The Lesser Evil Essays - Social Philosophy, Philosophy Of Life

The Lesser Evil Hathaway, Aaron Period 7 The Lesser Evil Barbara Harrison once said, ?The toughest choices in life are not those between good and evil, but those between the good and the lesser good.? She makes a good point given that those are the only types of choices that we must make. Sadly, there is a third type of decision that we fear the most, the decisions between the bad and the lesser bad. Distinguishing the lesser of two evils is far more difficult than identifying the greater of two goods. Many times we are faced with situations where we are compelled to lie. Lying is wrong, but in many cases is less destructive than telling the truth. Take a police officer, for example, who has just apprehended a known criminal. He's taken away in an ambulance before the officer could finish reading his rights. In court the officer is asked if the criminal was read his rights in full. At this point the officer could either tell the truth and let the criminal get away or lie and have him put behind bars. In this case lying would be wrong, but telling the truth would be even worse. Personal sacrifice is often one of the options when making a hard decision. In these cases we ask ourselves if we are willing to give something up in order to benefit others. At first glance this may seem like a decision between good (charity) and evil (selfishness). At a closer examination, however, we can see that in both cases one or the other party is at a financial loss. Help the starving children in India! Save the rainforest! What is it that makes us compelled to harm our checkbook? Guilt? Perhaps. It's most likely the belief that we can help a world problem by sending our money to a greedy corporation that will keep half of it for itself: a classic no-win situation. What about a decision that really makes us choose between the lesser of two evils? I though you'd never ask. Hypothetical situation: You are staying in a quaint, forest cabin with your family. An earthquake hits in the middle of the night sending tons of snow and ice down onto your cabin. Sadly, a member of your family is terribly wounded when an iron support snaps under the pressure of the snow and becomes lodged in his arm. It's not serious but without antibiotics the wound becomes infected and leads to his death three days later. By this time your family is starving, having eaten the loaf of bread and box of cereal that you brought. You dare not try opening the door since it has buckled inwards from the weight of the snow. You have no idea when help will come. Here's where you must make your decision. Do you let your family starve and not desecrate your family member's body or do you do the unthinkable and hold out a few more days, possibly saving the lives of your family members and yourself? Although extremely unlikely, while possible, this situation invokes the most feared type of decision imaginable. Most people, including myself, would choose not to answer on the basis that it would never happen. It's only natural for us to avoid something that we are absolutely terrified of. Often those decisions that we recall as the hardest decisions in our lives are those that force us to pick among several choices, all with unpleasant outcomes. We need to look past the small everyday decisions in life when deciding what is truly difficult. Although what Barbara Harrison said was true, she forgot to tell us that decisions between the bad and the worse are infinitely more difficult to make.

Jedi and Darth Vader Essay

Jedi and Darth Vader Essay Jedi and Darth Vader Essay Cooley, Tauri Professor O’seland Freshman Comp. 1113 20560 Popular Culture Paper November 19th, 2013 Popular Culture: The Ultimate Bad-Ass Anakin Skywalker is a nine-year-old boy and slave on a remote desert planet who gets his lucky break when Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn discovers that the Force is unusually strong with him. He was believed to be the ‘Chosen One’ spoken of in the Jedi’s prophecies. It was said that he would restore balance to the Force of the Galaxy, and ultimately rise as a hero far more powerful than any Jedi before him. After winning his freedom, the young boy makes the challenging choice to train as a Jedi, even though it means leaving his mother and home planet behind him. He is young, auspicious, and vulnerable. We are rooting for him. It is the very fact that Anakin once was the protagonist and groomed-to-be-hero that makes it even more devastating when he finally succumbs to the dark side. We feel the loss, and even Kenobi’s pain, when master and apprentice are forced to duel in Episode III. â€Å"You were the chosen one!† Kenobi cries, after he has cut Anakin’s limb and brought him to the ground. Anakin clings to the edge of the sand with the one arm that he has left, spitting and bitter, as he slides toward the lava. â€Å"You were my brother, Anakin. I loved you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  When the flames catch his clothes and quickly begin to consume him, Kenobi can only watch in horror with a tortured expression on his face, before leaving his former friend to burn. To this very day, it is one of the most haunting scenes that I have ever seen. Of course, this is all build-up. Technically Anakin Skywalker is not his full-fledged villain self- that is, he does not become Darth Vader- until the end of episode III, and he really doesn’t assume the presence until episode IV. And while Vader’s motive (power lust) is hardly new, the rich drama informed by his backstory is: in episode VI we see him do battle, not just against Luke Skywalker, but within himself. What is left of Anakin Skywalker, a human being and Lukeâ€⠄¢s father, acts to save his child’s life at the price of his own. Here is another reason for Vader’s epic and unrivaled antagonist saga: he is a redeemed villain by the story’s end. Even from his very first appearance in George Lucas’s esteemed â€Å"Star Wars† saga in 1977, Darth Vader has been making an incredible impression on audiences across the globe. Vader is one of the greatest known villains to ever hit the big-screen, and he does so with tremendous style and class. He is revered and recognized villain who everyone has heard of and is at least vaguely acquainted with, regardless of their age or gender- and remains one of the most notable popular culture icons in the world- still to this day. Today, thanks to social media and the Internet, Darth Vader is only becoming more celebrated. With dozens of hysterical viral sensations made in his honor, such as â€Å"The Force† Volkswagen Super Bowl commercial featuring a little boy who dre sses as Darth Vader, Weird Al Yancovik’s â€Å"Star Wars Rap,† and the famous spoof video on YouTube called â€Å"Hitler versus Darth Vader: Epic Rap Battle,† everyone should be familiar with the ‘Dark Father’ now, if they weren’t before. He even has his own line of Angry Birds (I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I own one.) How many villains do you know of that have their own Angry Bird modeled after them? I think it’s safe to say that Vader’s franchise is only growing. So, why is it that everyone continues to regard Darth Vader with such awe and admiration, even after all of these years? What immediately stands out about Darth Vader is the tremendous amount of back-story that we receive. Each antagonist needs their own history, motivation and conflict; that is what makes their stories compelling, relatable, or even pitiable. A well-developed villain can make the audience sympathetic