Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Omelas

The Story
One sentence interpretations: 1)Should we kill one innocent person for the happiness of others? 2)Should one person’s life and happiness be sacrificed for others happiness? 3) I think the story is philosophically significant because it it shows that lots of people would have been fine (or at least fine enough to let it continue) with the child being locked up as it meant that they could have their happiness, whereas some people walked away, and it tells us that some people thought that the child meant more and others didn't care that much- this shows that everyone had different opinions on whether the child's suffering mattered or not. 4) Ursula Le Guin starts her short story by describing the city of Omelas as “a shimmering city of unbelievable happiness and delight” she also explains how Omelas has no kings, soldiers, priests or slaves. This could relate to Platos ‘theory of the forms’, as he describes another world (or dimension) where everything we see is “perfect”. 5) The story talks about a Utopian town called Omelas which relies on a sacrifice of a child to maintain its perseverance, the philosophical significance of this story lies in the idea that a group of people will willingly sacrifice one person for the pleasure of the many, in this case to put the child through pain and misery in order to secure the towns peace. 6) While reading ‘The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas,’ It made me wonder if an entire cities worth of happiness is REALLY worth one persons misfortune. 7) ‘The Ones who walk away from Omelas’ communicates the shared nature of perception, the function and role of a society rising through an ideal community; shadowed by a consideration of a negative experience, having lasting effects, and leading lives in different directions. 8) Happiness is not perfection, in fact it is not devoid of evil. True happiness is the ability to look at all the evil in the world and be able to justify it. 9) What we think we know to be perfect comes at a price; we must open our minds to thinking new ideas, to gain a perspective that nobody can imagine. 10) ''All smiles have become archaic.'' 11) The short story – ‘The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas’ arises the philosophical question of whether the suffering of one is acceptable in order to retain the happiness and wellbeing of many; this links the theory of the ‘Doctrine of double effect’, the suffering of the child is permissible as the ‘good’ effect caused outweighs the initial ‘bad’ effect (the child’s suffering). 12) For some the suffering of even one is unacceptable. 13) The philosophical significance of this story is that the city of Omelas represents the state of happiness, with the child that is sat in the basement room representing the ugly, ignorant side, and the people whom walk away showing that happiness is not the apex – the pinnacle – of human life, and that you can leave it to go to a better place. 14) There is a reason for everything. 15) “If you can't lick 'em, join 'em.” Now I know where that comes from! At first I thought they left Omelas to die but maybe it’s something more complex such as the realm of the forms? 16) This story highlights the paradox of good and bad, for good to be appreciated there must at least be knowledge of bad.

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