In my last post I asked myself whether Ethics had practical implications for our daily lives. After the unfortunate events which took place in our province of Neuquén, I firmly believe Ethics is intrinsically related to how we live day by day.
Is obeying orders ethical, no matter what we are being asked to do? To what extent can we abide by the law? How can we measure the importance of priorities in life? I wonder if the person who shot Carlos Fuentealba at least asked these questions to himself when he decided to follow orders. When he aimed at him. When he pulled the trigger. When he killed him. When he left a woman and children without a husband and dad respectively. When he caused the whole of the school community to lose a committed teacher...
We are individuals and, at the same time, part of a community. There are laws that are to be respected. We cannot be subjected to whims. Nevertheless, we cannot obey every order we are given without thinking about the consequences they carry. Everything we do has a purpose and a consequence. We should bear this in mind every day...
To Carlos Fuentealba and his family, all my respect and love. To those who killed him on a whim, giving nonsense orders, following a tradition of disrespect for life... I have nothing to say but to express my public and strong disapproval.
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7 comments:
Andy, I complete agree with you. I consider that all the desitions we take are marked by aour social context in a way. But it is important to be responsible for our own desitions.
We don't need laws such as 'Obediencia debida' or 'Punto final'... we don't need people acting as robots following nonesense orders.
We need to be coherents with what we want, what we must and what we are supposed to do.
you're definitely right Johi! I still believe that we can achieve this from the place where we are in society! Being coherent is one of the most important values we can pass on to our students, friends, family...
What a hig-quality discussion you've started here, class! 8-D!
As Savater hinmself has already pointed out, you cannot live life carefully pondering each choice you take... As I read your thoughts, I wonder:
* thinking in cold blood, are there any cases in which not questioning an order seems "the right choice"?
* how much of what each of us does daily as an educator (in the classroom, at work, at home...) is the result of choice and how much is "determined" by our orders, habits or whims?
Will you help me explore the answers? I hope so!
Gladys
I believe that when we're in limit situations, such as when somebody's life is at stake, we may not have time to ponder our choices: we may have to follow orders without hesitating.
As regards the second questions, I think that in our daily lives there's a mixture of both choice and pre-determined situations: it's up to us to make the difference and stand up for our believes whenever we feel they're being threatened. Mind you, this doesn't mean that we should be authoritarian or narrow-minded. Being open to other people's believes is as important as defending our own believes.
About "not questioning orders": if your husband gave your child "a bad order" (not one that puts the kid's life at stake, just one you see as "not good, but not dangerous"), would you think it's better to question it there and then? Might there be "multiple effects" to such a choice?
As for our choices and habits as educators, I just hope college is contributing to help you reflect upon the choices available to you!
LOL,
Gladys
The first consequence would probably be that my husband would be mad at me for questioning him in front of my child!!!! I'd talk it over with him and let him modify or not what he said to my son: I wouldn't do it myself since that way Ivan would get confused.
Gladys: I can't tell how grateful I am to this institution. What I like most is that it emphasizes not only our academic development, but also our being critical thinkers and reflective teachers. At times, I feel this is too much to handle, but then I look around and see that most of my classmates and teachers are willing to help!
I guess your husband and mine would agree on this one, Andrea! ;-)
So... sometimes choosing not to question an order seems like the best choice available, right?
Love,
Gladys
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