Moral changes critical thinking

Characters

1. The Superheroes

a. Fundamental Truth: he is the head of the Superhero Alliance and chairs the meetings. He represents the belief that morals are defined by an individual’s ability to recognise right from wrong.

b. Inner Meaning: she represents the hidden meaning in things – she is always looking to find valuable, moral lessons from her adventures.

c. The Imprinter: he is a strong, upstanding hero who represents the ability to stand by your morals and make the right decision without changing who you are for anybody. He recognises that morals are something that should be stuck to, no matter what.

d. The Pastor: although he is not particularly religious, he is an extremely virtuous man and represents those who are equally as pious. He also teaches the power of morals and aims to influence others to make the right choice.

e. Average Joe: he represents the common man and his ability to make the right choice. He doesn’t necessarily have extraordinary super powers but he does an idea of what is ‘ right’ or ‘ wrong’ that goes beyond what the law says.

f. Miss Anonymous: she represents the force of good and does hundreds of good deeds but without ever reaping the rewards and fame.

2. The Supervillains

a. Bad Choice: he is a villain known for always making the wrong choice, morally. Some have speculated that he’s unable to feel emotions and therefore he does not contemplate the consequences.

b. Unsanctioned: he is a bad character who is missing an ethical judgement: his character is such that he will break the law and the unwritten moral rules that society upholds.

c. The Gambler: he weighs up the probability of whether the consequences are going to be good or bad for him. He rarely concerns himself with how his actions will affect anyone else.

d. The Mirror: she holds up a metaphorical mirror to society to show them that they are not able to be quite as sanctimonious as they think – her actions are designed to show society’s morals in a bad light.

Act One

There is a giant hall, filled with an enormous table; around which, sits a large number of superheroes – all of whom are dressed in brightly coloured spandex. Hung up, high in the arched rafters of the room is a banner which yields the Superhero Alliance’s logo of a lion with an eagle’s wings: a logo internationally recognised as standing for truth, bravery and morals.

Fundamental Truth stands, clears his throat and bangs his hammer on the table. The tremor is felt around the room and the other superheroes soon quieten down.

Fundamental Truth: Hello fellow superheroes, I hope you are all well. I have called you all here today to discuss an impending world crisis which could rock society to its very foundations: four of the world’s most infamous super villains have banded together with the express interest of demoralising the global community.

A murmuring erupts around the room. Fundamental Truth clears his throat and again, a hush falls.

Fundamental Truth: We must come up with a plan to defeat these four anti-altruistic rogues. If society is corrupted, they will no longer be able to tell right from wrong!

Random Superhero: I vote that we concoct a plan to kill all four of them before they can even begin – we’d save the world from an almighty peril.

Again the murmuring begins again and quickly erupts into a mixed sound of a lot of people agreeing and a lot of others disagreeing. The Imprinter stands.

The Imprinter: People! Must I remind you of who we are? WE are the good guys – the honest ones! We do not kill people, however much it is for the greater good. Our morals must withstand this attack because we must represent all that is good in the world – our actions must never contravene our moral obligations!

The Pastor: The Imprinter is right – as simple as it would be to end this threat by removing the problem entirely, we must remember that virtue is of the upmost importance. If someone murdered four of our number, we would be outraged and appalled by their actions. Shame on those of you who agree with this plan – it is out of the question! Virtue MUST stand strong.

Average Joe: Speaking for the common man, I must recommend that we listen to The Imprinter and The pastor – our actions must represent the moral choice and whilst the law states that it is illegal to kill another man, it should also be our internal moral compasses which prevent us from committing such a heinous act.

Fundamental Truth: Okay, it is agreed then that our actions must represent what is ‘ right’ – we represent all that is moral and just, after all. Whilst it would be the easiest option and would remove any future threat to our society’s moral virtue, the option of killing these four villains must be removed from the table.

Miss Anonymous: May I speak for a moment please?

A hushed gasp goes up around the room.

Miss Anonymous: I often sit here and listen to your plans and I feel it is important to point out that we must act in the best interests of society without any regard for our own reputations. Whilst I am not saying that I condone any plan to kill these scoundrels, I do beg of you to consider the greater good rather than solely being concerned with how we shall be perceived.

Inner Meaning: I too am inclined to agree with Miss Anonymous, in this instance. It is more important that we stop and ask ourselves why the villainous foursome intends to do this and then act accordingly to stem the cause of their actions.

The meeting continues on into the night…

Act Two

In a dark, dank basement sit four characters: none of them attractive, none of them clean-looking, none of them tanned. The smell of the room festers in the nostrils and the environment fosters a feeling of unease and ill-doings. A police siren goes past outside and the discussion momentarily stops.

The Gambler: I’m getting sick of these meetings – we need to start drawing conclusions soon; I’m not convinced that this flaunting of the law can do me any good…

The Mirror: Oh shut up Gambler, this is not about you – this is about showing society what they are really like!

The Gambler shoots The Mirror a dirty look and goes back to fiddling with his dice.

Unsanctioned: The way I see it, we need to do this quickly and efficiently – that way the ‘ Superlosers Alliance’ won’t catch up with us in time.

Bad Choice: Agreed. We could always keep it as quite a controlled attack – only killing those who we really need to execute, or we could set anarchy free on the streets and sit back and watch it run riot. I know which one I vote for.

The Mirror: I think we’d be better off carrying out the specific executions that we discussed before: key, public figures which will throw society into a panic – causing them to create the anarchy for themselves. Then, we’ll be there to show them exactly what they really look like.

The Gambler: So what do we get out of all of this? All this risk, all this wild abandon – when do we reap our rewards?

Bad Choice: We will – as soon as society is corrupted and demoralised, we can take charge – show them the way of the wrong moral choice and how much more fun it can be.

Unsanctioned: Exactly! This isn’t just about direct rewards for us – this is about throwing off the entire moral compass of society! Our reward will come when we rule the city instead of the good guys… morals? Who needs them?

The villains continue plotting into the night. The two meetings continue side by side: one representing the good and one representing the bad. An uneasy silence falls over the city as an air of uncertainty precedes events that could change the moral stance of society forever.