Ethics - A study in Morality

I've mentioned before that I've been taking classes at the local community college.

This semester is Introduction to Ethics. I'm trying to decide if I enjoy having my brain expanded to this level of fresh "enlightenment" or if I like my current hat size.

It's only week one and we've got assignments like:

• Myth of Gyges discussion - In one of Plato's dialogues, Glaucon, one of Socrate's companions, argues that people only do what's right to avoid being punished. His basic assumption is that people prefer to be unjust and evil but behave because they have to. He said that if there were no fear of retribution or being caught, we would act out in our own interests - materialistically and power hungry, giving into lustful urges. The assertion is that humankind is inherently evil. Evidently, this debate has been going on for thousands of years.

• Euthanasia discussion - Do you think that euthanasia (any type considered) is morally acceptable in some cases? With respect to Jack Kevorkian, what do you think of his role in the right to die movement - was he a catalyst, hinderance, or something else?

• The Trolley Problem discussion - From this classic story, the ethical question is, "Do you think it's wrong to sacrifice the life one person in order to save five?"

Future assignments and questions revolve around World Poverty, Bystanders responsibilities, Capital punishment, Animal rights, Environmental responsibilities and a myriad of other "tough" situations that don't seem to have any easy answers.

My class discussions have been lively so far. There are 25 people in the class that range from high school students to people my age and as you can guess, the opinions are as diverse as the class itself. Some of my classmates had no problem killing off someone to save five, but when it got personal, they had a different opinion. If the person they had to kill off was their spouse, significant other, child, parent or if they had to do the dirty personally, they couldn't do it.

In the case of the Glaucon story, the individual was given a ring that when turned, made them invisible. When they were invisible, the character in the story seduced the queen, murdered the king and seized the throne. This hypothetical story illustrated the idea that rational, intelligent people who had no need to fear negative consequences would do things they normally never would do because there was no reprisal.

Sort of makes you weep for mankind, doesn't it?

Are we all secretly evil and are only good so we don't get punished? Would we kill one to save five? Are we okay with giving people the right to end their lives under their own terms or take the life of another? Are there limits to our behaviors? Extenuating circumstances when we would betray our own standards and morals?

At the end of every one of my posts is an opportunity to leave comments about the post. I encourage you to take a leap of faith and comment on this story. I'm genuinely interested to hear what people think about the human condition from an ethical and moral standpoint.

Of course, feel free to leave your comment anonymously if you'd like - there is no fear of retribution, criticism, judgment, fault finding, raps on knuckles, put downs or tsk tsks. :)