Thank you everyone for such a great conversation yesterday! We touched on so many different topics, all of which led to an incredibly stimulating conversation. One question that struck me was the question of moral responsibility. In class, Elizabeth mentioned the moral responsibility a neighbor might have to a DV victim. While I was drafting this blog, I kept coming back to the issue of responsibility we have toward each other. Yesterday morning I ended up in a discussion with my mentor, Jan, about moral responsibility and how individuals react to certain situations. We argued about how different circumstances cause different reactions, and while people are more than willing to help, certain situations will cause them to freeze and hesitate.
A few years ago, a woman was sexually assaulted in a train station while two different conductors looked on. While the conductors did call for help, they did nothing to physically stop the man. By the time the cops reached her, the woman had been raped twice and the man was long gone. The victim filed a lawsuit against the conductors and recently, a judge ruled that the conductors were in no way responsible to step in and help the woman, as long as they called for help. MTA stated that the conductors should not be expected to take the place of law enforcement. (http://www.nypost.com/seven/04012009/news/regionalnews/subway_rapist_victims_shock_162317.htm)
Another one of my CEO co-workers showed me a video of a woman who was beat up on the train by a random stranger in Spain, while other passengers looked on and did nothing. Incidents like these happen everywhere and it is always the onlooker’s moral responsibility that is questioned. My mentor’s statement that everyone claims they will help someone but very few are willing to act in the moment has truth to it. A lot of people might not get involved simply because it wasn’t their business. I myself might think twice about helping the woman on the train, for the fear of him turning on me would stop me. Should it be each person’s moral responsibility to look out for the safety of others? If so, is it possible to create a moral code of conduct? Is it possible to enforce such a code?