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Consider the following example below:
For my readers to whom I write:
This is a collection of case studies I looked at, ranging from the philosophical to the theoretical. Some may be simple in their application, while others may be more complex. Within this text I hope to explore moral, ethical, and even aesthetical values that exist in a given context. I, Elise Wolfe, hope that you acquire some greater knowledge from this text.
No matter your views on life, you can always look from a different perspective.
This is a collection of case studies I looked at, ranging from the philosophical to the theoretical. Some may be simple in their application, while others may be more complex. Within this text I hope to explore moral, ethical, and even aesthetical values that exist in a given context. I, Elise Wolfe, hope that you acquire some greater knowledge from this text.
No matter your views on life, you can always look from a different perspective.
Yours truly,
Elise Wolfe
Elise Wolfe
Case 1: One vs Many
There are times where you must make a decision between multiple alternatives--choices--and accept the consequences of the alternative you choose. Consider the following example below:
You are a prisoner forced to live out the rest of your days. The day of your execution arrives and the guard offers you a chance at freedom. Go through with your execution to release your fellow prisoners, or accept a release from your execution, sentencing your fellow prisoners to death.
What factors are present within this example, you may ask yourself?
Let's assume we go with the first choice: Go through with your execution to release your fellow prisoners.
This choice is considered noble, as you offer yourself up as a sacrifice in order to save the rest of your group. You accept the charge that the state has placed on you, and do not wish to subject more people to your suffering. Some may be so noble that they would offer up their lives up, regardless of the crimes that the other prisoners committed. By offering themselves as a sacrifice, they may save the lives of many for the life of one. What happens when the rest of this prisoners are free though? While their own lives may be saved by your actions, they are as likely to take the lives of others as they are to lead a more righteous life influenced by your sacrifice. Though you have satisfied your noble cause, it may be but a brief respite.
What if you had gone with the second choice: Accept a release from your execution, sentencing your fellow prisoners to death?
This choice is considered good, as you can eliminate many potential threats towards society by preserving your own life. Consider these words again, however... The guards second choice is to grant you a release from your execution. A guard may be lenient with his words and say that you are entirely free from the bounds of the jail. A guard who manipulates his words may state that, while you are spared your live today, you will not be free from jail and still be forced to spend the rest of your days imprisoned. Another issue to consider is you made a choice to commit homicide by saving your own life, whereas the first choice only ensures that you are dead and leaves the prisoners to their newly gained freedom. The relatives of the prisoners will resent your actions and mayhaps even plot revenge against you. They will know that you had a chance to prevent the deaths of their loved ones and you did not take it.
Let's assume we go with the first choice: Go through with your execution to release your fellow prisoners.
This choice is considered noble, as you offer yourself up as a sacrifice in order to save the rest of your group. You accept the charge that the state has placed on you, and do not wish to subject more people to your suffering. Some may be so noble that they would offer up their lives up, regardless of the crimes that the other prisoners committed. By offering themselves as a sacrifice, they may save the lives of many for the life of one. What happens when the rest of this prisoners are free though? While their own lives may be saved by your actions, they are as likely to take the lives of others as they are to lead a more righteous life influenced by your sacrifice. Though you have satisfied your noble cause, it may be but a brief respite.
What if you had gone with the second choice: Accept a release from your execution, sentencing your fellow prisoners to death?
This choice is considered good, as you can eliminate many potential threats towards society by preserving your own life. Consider these words again, however... The guards second choice is to grant you a release from your execution. A guard may be lenient with his words and say that you are entirely free from the bounds of the jail. A guard who manipulates his words may state that, while you are spared your live today, you will not be free from jail and still be forced to spend the rest of your days imprisoned. Another issue to consider is you made a choice to commit homicide by saving your own life, whereas the first choice only ensures that you are dead and leaves the prisoners to their newly gained freedom. The relatives of the prisoners will resent your actions and mayhaps even plot revenge against you. They will know that you had a chance to prevent the deaths of their loved ones and you did not take it.
There are many reasons, both good and bad, for either one of these choices. For the first, you gave a chance for everyone, including yourself, to prevent further homicide. One life lost compared to many lives lost minimizes casualties and you have a chance to break a cycle. For the second, you may be overcome by self-preservation and choose to degrade the values of the prisoners lives. Mayhap you even be in the frame of mind to consider their lives as "unneccessary" and stepping stones for your own gains. You could consider that by ending the lives of more criminals you would decrease the amount of crime that occurs in the world. Considering the benefits and drawbacks of the second choice, you eliminate criminals and save your own life, but at the risk of retribution and even guilt from blood on your hands.
Is there a universally correct choice? Perhaps there is... and perhaps there isn't. In a scenario such as this, the line between what is good and evil becomes skewed. An upstanding citizen may choose to save his own life so that he may serve his state once more, while a honest criminal may choose to sacrifice his own life as payment for the debts his crimes have wrought upon him. People will argue and have conflicts about one choice over the other choice, basing their answers on their own perspectives, backgrounds, and codes of honor. An Ul'dahn may choose a different answer from the Gridanian for the same reasons. They may also choose the same answer, but for different reasons. One may even contend that so long as there is more than one person in a setting, conflicting ideas will occur. The social circle that a person is raised in influences their interpretations of the world.
What if, however, it were not perspectives, backgrounds, and codes of honor that dictate what a person may choose, but some other factor? You may make one choice now while reading about it and yet make a completely different choice when you are thrust into the situation. Emotional states may play into our responses; the more emotionally unstable we are, the more likely it is we make may decisions that go against our own values. Were we, perhaps, given inherently good souls upon our inceptions, only to have them darkened through the atrocities we have seen? Or do we make from our minds a system that we confide ourselves in, believing it to be good in all things?
What if, however, it were not perspectives, backgrounds, and codes of honor that dictate what a person may choose, but some other factor? You may make one choice now while reading about it and yet make a completely different choice when you are thrust into the situation. Emotional states may play into our responses; the more emotionally unstable we are, the more likely it is we make may decisions that go against our own values. Were we, perhaps, given inherently good souls upon our inceptions, only to have them darkened through the atrocities we have seen? Or do we make from our minds a system that we confide ourselves in, believing it to be good in all things?
I end this case study with a question that I have not found a proper answer to: Is it better to be good and remain good, or is it better to turn evil, yet overcome your own nature?