Connections: Conservation, Same sex marriage & World Views

Part One

Aims: Listening, discussion, lateral thinking, ethical reflection.

In this exercise your task is to do two short but very different listening exercises. Afterwards, think about how
they are connected.

Listening 1


Watch the CNN news item called Squirrel Wars UK
While you watch answer the following questions

1. The news item concerns two species of squirrels, what are they?
2. Which one was introduced?
3. What is the origin of the introduced squirrel?
4. What is the problem that the dominant species is causing?
5. What is the solution?
6. What is the best way to catch a grey squirrel?
7. What is done with the carcasses?
8. Who is buying the meat and what class of people do you think it appeals to?
9. What is the RSPCA's (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) position on the culling of the grey squirrel? Do you agree or disagree with the RSPCA - explain your answer.

Listening 2

Life of Brian, Scene 7

Monty Python's film Life of Brian is comedy set in Judea at the time of the Roman occupation. You will watch a scene in which four members of one of the many resistance groups are discussing the rights of women in their movement. Watch the scene with the script if necessary, and answer the questions below.

Life of Brian - Scene 7 : The debate

A link to the script is found at: http://www.mwscomp.com/movies/brian/brian-07.htm

The video clip begins at:

JUDITH: I do feel, Reg, that any Anti-Imperialist group like ours must reflect such a divergence of interests within its power-base.

Vocabulary

Womb: non-technical word for uterus. Gestate: to be carried during pregnancy.

Questions

1. In this context ...you're putting us off ...means: a) you're making us lose interest, b) you're disturbing us, c) you're delaying us, d) you're making us lose our train of thought
2. Why are you always on about women Stan? "always on about women" could be replaced by a)always criticising women , b) always attentive to women, c) always interested in women, d) always talking about woman
3. What point is being made about gay/lesbian marriages and their fight for the right to have children.
4. Do you think the point made by the sketch agrees or disagrees with Margaret Somerville on gay/lesbian marriages? Support your opinion.
5. Where does the humour lie in this sketch?*
6. There is a common ethical theme in both listening exercises. Work with your partner and try to find it. Then share your ideas with the class.

Class Discussion

Should what is natural be considered sacred?

Useful Expressions

Expressing opinions (Hollet, et al, 1989)
Strong: I feel sure that ....; I am certain that....; It is clear that....
Medium: I think that...; In my opinion...; I believe that...; It seems to me that...
Tentative: I have the impression that...;

Modal verbs
Giving advice or making a recommendation: Subject +should + infinitive verb without 'to'.
Stating an obligation: Subject + have to + infinitive verb without 'to'

Answers

Part Two

Reading

The way you answered the question during the discussion probably reflects how you see the world or your world view. Do the reading exercise below and decide which world view you subscribe to.

Also, according to ethicist Margaret Somerville of McGill University, in a modern pluralistic secular society there is no "shared story"(a common culture and belief system) and this makes it very difficult to decide when something is ethically right or wrong. So, which world view do you think is the most appropriate for society to construct a new shared story?

• The class will be divided into three groups. Each group will study just ONE of the world views and then present it to the class.

Pure science view

'The first is the pure science view, which takes the position that science, does or will be able to, explain everything, including those characteristics such as altruism and morality that we regard as distinguishing us from other animals and most clearly identifying us as human. This profoundly biological view of human life is a gene machine approach. It seeks meaning in life mainly or only through science and similarly seeks to exercise control through science. Such control can be implemented through the development and use of technologies that scientific discoveries make possible....what it means to be human and the meaning of human life are seen and explained only in terms of scientific constructs. Genetic reductionism and an exclusive focus on sociobiology (our biology explains all that we are and can become with regard to our behaviour) to explain human aspirations and behaviour are two examples of such an approach.' (Somerville, 2006 p.34)

Pure mystery view

'In contrast, the second view, the 'pure mystery' view often decries science or is expressely anti-scientific (as can be seen, for example, in the creationists' legal suit against teaching evolutionary biology in schools). This view adopts an intense sanctity-of-life stance, which can be compared to and contrasted with respect or reverence for life, and with respect or reverence for death. For example, many people who hold a pure mystery view believe that all medical treatment must be continued until no vestige of life remains. ...Often this view is derived from fundamentalist reigious views. It seeks meaning and likewise control through religion. This view does encompass a sense of wonder, but the wonder is not elicited by the new science, which is seen as frightening, at best, and possibly evil.' (Somerville,2006 p.36)

Science and spirit view

'...the science-spirit view, the third view, seeks a structure to hold both science and the human spirit. For some people, this view is expressed through religion, but can be, and possibly for most people is held independently of being religious, at least in a traditional sense. It recognises that human life consists of more than its biological component, wondrous as this is. It also involves a sense of mystery - made up of the nameless, or both - of which we have a sense though our intuitions, especially our moral intuitions, and accepts that we should respect this mystery... '

'...the basic presumption ...is best described as openness to all ways of knowing, comfort with uncertainty, ambiguity and paradox, and the courage to admit that one does not know and to change one's mind. I hasten to add it is not equivalent to adopting a situational ethics or pure moral relativist approach - that is, the view that nothing is inherently wrong, it all depends on the circumstances.' (Somerville, 2006 pp 37-38)

(Extracts used with the approval of Margaret Somerville).

Related topics (in prep)

The Golden Mean

*Go back to Nature, Art & Language homepage and scroll down to 'The Biology of Comedy' for a lesson on the nature and role of comedy in society.

References

Hollet, V., Carter, R., Lyon, L. & Tanner, E. (1989) In at the Deep End. Oxford.

Somerville, M. (2006) 'Searching for Ethics in Secular Society', pp. 17-40, Henk ten Have, ed. Ethics of Science and Technology, UNESCO, Paris, France.

© All Copyright, 2008, Ray Genet (Updated February, 2009)