Ethical Dilemmas, Thursday, (Per 1)

[deathsmajesty]

Rather than teaching in a classroom this session, everyone in class had been instructed to make their way to the creepy mansion in the woods Professor Vess's home, and to follow the path around the house to the back, where a long glass room ran almost the full length of the house. This was where their class would be held from now on; at least until specified otherwise. It was not difficult to find their professor, she was in a wide open area with a number of different seating options arranged in a circle: a couch, several loveseats, a scattering of arm chairs (probably? none of them were murderous?), cushions and blankets, even a few hanging chairs, and a papasan or two. Look, there were sixteen of you, everybody should be able to find somewhere comfortable to sit. There were trays and tray tables, so people could help themselves to the breakfast charcuterie boards, courtesy of Professor Scientia, that were sitting on a low table in the middle of the circle, along with a selection of juices, teas, and (of course) coffee.

"Help yourselves and choose a place to settle," Liliana said. She was sitting on a chaise, though not currently reclining, stirring honey into her tea. She gave everyone a few more minutes to grab what they wanted and find a spot, and once people were squared away, began. "I am Professor Vess, and welcome to Ethical Dilemmas," she said. "I know that the first week is usually devoted to introductions, but we have far too much to discuss to waste an entire class period. Instead, this week I will be outline the structure of the course and explaining how I expect classes to go, along with a little bit of background and context that will make future classes go more smoothly." She took a sip of her tea and then set it aside.

"This class will generally be using the terms 'morals' and 'ethics' interchangeably, but there are differences between them. At its core, morality has to do with one person's beliefs about right and wrong. Morality is deeply personal, grounded in individual beliefs, experiences, and preferences. Since it is broadly subjective, morality is not necessarily determined by the behavior's impact on others, but on how it impacts your sense of self and identity. Ethics, on the other hand, are more practical, focused on maintaining fairness, safety, and accountability in collective settings. It's one community's rules of conduct, and often operates in a formal or professional context. Ethics emphasizes the consequences of behavior on others, organizations, or society," Liliana continued. "For example, in most of our interactions, if I lied to you, it might be considered immoral, but not unethical. If, however, I lied to you while selling you something from my store, then it becomes unethical. In that case, the focus is not on my own integrity, but what the consequences are for you, the customer. Morality looks inwards, ethics look out."

"I truly intend that to be the last time I provide you with simple facts and definitions for you to learn. As I hope was made abundantly clear by the setting, I am approaching this less as a formal class and more as a casual symposium. I am not attempting to teach you ethics, as hilarious as that idea might be. Instead, I will be positing a dilemma every week and then asking you what you would do--and also why you would do it, among other questions. My job isn't to tell you what a bunch of stuffy dead philosophers decided ethics are, but to facilitate discussion on what ethics mean in your daily life, how they've been formed, and what they mean. This is not a class that accepts tautologies; there is no 'this is the right thing to do because it is right' nonsense. You can come up with rules for yourself - this is the right thing to do because I believe X - but expect to be mercilessly questioned on the whys.

"Because of the way this class is - loosely - structured, I'm going to lay some ground rules. First and foremost, answer the scenario as given, not as you'd like it to be. Yes, yes." She waved a hand and rolled her eyes. "You're all impossibly powered and incredibly brilliant and, left to your own devices, you could easily solve the scenario and bring about a happily ever after. Wonderful, I'm very proud of you, and I will make sure there are gold star stickers by the door so you can grab one at the end of class. But solving these scenarios in not what this class is about. It's putting you in a terrible position and seeing how you respond when all of your options are bad. It's up to you to decide which of the given bad options you choose and why. Furthermore, the refusal to choose is also a choice, and you will be expected to explain why you chose not to make a decision.

"Now, our ethics and morals have been shaped by many things, including the societies we've grown up in, the political, social, and ethical structures that have shaped our lives, our general position in society, and our personal experiences. Most of you come from vastly different times and places, and have lived through incredibly different events. I expect there to be an array of answers to the scenarios I'm putting forward; if you all agree, I'm going to assume that you're all in some kind of expressed virtue-off and I'm going to be vastly annoyed. This brings us to the next rules two rules: I expect you to answer honestly, and to think about the answers you give, and rule number three is that you do not get to attack a person for their answers, regardless of how personally repugnant you may find their answers. Argue with their conclusions or their logic all you wish, but you will stop short of personal attacks. Honesty cannot exist where fear abides, and I care much more about someone's honest answers than I do your personal belief you get to sit in judgment."

Not that she wasn't saying there was anyone judgy in this class, but, you know, just in case there were.

"Now, a word about the scenarios. As I said, they are meant to put you in difficult and ugly situations. For some of you, these situations may hit uncomfortably close to home. If you find yourself emotionally compromised by a day's scenario, you're always welcome to leave the discussion, whether it's for a few minutes or for the remainder of the period. Lastly, my office hours are on Fridays, if you would like to discuss topics pertaining to class. Any questions or concerns thus far?"

Comments

Re: Introductions If We Must

[mustbeawitch]

"Some of them," Lydia admitted. "Although they would probably argue that I was doing ill to them, as we had rather opposing 'goals and viewpoints,' you could say. They wanted to keep my friend as a statue they could siphon power from, and I wanted them not to do that, you see, but they would probably argue that it was that they didn't want to be ruled by the Witch Queen my friend would become once she was finished being a statue." Very normal things. Also funny how she completely forgot to mention the whole thing with Harriet once again. "Others merely made choices I wouldn't have, or shouldn't have gone along with at the time."

Re: Introductions If We Must

[deathsmajesty]

"So what about this all means you shouldn't speak ill of them?" Liliana asked.

Re: Introductions If We Must

[mustbeawitch]

Once upon a time, 'I shouldn't speak ill of them' would have been a fig leaf before Lydia cheerfully dragged them through the mud, but, well, character growth was a bitch.

"Well," Lydia said slowly, "I have at times followed along with what I was told was right, or perfectly normal, even when I was uncomfortable with it. So I don't know that it's right for me to judge." She did judge, to be clear.

Re: Introductions If We Must

[deathsmajesty]

Liliana wasn't sure there there were more than three people in this class that didn't actually judge, and three was a generous guess.

"Is there a difference in severity what you did in those times and that they did?" Liliana asked. "Or do they all have the same moral weight?"

Neither answer precluded judging, she was just asking.

Re: Introductions If We Must

[mustbeawitch]

"On the one hand," Lydia said, "practically, I would say what I did was less severe, but that is in part because I detest blood. If I can minimize the amount of blood I have to deal with at any time, all the better, whereas, say, the Mary Kings of the world will just let their poor maidservant bleed out and not even notice, if it gets them what they want. (I had to heal her, and healing is hideously difficult, you know!) But I think that in a way doing something you think is wrong, even if others tell you it's quite all right, is worse than doing something that you think is perfectly fine that others might say is wrong."

Because Lydia thought she was very wicked and of bad character, you see.

Re: Introductions If We Must

[deathsmajesty]

"That's an interesting theory," Liliana said. "Why do you believe that? And does it matter why you're going along with it? Is it equally as wrong of me to do something I thought was wrong because I believed the others had a better grasps of wrong or right, as it would be to go along with this wrongdoing simply because I didn't want to deal with social or interpersonal repercussions? Are there any social or interpersonal repercussions that would excuse my choice to go along with them?"