Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Dr. NRG" data-source="post: 651717" data-attributes="member: 7697">I agree with you to an extent, Mistwell. On the other hand, societies with looser laws and law enforcement often tend to have more behavior that many would term immoral.&nbsp; It's very, very difficult to analyze people's motives accurately, and I would contend that the &quot;not wanting to get caught&quot; aspect of people's motivation is a large factor in determining their behavior.&nbsp; One example is the prevalence of theft via file sharing.&nbsp; It's arguably no more morally right than shoplifting CDs from a store, but a whole lot more people engage in it.&nbsp; Why?I don't want to hijack the thread, and really was responding pretty directly to SD, but I do find this topic of interest as well. To bring it back around to GRRM, Stannis thinks SPOILERS...that he's doing the &quot;right&quot; thing by sacrificing a child to what he believes is a deity.&nbsp; Can he be judged external to the context of his actions, or is that judgment relative to his situation?&nbsp; Is the action he takes (or more precisely authorizes) universally wrong?&nbsp; Is it universally evil?&nbsp; I believe King Stannis (both of this thread, and of the book) would argue not.&nbsp; Then again, Stannis (of the book) may not be quite as lawful as he appears to be.&nbsp; He did support the usurper Robert Baratheon over the legally correct heir - Viserys Targaryen...NRG</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dr. NRG, post: 651717, member: 7697"] I agree with you to an extent, Mistwell. On the other hand, societies with looser laws and law enforcement often tend to have more behavior that many would term immoral. It's very, very difficult to analyze people's motives accurately, and I would contend that the "not wanting to get caught" aspect of people's motivation is a large factor in determining their behavior. One example is the prevalence of theft via file sharing. It's arguably no more morally right than shoplifting CDs from a store, but a whole lot more people engage in it. Why? I don't want to hijack the thread, and really was responding pretty directly to SD, but I do find this topic of interest as well. To bring it back around to GRRM, Stannis thinks SPOILERS... that he's doing the "right" thing by sacrificing a child to what he believes is a deity. Can he be judged external to the context of his actions, or is that judgment relative to his situation? Is the action he takes (or more precisely authorizes) universally wrong? Is it universally evil? I believe King Stannis (both of this thread, and of the book) would argue not. Then again, Stannis (of the book) may not be quite as lawful as he appears to be. He did support the usurper Robert Baratheon over the legally correct heir - Viserys Targaryen... NRG [/QUOTE]

Verification