Give Them Shelter
In the ethics class I’m teaching, I’m trying to set up the idea that sometimes we have to make choices that will lead to the least-bad outcome. Such choices are where our values really get tested, because there’s no easy or safe choice. To think through the problem, I modified an exercise given to me by a colleague. Here’s what I gave the students:
Remember, you are likely to have to spend a lot of time in the shelter before the radiation levels go down. It could be years before the area is safe. These people are asking to enter:
• A Catholic priest, age 60, Hispanic male
• A medical researcher, age 40, African-American female, lawyer’s wife
• A lawyer, age 42, African-American male, medical researcher’s husband
• The researcher and lawyer’s daughter, age 16
• The researcher and lawyer’s son, age 10
• A commercial fisherman, age 36, Caucasian male
• A social worker, age 50, Caucasian female
• A college student, age 20, Hispanic female
• A musician, age 38, African-American male
• A city councilwoman, age 42, Japanese female
• A registered nurse, age 29, Saudi Arabian male
• A restaurant cook, age 34, African-American femaleChoose which eight people you would save and briefly say why. Do not consult with anyone about your answers.
We got a really good discussion out of it, and it was interesting to hear the students discuss and disagree about what was important. Keep a family together? Select people with useful expertise? Save the young? Save the elderly?
Next we’re going to look at Kurt Vonnegut’s Harrison Bergeron to discuss whether equality is always a good thing.
About Dave Thomer
Born and raised in Philadelphia. Studied philosophy at Fordham University in the Bronx, where I made many great friends and met my wonderful wife. We moved back to Philadelphia, where I studied philosophy some more and became a teacher. Online and off, I'm looking for ways that we can be better citizens and build stronger communities.