I guess either the snow conditions or the imminent MLK Jr Day weekend distracted almost half of the class -- 6 students (out of 14) absent! The nine of us remaining had a productive evening spinning out a longish list of possible moral topics.
I'm caught between a vindictive desire to let those absent suffer for missing a productive session and wanting to show the results.
From the board in 405, 6:55 p.m.:
What is goodness? What is evil? What is right to do? Shopping? at Walmart?
How can acts be classified? Is abortion a form of murder? Hypocrisy. Parenting. Discipline.
Discrimination workfare versus welfare braindead people
FBI battle for
property
in China
Olympics
lime wire no ifs ands or buts shoplifting is stealing. Draughts of bitter -- lager -- oh!
the DRAFT! as in conscription! quartering of troops in time of peace underage drinking
discrimination: by what rules should individual acts be judged?
stealing while sucking poppies? -- oh! stealing while STUCK IN POVERTY, yes!
Hazardous drivers driving while inebriated or under the influence of cell phones
stem cell phones
smoking in public
smoking in private
smoking weed
smoking poppies
What is the bottom line?
SEX porn UNDERAGE sex same sex marriage sex workers sex with mothers sex with others sex with animals
animal rights
rights - not all cultures accept the notion of rights WELL WE DO.
Coaching? Well I suppose that could be a moral issue -- oh, POACHING! Yes
and hunting and especially trapping. Rescuing skunks from traps -- there's a morally ambiguous and potentially hazardous situation. Medical insurance: an easy flow of association to that,
Barbies. Gender expectations. War toys, girls and boys wearing pink and camo
Racism and double standards. Some of my best friends are not niggers.
Can I write that? May I write that?
"What is the relationship between etiquette and ethics in five hundred words or fewer"
Consulting oracles (Epictetus says "when you make use of fortune telling..." [In White's translation, published by Hackett, 1983, 21]; what would be the equivalent in 2008, I wonder?) ouija boards? tarot cards? I Ching?
What obligations have individuals to others, and what obligations has society (the mass of individuals or the structure within that mass) to the individual?
Paternalism.
Honesty sunshine
laws
transparency cloning euthanasia
and another topic could be Youth In Asia
Born Into Brothels
or Teletubbies
eating disorders feminism gossip secret New Age games of chance and probability
gambling
resource use
employment
labor versus capital
military appropriations
should we act upon our divine will?
should we act upon divine will?
should we act according to divine will?
Get it straight.
Environmental degradation. Rainforest deforestation. Depilation.
Resource management stewardship biological warfare
chemical warfare
do viruses have rights?
Has smallpox a right to exist? If humans are the natural hosts of smallpox, is it wrong for humans to deny smallpox a home? Is it wrong to offer smallpox a home -- in our enemy's bodies?
Fairness.
What is righteousness? Some would say, living according to natural law, living the way other animals do, or in accord with the forces of nature, the way our ancestors did. Others would say that righteousness is precisely to deny nature, to suppress natural urges and to live in artifice, because this is what shows us to be what we are uniquely: humans, distinct from all other beings. It is righteous to be what we are clearly and distinctly. How can righteousness be both of these at the same time? Does this call the validity of moral questioning into question?
If I write "good night" does that make it good? And what makes a night good, after all?
I'm going to go and see.
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