"In passing, we should note this curious mark of our own age: the only absolute allowed is the absolute insistence that there is no absolute." Francis Schaeffer said this more than thirty years ago. It seems that he was on to something.
On a related note, a notable new show just launched called, Community. In popular culture you usually don't hear the term, "moral relativism" discussed in every day conversation. In the pilot of Community, the term was recently used (tada). It is brought up In a comical dialogue between the main character, Jeff, and his old friend, Dr. Ian Duncan (who is now a professor at the community college that Jeff is currently attending). Jeff is trying to get Ian to give him the test answers to all of the tests he will take throughout the semester. Here is the dialogue that transpires...
NOTE: Hulu only keeps TV shows up for a limited time, so this clip will eventually disappear. It's a good discussion tool for the time-being. Below is the dialogue in case the clips are taken down.
Dr. Ian Duncan: Suppose I was to say to you it was possible to get those test answers.
Jeff: I would say, "go for that."
Dr. Ian Duncan: I'm asking you if you know the difference between right and wrong.
Jeff: I discovered at a very early age that if I talk long enough, I could make anything right or wrong. So, either I am God or truth is relative. And in either case, boo yah!
Dr. Ian Duncan: Oh, interesting, it's just the average person has a much harder time saying "boo yah" to moral relativism.
Here is a dialogue that transpires when Ian brings the test answers to Jeff...
Dr. Ian Duncan: Every answer to every test in your curriculum this semester.
Jeff: I knew you could do it buddy. Thank you!
Dr. Ian Duncan: [...] What do I get?
Jeff: The satisfaction of being even.
Dr. Ian Duncan: Even, fairness, right, wrong, there is no God, boo yah, boo yah.
Jeff: What do you want from me?
Dr. Ian Duncan: Your Lexus...
Jeff: My car, for a semester worth of answers?
Dr. Ian Duncan: Will it be just a semester though, Jeff? Won't you be taking the easy way out for the next four years? I want payment in advance...
Axis' questions are... Does this dialogue have any consequences attached to it? Or, is it simply a comical and satirical dialogue on a unrealistic moral dilemma? We'd love to hear your thoughts! Is this dialogue good, bad or indifferent? If you have seen the whole show in context, do you think that the ideas (such as this one) in the show are innocent comedy or can this and other ideas from the show be saturated into the lifestyle of those who watch it? Would the consequences of this philosophy be good, bad or indifferent?
Thoughts?
PS - SPOILER ALERT (Don't read below if you don't want to know what happens in the show):
Dr. Duncan ends up not giving Jeff the answers to the test, but instead gives him blank pages. Does this change the dialogue at all?
It seemed to me that Jeff was stating (without subtlety) the opening position of his character arc which he will subsequently be disabused of. In the second episode he performs a 'selfless act' which demonstrates some movement beyond his nihilism. We aren't told why. There seems to be an implicit argument that substantial community begets morality. But there hasn't really been enough yet to know if the writers have thought this all through or are just trying to sound smart.
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