Information Gathering & Organizing Skills

Remembering Skills

Why did Elie Wiesel first begin to have contact with the Nazis?
What is his initial reaction to them?
When and why does he change his mind about his initial assessment?
What are his sources for these ethical decisions? I.e., where do his "oughts" arise (Scripture & Tradition, Reason, Human Experience)?

Organizing Skills

How are the facts of the case and the gaps in our knowledge related to each other?

Analyzing Skills

What do you see as the basic ethic/value which Wiesel first applies in making his decisions? Do you see him changing to a different ethic? If so, what is his later ethic?
What mode of ethical reasoning is he using in each case? (review table)

Ethical Subjectivism -- moral judgments are individuals' opinions
Emotivism -- moral judgments are simply emotional responses
Social Contract Theory
Deontological (rule-based) theories:
- Divine Command Theory -- moral judgments are "God's will"
- Natural Law Theory -- moral judgments are "the dictates of reason"
- Kant's "Categorical Imperative": "Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law." (Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals , 1785; cited in Rachels, 115)
- Rachels' "Morality Without Hubris": "We ought to act so as to promote impartially the interests of everyone alike, except when individuals deserve particular responses as a result of their own past behavior." [James Rachels, The Elements of Moral Philosophy (New York, etc.: McGraw-Hill, 1986), 143]
Teleological (goal-based) theories:
- Ethical Egoism -- a moral act is what benefits me
- Utilitarianism -- a moral act is what causes the greatest amount of happiness for the most people concerned
  - i.e., 1) right actions are those that have the best consequences
  - 2) in assessing #1, the amount of happiness or unhappiness caused is the only relevant consideration (= hedonism)
  - 3) each person's welfare is equally important

Generating Skills

How does Wiesel's pattern of moral decisions logically flow from his basic ethic?
Are there other decisions you can envision him making as a continuation of this pattern?

Integrating Skills

How do the moral decisions flowing from this ethic actualize Wiesel's religious beliefs, or lack thereof? (Cf. "Transformations" article, CP 113-116.)

Evaluating Skills