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November 23, 2007
OFF LEASH: On ethics (from the archives)
"Off Leash" is an occasional column by Fiddler. Past columns can be found here.
Daily life is replete with ethical quandaries. These are not the well-worn examples trotted out in philosophy classes involving, say, two men clinging to a raft that can only support one of them. No, these are more trivial and yet also more relevant.
For instance, sometimes I am served two dinners. Perhaps there has been some miscommunication between the people who feed me. Or perhaps it has been decided that, on a given day, for reasons unknown yet potentially valid, I am deserving of a second dinner. There is no way to be sure.
How, then, should I respond? I could refuse to eat the second dinner, of course. But my refusal might be interpreted as ingratitude -- and that's the last thing I'd want. Also, I tend to err on the side of eating.
Posted by teb at November 23, 2007 12:46 PM