At the end of class on wednesday we left off with how it would be "profitable" for an unjust student to disobey the honor code at Rhodes. I personally think that a student would only be doing an injustice to themselves if they were to bend the rules for momentary gratification.
We all have those little thoughts that come into our head when we think "I could go home and cheat on this exam" or "I bet I could steal a bag of chips from the lair." Although those things may appear to be a more convenient way of doing handling yourself overtime the existential angst that we may develop from realizing what we have done in the past far outweighs the relief someone could get out of taking the easy way out. Perhaps a Rhodes student went around stealing laptops and clothes from his fellow classmates after signing the honor code. What enjoyment would a reasonable person get from not only harming their peers but also themselves because of the torment they put their conscience through. Students cheating on their schoolwork could be one of the biggest dishonesties they could do to themselves. Not only would there be a heavy weight looming over there head they also would be destroying the chance to feel self accomplishment and growth of completing something justly.
Since Philosophy is literally the "love" of "wisdom" it would be totally unreasonable for any right minded philosophy student to ensue corruption in there school work because they would merely be cheating themselves out of knowledge. How valuable could a diploma if you didn't even work for it? Furthermore if a student does decide to cheat he is harming his other classmates who are working, most of the time very hard, out of a good curve grade or average.
Im not going to say that Rhodes is anywhere close to the utopian society that Plato looks to create but for the most part I would consider one of the more honorable colleges around. I think it is also a testament to Rhodes judicial system that it is run by the students showing how much of the student body is to be considered just. So in conclusion if the majority of Rhodes students where liars and cheaters they most likely would not have made it here.
I think that this is a very interesting topic especially if we take into consideration the "state" in which the majority of today's kids grow up. The temptations to perhaps steal or cheat I think go along with the social pressures to be the best, to have the most, to always have something to do with your time outside of school,etc. I think that some of these pressures can be seen as unjust and perhaps even cause our souls to go a little out of whack in regards to how we handle situations everyday: of course people are extremely tempted to cheat, but is it because society has told them that they are nothing more than a grade, who if lower than xyz won't get into a good school, who therefore won't amount to anything in their lives? I agree that it is an injustice to oneself and their learning to cheat. I just find it interesting to think that if perhaps the state didn't put so much pressure on being better than everyone else and having more than everyone, there might not be as much of a desire to cheat or covet....however kids could be even lazier than some are now and not take any interest in their education, but I guess that's where the idea of a balance and aligned soul/state could come into play.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting post especially because it focuses on the environment we are all living in. I truly believe that the honor code really does define the Rhodes community. When you try to evaluate the motivations behind someone cheating or stealing, it would not be surprising that the root reason a person did cheat or steal has something to do with the way they hope to be viewed. I like your point about a cheating student consequently harming other classmates because this directly hits on the question of a just system. I think most people would agree that the honor code and social regulations code was put into place to help foster a just society.
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