From sitcoms to scifi, a central element of many plot lines revolves around one or more of the main characters encountering an ethical conundrum. From \u201cthe little lie that got big\u201d to the \u201cencountering alien species with different core morals,\u201d we seem to enjoy watching others struggle with moral choices.<\/p>\n
You assignment is to pick a TV show or movie in which the main characters encounter and wrestle with a moral problem. Watch the show, and then write a short paper (1-2 pages) following these guidelines:<\/p>\n
Start with some summary information (1-2 sentences):
\nThe name of the show
\nThe episode and season
\nA link to it (an IMDB link is fine)<\/p>\n
\u201cI watched ____, Season _, episode _ (http:\/\/\u2026)”<\/p>\n
Summarize the plot, focusing on the ethical problem that you\u2019ve found the characters to be wrestling with (1-2 paragraphs).<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this episode, the character ___ ran into a problem\u2026.”<\/p>\n
Describe how the characters analyzed and then responded to the moral situation (2+ paragraphs).<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first, ___ tried\u2026. but as the episode developed, she\u2026.”<\/p>\n
Now pick a perspective. You can be either a deontologist (Kant) or a utilitarian (Mill) \u2014 or if you\u2019re really daring you can skip ahead and use Aristotle or Social Contract. Evaluate the character\u2019s decision according to your chosen perspective (2+ paragraphs).<\/p>\n
\u201cKant suggests that the most important aspect of ethics is\u2026 Kant would have agreed\/disagreed with the character because\u2026.”<\/p>\n
Suggestions:
\nAs tempting as sitcoms are, the ethical problems in them are usually lame. If you pick a sitcom, make sure it\u2019s one that raises an interesting question.
\nPick something you enjoy.
\nI suggest 1-2 pages. I don\u2019t grade based on page count, but it\u2019s not really possible to hit the depth I\u2019m after in less than one page.
\nGrading:
\nDid you give basic information about the show?
\nDid you identify an interesting moral problem?
\nDid you explain how the characters solved it?
\nDid you demonstrate understanding of the perspective you used to critique the moral issue?
\nWas your essay interesting and written well?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From sitcoms to scifi, a central element of many plot lines revolves around one or more of the main characters encountering an ethical conundrum. From \u201cthe little lie that got big\u201d to the \u201cencountering alien species with different core morals,\u201d Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-428278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428278\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}