Judah, Miriam, Cahn, Murphy, Fred and Kate

The following questions were submitted by students enrolled in Dr. Benton's EQ1 course. Weigh in! (Thank you Michael Womack for typing them up!)

Crimes and Misdemeanors
1. Do you agree with Cahn's suggestion that Judah made the better choice because he is happier than he would have been had he chosen the alternative route?
2.  Was Judah really happy with himself at the end of the movie?
3. If someone is still reflecting back on an incident, like Judah was, have they truly moved on from it?
4.  Judah's wife Miriam is now married to a murderer.  If she ever finds this out, won't that affect her more than if he had just told her of his mistress?  How does this affect our judgement of Judah's choice?
5.  Is Miriam (ignorant of her husband's immoral behavior) happy or deluded?  Is the happiness of a deluded person shallow?

Cahn and Murphy

Alan Reed,  the Voice of Fred Flintstone

1. Cahn states that the greater the divergence between being "moral" and "happy", the less motive there is for a person to be moral. If morality and happiness are independent, are immoral people a threat to the status quo? Is this why we cling to the dynamic of "morality = happiness" dynamic?
2. How would the argument between Cahn and Murphy (about the happiness of Judah, of "Fred," of "Kate") have been different if they were using the same definition of happiness?

Treacherous Fred:  Rich, Famous, and a Reputation for Probity
Is it selfish of "Fred" to live to please himself? Or should we, as humans, strive for that?

Kate's Dilemma:  The Teacher Who Was Asked to Fudge the Books
1.  Did Kate deserve her success given the fact that she went abou starting off her career immorally?

2. How would you have handled the situation faced by the teacher Kate? Would you have taken the job, or the moral high road?

The Moral Person and the Immoral Person
1.  If a moral person commits an immoral act that no one knows about, could that person, after a period of time, consider him or herself a moral person again? Would that reconsideration itself make the person immoral?
2.  If an immoral person and a moral person commit an identical crime, but the moral person confesses and apologizes, is the moral person's deed less punishable?
3.  Who should define an immoral person as happy or unhappy:  the immoral person or society?

What about you?
1. What is your idea of a happiness, and how far are you willing to go to achieve it?
2.  What do you consider immoral? Now, when would that act be justified?