Ethical Dilemma

In class today we spoke of ethical decisions, of the "right" definition of ethics and morality, of what affects ethics have on our day to day life. I posed the example: You have it in your power to save one person or 500. Who do you save? Well it's obvious, the 500 my students chime in unison. Now what if the one person if your mother or father and the 500 are strangers. Now this question is different. It is still one vs. 500, but that one person means something to you. Should that change your mind? It shouldn't, but it does. We are human and can't help but allow our own feelings, our experiences, our subjectiveness to influence our decisions. How about if of the 500 half were mothers of others- young children, teens, children your age? Then what?
"It's my mom!" one student states.
"Yeah, but what if my mom was one of the 500. Then what?" a bespectacled boy with a stuffy nose calls out.
They're excited and want to talk all at once. I love it. I call out their names, five names at a time, to speak in that order and give them the floor. The less I say the better.
They deliberate over this for some time, until it is my turn to stir the pot. Could you honestly take away the mothers of hundreds of children for your own selfish sake?
Let's think of this in terms of All My Sons. Is it justifiable that Joe Keller knowingly permitted the cracked cylinders to be shipped? Many jumped the gun- well they killed 21 guys!
No, before that. Did it make sense? Put yourself in his shoes. You have a business to run. You have a family to support. You will be ruined if you do not produce. Is it justifiable? A light bulb goes off, I can see it in her eyes, then another- this one, a grin because he got it.
"Yes, it is a noble decision. He wanted to protect his family."
Is it selfish?
"No because he wanted to provide for his family. He was under a lot of pressure. You make rash decisions when you are under pressure."
I pause and listen to a girl with deep almond-shaped eyes to share a story. A story is shared about a flood. A mother trying to rescue her two children, must let one go in order to survive. A decision she must make immediately. She lets go of the infant, holding on to the 6-year old. I get goose bumps thinking of that mother, the nightmares of her child drowning, the weight of that burdened on her shoulders the rest of her life. Was her decision ethical?
"There's no right or wrong. Who's to say which kid she should have saved?"
Exactly! No right or wrong. Not black or white. Not so clear cut. Ethics isn't always so clear.
However what we can agree on is this: ethics is what is done to benefit the greater good.
Back to Joe Keller.
He made the decision to ship the cracked canisters. He hoped the military's inspectors would catch the error. They didn't. Because of him twenty-one boys/men lost their lives. Men that were not quite men yet. I call them men because they were fighting a war. Boys because they had not lived yet.
So now let's look at this as such- Joe "saved" his family, but "killed" 21 men. Ethical?
"He didn't know they would die."
You're right, but he knew the cylinders were cracked and there was a possibility the part would not work properly.
"He risked others' lives to save himself and his three family members. 3 vs. 21 not for the greater good."
"Yeah, but he didn't know it was going to be 21. What if it was only 2?"
Good question?
"Still wrong. What if it was 50?"
He still knew and sending the cylinders out knowingly was ethically wrong, regardless
of if no one died, 21 or 50. It was wrong.
Their faces in awe of what they had just tried to wrap their growing minds around.
Yes, today was a good day. When they get excited and think and talk and can actually take something away and apply it to their own lives, become observant of how they deal with ethics, with decision-making, with being fair and a good person, then my job is well worth every sacrifice, every extra hour I spend creating a lesson and losing an hour of sleep. This is what makes it all worth the time, the effort, the aggravation, the dedication, the love. All for that teaching moment when you know you've reached them all.