questionauthority: (Are you pondering what I'm pondering?)
Edward Nigma | The Riddler ([personal profile] questionauthority) wrote2011-05-06 04:55 pm

Riddle 026: Raining on Prom Night

[A: 726 Anderson Lane - BACKDATED TO THE DAY AFTER PROM.

Riddle me this: Who's as green as his suit and just woke up with the worst hangover ever? Answer: Edward Nigma, of course. Family members and unexpected visitors will find the Riddler downstairs at the breakfast table, dressed in a green bathrobe, half-heartedly fumbling with his daily crossword while he picks at a plate of eggs. He looks incredibly groggy, tired, and somewhat foul-tempered.]


[B: Mayfield High School - TODAY. It appears as though your favorite Ethics teacher is looking a little bit better after a long weekend and some time to recover. On the chalkboard, there appears to be a hastily drawn picture of a man with a long face and a garish smile.]

A dangerous criminal has been apprehended. Caught red-handed. He's responsible for the deaths of countless innocents. Question: How do you proceed? Do you take an eye for an eye and serve him a death penalty? It only makes sense, doesn't it? Especially if you consider the possibility that he may escape from his prison. And it's true. He could certainly escape and kill again. And again.

For the safety of these innocents, and for the good of the people, it may be worthwhile to consider a utilitarian approach. That is to say, you would subscribe to a system of ethics in which you would seek to increase the safety, happiness, and well-being of all mankind to maximum levels. But...

[He draws up another picture on the chalkboard of a cloaked figure, shrouded in a long, flowing cape.]

...there are those who might disagree with you. Those self-righteous radicals who feel as though they should follow the rules. Whose rules, exactly? Their rules. Their morals are absolute. They simply can't be compromised. Even if executing a murderer and a madman will maximize our well-being, murder is still murder to them. Nothing changes that. This is a deontological approach, class. And the ends never justify the means to them.

...so riddle me this. What would you do, if you had a say in this criminal's fate?

[Around Town:

There's a good chance that, after school, you'll find the Riddler on an investigation. He'll be found in one of three locations---

C: Sniffing around the Zemekis Corps Office Building, trying to get a grasp on what exactly it is that people do here.

D: In the Downtown area, glancing into windows and occasionally taking notes on a small notepad.

E: At the Mayfield Hospital, to answer some questions. A hospital in Mayfield seems rather arbitrary, doesn't it? Especially considering that death isn't even permanent. Why would one even be here, then, if that's the case?]

[identity profile] perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com 2011-05-07 02:00 am (UTC)(link)
I suppose then I should say the intent of murder is what's wrong... Self-defense is different.

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-05-07 04:57 am (UTC)(link)
Suppose, then, that they try to argue for the execution of this criminal as an act of self-defense. Neutralizing a threat before it has the potential to strike again.

[identity profile] perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com 2011-05-07 05:08 am (UTC)(link)
No one can predict the future. There's probably many other ways to keep that threat "neutralized" that doesn't involve killing someone.

[Crowe feels pretty strongly about this, after seeing so much violence and death in Mayfield (not to mention being a victim many times).]

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-05-08 01:56 am (UTC)(link)
Such as?

[Oh, Edward, you're such a dick when you ask questions just for the sake of asking.]

[identity profile] perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com 2011-05-08 02:11 am (UTC)(link)
I suppose it would depend on the criminal. I-I'm hardly a criminologist, though.