Law in Contemporary Society

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DoingWrongByNotDoing 7 - 25 Mar 2010 - Main.DavidGoldin
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 I keep thinking back to something Eben brought up in class last week (Tuesday)- namely, the idea that if you see a problem, or something that you don’t think is OK, you should be doing something about it. I think Eben’s comments resonated with me because they struck a chord with a sort of guilty feeling I’ve often had. The guilt doesn’t come from actively doing anything wrong, but from not actively doing anything that seems particularly right. I’ve often felt uncomfortable with the idea that my life could be considered a moral life when I don’t really think I do anything to correct problems that I see around me. I think the issue boils down to a question of inaction as a morally culpable offense. I do think there is a moral imperative to act when we see something that we think is wrong. I think this idea leads to guilt because I don’t think that I do enough to act, and it’s something that I hope to change if I can figure out how. It made me start thinking about ideas that I’ve struggled with before- for instance, what difference is there between letting someone die before your eyes and not giving them (for example’s sake) the five dollars in your pocket that could save them by buying them food, and not sending food or support somewhere when you can spare it and where it could have a similar lifesaving impact? When does not doing something become as wrong as doing something positively wrong? It’s hard for me to figure out the difference- maybe this is because there isn’t a meaningful one.

I’m wondering what other people think about this. If a person sees something wrong in the world and doesn’t do anything about it, is he or she more culpable than someone who simply doesn’t see the wrong, by choice or by chance? It sort of reminds me also of the philosophical question- is a person brave who isn’t scared in the face of danger, or is a person truly brave who is scared and proceeds anyway? I can’t really articulate how these are connected, but I think it has something to do with making active choices and being aware of situations and choosing to overcome them (as opposed to not facing those choices whatsoever).

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 -- DavidGoldin - 11 Mar 2010
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 Hm I might not have been phrasing my main point clearly enough - I definitely recognize Eben's emphasis on this "micro level" change. It came up again (abstractly) in our discussion about the Mignionette, when he pressed us to drop all the moralizing and think about how we would try this case, where the crime was, if anywhere. This emphasis on case-by-case decision making and on thinking before each and every decision is nothing if not good works on the smallest level. What I was saying was merely that it took about three weeks of Eben's class before I understood the difference between working for the big picture Good, and doing good every day, in every decision. And I am glad that distinction has been made, because I think it is a critical one, and not necessarily one encouraged in college, or here by those running public interest programs.
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@Aerin

Agreed - the distinction is an important one and one that wasn't brought up in college. All too often, we focus on instant gratification - we feel "good" when we work in a soup kitchen for a night, and it is providing a useful service, but it is important to see the forest through the trees (sorry for the cliche) and recognize that systemic work is vital as well. Thank you for the clarification!

-- DavidGoldin - 24 Mar 2010


Revision 7r7 - 25 Mar 2010 - 01:33:16 - DavidGoldin
Revision 6r6 - 25 Mar 2010 - 00:45:48 - AerinMiller
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