing? Always wrong. Stealing for funsies? Wrong. Stealing if your entire family is starving? Still wrong.” He tapped the blackboard. “A lot of religions are into this one.”

He turned to the other blackboard and wrote down ‘relativism’. “The other branch says that ‘good’ and ‘evil’ depends entirely on culture and circumstance. It’s flexible, and what might be evil in one case could be good in another.” He turned back towards the class. “And then there’s ‘universalism’, which tries to say that there’s some flexibility, but the basics stay the basics.”

"In other words, they want to have it both ways," Lana said. "Or they're just indecisive. Who decides what these 'basics' are? I got sentenced to death for something I ordinarily would be lauded for, even in my own culture. Anyone who thinks people don't use these however they advantage them is incredibly naive." Someone was salty.