The Philosophy of Values: The parallels between the Medical and Magical Communities
Wilson sat behind his desk, reading through his paperwork as the class filed in. As was the case last week, there is tea and coffee along with some pastries and it might even seem as if the professor himself was enjoying a cheese Danish. Once everyone was in their seats, he looked up from his work and smiled to the class.
“Good morning.”
Setting aside his work, he stood up and moved around to the front of the desk, as he tended to do when giving his lecture. Arms crossed over his chest, he looked out across the class and then smiled.
“Well, on the syllabus today we were going to go over the idea of Objective vs. Subjective. The black and the white vs. the grey. But upon listening to the radio the past couple of days I decided to shift the topic slightly and take on something a bit more…relevant to some of the issues flying around campus these days.”
Taking a breath, Wilson reached for his coffee and took a sip.
“I never saw a man who looked
With such a wistful eye
Upon that little tent of blue
Which prisoners call the sky, ….
When a voice behind me whispered low,
“That fellow’s got to swing.”
Yet each man kills the thing he loves,
By each let this be heard,
Some do it with a bitter look
Some with a flattering word.
The coward does it with a kiss
The brave man with a sword!
It is sweet to dance to violins
When Love and Life are fair:
To dance to flutes, to dance to lutes
Is delicate and rare:
But it is not sweet with nimble feet
To dance upon the air! ….
Something was dead in each of us,
And what was dead was Hope.
I know not whether laws be right,
Or whether laws be wrong;
All that we know who lie in gaol
Is that the wall is strong;
And that each day is like a year,
A year whose days are long. ….
The vilest deeds like poison weeds
Bloom well in prison air:
It is only what is good in man
That wastes and withers there.”
Oscar Wilde(1854-1900)
Lecture:
Giving the class a moment to spend with his words, Wilson again sipped from his coffee and then continued to speak.
“The idea of Killing vs. Murder is one that will unfortunately face many of us as we pursue a useful life with our gifts. When talking with Miss Lovegood last week I brought up the example of having the abusive husband and father in my care after a car accident. I was discussing the idea of do no harm and the fact that those moments I held that man’s life in my hands. I also held his death. Would knowingly letting him die be murder? Would giving him that slight…nudge he might need through my knowledge of the human body and what it can withstand be murder?”
Straightening, Wilson began to pace.
“What if, before he went under, he told me, he planned to kill his wife as soon as he was capable of it? I have evidence that he is of a temperament to do just that. I have a battered wife, a battered helpless infant one room over and in this room, under my gifted hands I have the opportunity to…”
Wilson made a hand gesture, graceful but telling. Again he paused then continued to pace.
“Turn it around again. Same scenario but I do no harm to this patient and three days after he’s released from the hospital, his wife and child turn up dead brutally murdered by this man. Do I carry the responsibility of their deaths with me because I had the chance to dispatch this man and didn’t?”
Back to the desk.
“It almost sounds like a justifiable killing for me to take this route. By taking one life, I save two others but is it not still murder? Do I punish this man with my own personal loathing for his actions or do I show him compassion, knowing what I risk in the innocent lives he could steal? It almost seems an easy question to answer. He’s evil, he’s vile, he is emotionally offensive to me and what Society deems is right…hell for that matter, what Nature would deem right, in that he is a danger to his own, helpless child but he is still a sentient being and taking a sentient life should not be easy.”
More coffee, more pacing.
“These are some of the ethical and moral challenges we might find ourselves faced with as we try to choose how and when to apply our gifts. There are going to be times when it would be so easy to just…”
Again, he paused and made a that graceful hand gesture.
“But is it justified to do so?” Arching an eyebrow, Wilson looked around at the class. “Is there ever a point where killing is justified? Taking a look at the story “Of Mice and Men“ by John Steinbeck that is a prevalent question in the whole tale. Can there be such a thing as a mercy killing? Or is the death of one being at the hands of another always going to be murder?”
Leaning back against the desk he gave the class a gentle smile. “Are your brains leaking out of your ears yet? I admit, this is a very difficult subject to try to ingest in one sitting and we’ll be coming back to bits and pieces of it as the class progresses but given certain recent events,” and it’s all together possible he flicked a glance towards Blair. “I wanted to put it out on the table. Because the old cliché fits. With great power comes great responsibility and though you have the ability to administer what you believe is the right judgment, is your right going to be the same as someone else’s?“
Exhaling softly he looked pensive as he nibbled his bottom lip.
“And perhaps the root question to all the other’s I’ve posed in class today. What would it cost you personally to do either if you were faced with a situation where…you have the power but do you apply it?”
Homework:
Walking back around the desk, he pulled up a small box of books and began to pass them out.
“Here is a copy of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. Homework this week is going to be to read this book…yes go ahead and groan, it’s a small book and a quick read believe me. Read the book and then I want you to think about what George does in the end. Then I want at least a half page essay on whether or not you feel George had no choice or whether what he does is murder. If you want some extra credit you can tackle the subject of Lennie’s misfortune and whether or not what he does is murder but I want us to focus on George because it’s George who has to make the conscious decision to apply his judgment towards another. Is George an unfortunate killer or a murderer?”
[ooc: Please wait for OCD. Class is in session!]
“Good morning.”
Setting aside his work, he stood up and moved around to the front of the desk, as he tended to do when giving his lecture. Arms crossed over his chest, he looked out across the class and then smiled.
“Well, on the syllabus today we were going to go over the idea of Objective vs. Subjective. The black and the white vs. the grey. But upon listening to the radio the past couple of days I decided to shift the topic slightly and take on something a bit more…relevant to some of the issues flying around campus these days.”
Taking a breath, Wilson reached for his coffee and took a sip.
“I never saw a man who looked
With such a wistful eye
Upon that little tent of blue
Which prisoners call the sky, ….
When a voice behind me whispered low,
“That fellow’s got to swing.”
Yet each man kills the thing he loves,
By each let this be heard,
Some do it with a bitter look
Some with a flattering word.
The coward does it with a kiss
The brave man with a sword!
It is sweet to dance to violins
When Love and Life are fair:
To dance to flutes, to dance to lutes
Is delicate and rare:
But it is not sweet with nimble feet
To dance upon the air! ….
Something was dead in each of us,
And what was dead was Hope.
I know not whether laws be right,
Or whether laws be wrong;
All that we know who lie in gaol
Is that the wall is strong;
And that each day is like a year,
A year whose days are long. ….
The vilest deeds like poison weeds
Bloom well in prison air:
It is only what is good in man
That wastes and withers there.”
Oscar Wilde(1854-1900)
Lecture:
Giving the class a moment to spend with his words, Wilson again sipped from his coffee and then continued to speak.
“The idea of Killing vs. Murder is one that will unfortunately face many of us as we pursue a useful life with our gifts. When talking with Miss Lovegood last week I brought up the example of having the abusive husband and father in my care after a car accident. I was discussing the idea of do no harm and the fact that those moments I held that man’s life in my hands. I also held his death. Would knowingly letting him die be murder? Would giving him that slight…nudge he might need through my knowledge of the human body and what it can withstand be murder?”
Straightening, Wilson began to pace.
“What if, before he went under, he told me, he planned to kill his wife as soon as he was capable of it? I have evidence that he is of a temperament to do just that. I have a battered wife, a battered helpless infant one room over and in this room, under my gifted hands I have the opportunity to…”
Wilson made a hand gesture, graceful but telling. Again he paused then continued to pace.
“Turn it around again. Same scenario but I do no harm to this patient and three days after he’s released from the hospital, his wife and child turn up dead brutally murdered by this man. Do I carry the responsibility of their deaths with me because I had the chance to dispatch this man and didn’t?”
Back to the desk.
“It almost sounds like a justifiable killing for me to take this route. By taking one life, I save two others but is it not still murder? Do I punish this man with my own personal loathing for his actions or do I show him compassion, knowing what I risk in the innocent lives he could steal? It almost seems an easy question to answer. He’s evil, he’s vile, he is emotionally offensive to me and what Society deems is right…hell for that matter, what Nature would deem right, in that he is a danger to his own, helpless child but he is still a sentient being and taking a sentient life should not be easy.”
More coffee, more pacing.
“These are some of the ethical and moral challenges we might find ourselves faced with as we try to choose how and when to apply our gifts. There are going to be times when it would be so easy to just…”
Again, he paused and made a that graceful hand gesture.
“But is it justified to do so?” Arching an eyebrow, Wilson looked around at the class. “Is there ever a point where killing is justified? Taking a look at the story “Of Mice and Men“ by John Steinbeck that is a prevalent question in the whole tale. Can there be such a thing as a mercy killing? Or is the death of one being at the hands of another always going to be murder?”
Leaning back against the desk he gave the class a gentle smile. “Are your brains leaking out of your ears yet? I admit, this is a very difficult subject to try to ingest in one sitting and we’ll be coming back to bits and pieces of it as the class progresses but given certain recent events,” and it’s all together possible he flicked a glance towards Blair. “I wanted to put it out on the table. Because the old cliché fits. With great power comes great responsibility and though you have the ability to administer what you believe is the right judgment, is your right going to be the same as someone else’s?“
Exhaling softly he looked pensive as he nibbled his bottom lip.
“And perhaps the root question to all the other’s I’ve posed in class today. What would it cost you personally to do either if you were faced with a situation where…you have the power but do you apply it?”
Homework:
Walking back around the desk, he pulled up a small box of books and began to pass them out.
“Here is a copy of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. Homework this week is going to be to read this book…yes go ahead and groan, it’s a small book and a quick read believe me. Read the book and then I want you to think about what George does in the end. Then I want at least a half page essay on whether or not you feel George had no choice or whether what he does is murder. If you want some extra credit you can tackle the subject of Lennie’s misfortune and whether or not what he does is murder but I want us to focus on George because it’s George who has to make the conscious decision to apply his judgment towards another. Is George an unfortunate killer or a murderer?”
[ooc: Please wait for OCD. Class is in session!]