Aspirational Ethics and the Second Chair |
in the world . Each country represents a somewhat , if not a radically different set of laws , rules , and principles people apply when governing their lives , grounded in numerous cultural , religious , ethnic , and racial perspectives of right and wrong , good and evil . Twenty-eight percent of the world is Christian , twenty-two percent Muslim , fifteen percent Hindu , eight and half percent Buddhists , fourteen percent are found in the “ other religions ” category , and twelve percent are categorized as nonreligious . Under each general heading there is a vast number of denominations or sects . For example , there are over 1500 different Christian sects or faith groups . And even within a group espousing the same morals , individuals apply them differently to real life circumstances .
Advances in technology are bringing the earth ’ s seven billion diverse inhabitants into contact with each other more and more frequently . We bump into each other , over and over again . The innumerable interactions mean people will witness more behavior that is wrong or evil . Therefore , there will be a growing cry , “ There ought to be a law !”
This continuing call for codification of ethics – local , national or international – happens in many contexts : corporate , governmental , or across a profession or industry . This is the reality when so many people have such easy access to one another .
However , as discussed , codification alone will not result in more good behavior . We cannot expect that codification will increase good behavior nor can we choose simply not to codify . Nevertheless , we cannot abandon our desire to increase good behavior . Nor can we abandon our confidence that , given the opportunity , most people will exercise their discretion , their choices in relation to morals , positively . This brings us to the Second Chair .
Tom Robinson was a black man accused of raping and beating a white woman in “ Jim Crow ” Alabama in the 1930 ’ s .
To put it mildly , due process and trial by a jury of one ’ s peers were not the popular approach to resolve such issues in the rural South at that time . There were 4,742 lynchings in America from 1882 to 1964 . Alabama accounted for 347 of these and the South at large over 3,130 . Rape , attempted rape , and insult to a white person accounted for 1,285 , about 27 percent of these lynchings . A black man accused of one of these crimes could reasonably expect to die without due process of law .
Tom Robinson was not destined for trial . He was jailed and charged . The local judge asked the best-liked , most respected lawyer in Maycomb County to represent Tom in this lost cause — Atticus Finch . You know the rest of the story . Harper Lee ’ s novel To Kill a Mockingbird won a Pulitzer Prize . It
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was made into a movie and Gregory Peck won the Academy Award for his portrayal of Atticus Finch . In 2003 the American Film Institute named Atticus Finch the number one hero in 100 years of film , ahead of Indiana Jones and James Bond . But what you do not know is that an examination of this story , and thousands of others , illustrates well the principle of the Second Chair .
Harper Lee wrote To Kill a Mockingbird in 1960 , just as the modern civil rights movement really began to heat up . She used Atticus ’ s young daughter , Scout , as the voice to teach us .
It was a Sunday night and word came to Atticus that the locals were going to the jail to administer justice . Atticus went to the jail , set up a chair and a small living room lamp he ’ d brought with him and sat outside the jail reading and waiting . Unbeknownst to Atticus , his son , Jem , Scout , and their friend Dill had followed him and were hiding behind a bush , watching .
Soon local justice arrived in the form of cars filled with angry and determined southern white men . Scout didn ’ t recognize any of them . The men got out of their cars and told Atticus to leave . The moment got tense . Scout and the boys busted out from hiding and ran to Atticus . Scout was surprised at the fear that flashed across Atticus ’ s face at seeing the children . Scout did not understand what was happening as she looked again at the crowd for a familiar face . Harsh words were spoken telling Atticus to send the children home . Jem refused to go , sensing the danger to Atticus .
Finally , Scout recognized someone in the crowd . It was Walter Cunningham , a client of Atticus . She said , “ Hey , Mr . Cunningham .” He pretended not to hear her .
She began a solo , innocent dialogue with him about his work with Atticus , about school , about his son Walter , and so on . Mr . Cunningham tried to ignore her and eventually she simply said , “ Tell him hey for me , won ’ t you ?” The scene remained tense and Scout was confused . She finally asked , “ What ’ s the matter ?”
Mr . Cunningham squatted down and took Scout by the shoulders and said , “ I ’ ll tell him you said hey , little lady .” And then he stood and said , “ Let ’ s go boys .” Tom Robinson would live , at least for that Sunday night .
In the 1950s Solomon E . Asch , of Swarthmore College , conducted an unusual psychology experiment . Although this experiment is the inspiration for what follows , we are not relying upon its purposes , findings , or applications . Rather , the experiment is merely the catalyst of thought to pursue our own applications . The participants in the experiment were informed that it was a visual perception experiment . It was not .
Six people are placed in chairs . Diagrams of lines are shown to them . On the left is
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shown a line of certain length . On the right are three lines of different lengths , one of which matches exactly the line on the left . The correct choice is clear and obvious .
The only person actually being tested is the person in the Fifth Chair ; everyone else is a co-conspirator . When the test begins , chairs 1-4 and 6 purposely identify the wrong line as the correct match . If the correct answer is “ B ,” then they all say “ A .” The Fifth Chair identifies the obviously correct line as the match . “ It ’ s B .”
The co-conspirators , subtly at first , and then more directly , ridicule the Fifth Chair for choosing the “ wrong ” line . As the participants are shown set after set of lines , eventually , and often quite quickly , the Fifth Chair begins to give the wrong answer , the same as the co-conspirators , even though the correct answer is obvious .
Then the experiment changes . The person in the Second Chair begins to give the correct answer . Now , the Fifth Chair almost always gives the correct answer , too . With the voice of the Second Chair added , the Fifth Chair is not persuaded by the taunts of the others to join them in giving the wrong answer . The Fifth Chair gives what he knows is the correct answer . “ It ’ s B .”
This experiment is the backdrop for what follows . Many people sit in the Fifth Chair . The truth of something seems obvious : this line is the same length as line “ B .” But the multitude of voices saying , shouting , sometimes demanding , that the correct answer is “ A ” creates the environment in which the Fifth Chair finds it compelling to remain quiet or even agree with the demanding but wrong voices .
When the Second Chair steps up and says , “ It ’ s B ,” when the Second Chair communicates the truth about what the Fifth Chair sees , powerful things happen .
In our earlier retelling of the jail scene from To Kill a Mockingbird , Scout unknowingly occupies the Second Chair and Walter Cunningham the Fifth Chair . Harper Lee artfully illustrated the power of Scout ’ s innocent little voice helping Walter choose what , to Harper Lee , 1960 America , and us today , was the obvious — justice does not come by a vigilante rope in the dark of night . The mob around him was saying , “ It ’ s A ,” “ Let ’ s lynch this man .” But Scout said to Walter , “ It ’ s B ,” and Walter ’ s burden of choice was lifted for a moment and he was able to act .
Let ’ s follow the story just a bit further . Tom Robinson goes on trial . Atticus presents evidence that to the reader , and to Atticus ’ s son , Jem , makes it absolutely clear that Tom Robinson could not have beaten the girl . Tom ’ s left arm had been permanently damaged beyond use when he was a boy . He was physically unable to strike her on the side of her body where the evidence indicated she was beaten . How-
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