Transcript Law & Morality - HRSBSTAFF Home Page

LAW & MORALITY
A person's standards of behaviour or beliefs concerning
what is and is not acceptable for them to do.
Moral Dilemmas – What Do You Do?
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"A trolley is headed toward five people, and the only
way you can save them is to hit a switch that will turn the
trolley away from the five and onto a side track, but if
you turn it onto the side track, it will run over one
person.“
"This time, you're on a footbridge, in between the
oncoming trolley and the five people. And next to you is
a big person wearing a big backpack. And the only
way you can save those five people is to push this big
guy off of the footbridge so that he lands on the tracks.
And he'll get squashed by the train; you sort of use him
as a trolley stopper. But you can save the five people."
Luckily for us, we don’t often have to
face moral dilemmas in real life!
However, many laws are based on the agreed
upon morals of a society.
THINK ABOUT IT
•How might this explain why laws are different in
different places and in different times?
•How might this explain one reason why some laws
are controversial?
Assignment Instructions
Copy the following into your notes.
 Read “Law and Morality” on page 14 (old text)/ 16
(new text)
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Write down the topic of each example given in the
reading (for example – the first is assisted suicide).
On the sticky note provided, write your name and
choose a controversial issue that you feel strongly
about (it can be one not discussed in the book).
Write whether you agree or disagree with the
current law. – HAND THIS “Exit Pass” in (be sure to
put your name on it!).
Questions for Discussion
How did the Jim Crowe Laws reflect the morals of
the American South at the time (early to mid
1900s)?
 Explain the following quote by Martin Luther King
Jr. :
“An individual who breaks a law that conscience
tells him is unjust and who willingly accepts the
penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the
conscience of the community over its injustice, is, in
reality, expressing the highest respect for the law.”
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References
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Slide 1 picture & Slide 2 Moral Dilemmas: Vedantam, S. (n.d.).
Why Mental Pictures Can Sway Your Moral Judgment : NPR. NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music
& Arts : NPR. Retrieved February 4, 2013, from http://www.npr.org/2012/09/20/161440292/why-pictures-can-swayyour-moral-judgment