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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mercurius" data-source="post: 8027930" data-attributes="member: 59082">You're not understanding me, Chaosmancer. I'm not saying that reality and fantasy have no relationship, but that a fantasy world is its own microcosm that has its own internal coherency that differs from our own world to varying degrees.Of course we can look at it through the lens of our morality or, if we must, that of critical theory. We can look for signs of racism, cultural appropriation, colonialist thinking, and sensititivity faux pas of all kinds. But in so doing, not only are we being rather myopic and narrow in our perception, we're missing the primary purpose of the fantasy experience: to experience it as itself, to immerse ourselves within it and see the world from within. Mind you, I don't think applying such analytic lenses is completely without value, but we should be able to "take off the lens," to both look through other lenses, but also--and most importantly--experience the world without a lens. That is, as itself.Or let me ask you this: When you go to another country, do you judge others by your own ethical and cultural standards, or do you try to understand how others feel and think? What their cultural ethos is and, most importantly, how each person sees the world as an individual?Or what about animals. Do you have a cat? Do you judge your cat by your own morality? If so, your cat is likely a psychopath. Or do you recognize that a cat has a completely different experience of life?Or reading an author from a different era. Do you judge that author according to contemporary ethics? Or do you try to understand the "soil" from which they grew out of?This is not to say that we cannot relate our own morality or worldview to any of these "other worlds"--be they other cultures, animals, historical eras, or fantasy worlds--or come up with, say, a conception of <a href="https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/" target="_blank">universal human rights</a>. But that to overly do so is a mis-application. It is a fusion of our own reality with an "other world" and, ironically, somewhat of a colonialist act.EDIT: I just read your bit about the paladin. I think we are talking past each other, because you and I both agree...somewhat. I think the problem is that the paladin breaks his own code--such an act doesn't fit within that of his LG code of ethics (assuming he is LG), unless, of course, his order says "you can beat street kids if you want, because they're unclean and thus unholy." Of course then he probably wouldn't be LG but LN or even LE. WotC has expanded paladins so they don't have to be LG, but they do have to follow their own code--whatever that is. So the key is coherency, internal consistency.</blockquote>

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