Joshua at Jericho

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Joshua at Jericho
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Salem Witch Trials

• In 1692, 20 were executed in Massachusetts

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Turkish-Armenian Genocide

• 1.5 million of 2.5 million Armenians in Turkey
  were exterminated between 1915 and 1923.
• "Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation
  of the Armenians?"

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Holocaust

• Six million Jews (67 of Europes population)
  were exterminated
• Others Roma, mentally retarded, mentally
  disturbed, 3 million Soviet POWs, homosexuals,
  Jehovahs Witnesses, Communists, Socialists

5
Cambodia Killing Fields

• Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge kill 1.7 million (21 of
  population)

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Rwanda

• In 1994, within 100 days 800,000 Tutsis and
  moderate Hutus are exterminated

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Kosovo Ethnic Cleansing
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Questions Involving Genocide

• Will genocide be a consistent state of affairs
  during the next several decades?
• Under what conditions should the US intervene to
  prevent genocide?
• To what extent should color, culture, religion
  and economics matter?
• What social conditions lead otherwise good women
  and men to kill their neighbors?

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William Shirers Analysis

• Why did so few Germans resist working in the
  concentration camps?
• A summation of western history since the Magna
  Carta
• Flaw in German national character
• Implies that a German-style concentration would
  not flourish in the US, Britain, France, Italy,
  etc

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Nuremberg Trials

• Hermann Goerings statement
• Nazi defense
• Justice Jacksons summation

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Hannah Arendt and Adolph Eichmann

• Arendt was a prominent social philosopher
  employed by the New York Times to cover the
  Eichmann trial
• Summarized her conclusion in Eichmann in
  Jerusalem On the Banality of Evil

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Adolph Eichmann

• Eichmann His responsibilities during WWII
• Post-war fugitive
• Capture by the Israelis
• What kind of person would contribute to the
  deaths of millions of persons

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Adolph Eichmann and Arendts Hypothesis

• Slightly above average intelligence, no sign of
  pathology on psychological tests, good organizer
• Other than during the Final Solution there is o
  evidence of criminal activity
• Viewed himself as a good soldier who believed
  that not one Jew died because he was born
• Arendts Hypothesis In obedience to authority
  the average person will commit extreme
  anti-social actions such as mass murder.

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Mai Lai
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William Calley

• Led massacre of 300 unarmed women, children, and
  elderly
• Sentenced to life at hard labor
• Served 5 months and was pardoned by Nixon
• Married and living a normal life outside of Ft
  Benning, GA

16
Hugh Thompson

• put his guns on Americans, said he would shoot
  them if they shot another Vietnamese, had his
  people wade in the ditch in gore to their knees,
  to their hips, took out children, took them to
  the hospital...
• Awarded Soldiers Medal in 1996
• Living a normal life

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Theories of Obedience to Unjust Authority

• Nazis were an aberration in history
• Shirer Flaw in German character
• Arendt Flaw in human character
• Milgram A social psychologist looks at obedience

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Milgrams Baseline Procedure
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Milgrams Baseline Procedure

• 63 shock to the limit (STL)

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Questions From Milgrams Paradigm (1)

• Is blind obedience to authority a distinctly
  American characteristic?
• Did the teacher enjoy shocking the learner?
• Does the status of the authority figure affect
  obedience?

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Questions From Milgrams Paradigm (2)

• Does the personality of the victim affect
  obedience?
• Are the personalities of the maximally obedient
  and maximally rebellious subjects different?
• How would a moral person respond in Milgrams
  study?

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Questions From Milgrams Paradigm (3)

• Were Milgrams results predictable?
• Why are Milgrams results surprising?
• A naive belief in the relationship of morality to
  behavior

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Ethical Criticisms of Milgrams Work

• No true informed consent
• Participants experienced significant stress
• Long-term negative effects on self-worth

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Milgrams Response To Ethical Criticism

• Extensive debriefing
• After session discovered learner was not harmed
• Participants were free to leave
• No evidence of permanent psychological harm

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Follow-up of Milgrams Participants

• 80 reported that they were Very Glad or Glad
  they participated.
• 15 had No Strong Feelings
• Just over 1 were Sorry or Very Sorry
• 80 said more research of this kind should be
  done.
• 74 said they learned something of lasting value.

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A Question Mark The Cost of Ethics?

• ?

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How To Get Good Men and Women To Murder Their
Neighbors

• Get them to say
• I hate or
• I would never