[HPforGrownups] Harry and Morality

[Dan Delaney]

No: HPFGUIDX 57435

On Thursday, May 8, 2003, at 09:01 AM, Troels Forchhammer wrote:
> If it is OK for Harry to do a certain thing, then it must also be OK
> for Draco to do that exact same thing. Likewise if it wrong for
> Draco to do a thing, then it must also be wrong for Harry to do
> that exact same thing - anything else is hypocricy....
> ...As far as I am concerned there is no way of formulating an
> ethical principle that allows Harry to do something and
> doesn't allow Draco to do the exact same thing.

This view of assessing right and wrong is simply too simplistic (hmmmmm 
:-). The assessment of whether an action is right or wrong just isn't 
that straight forward. Lying, for instance, is sometimes an immoral 
thing to do, sometimes morally neutral (white lies, etc.), and 
sometimes (albeit rarely) lying is the morally right thing to do. This 
is the case with all ethically questionable actions to a greater or 
lesser extent--even the killing another human, in rare instances, is 
morally right. So you can't just flatly say that an action is always 
right or wrong for everyone in all situations.


> The only way to distinguish is to point out that Harry (usually)
> does things we agree with, while Draco normally does things we
> don't agree with

Hardly. The distinction is that Harry's actions are not intended to 
harm other people, while Draco's usually are. /That's/ why we usually 
agree with Harry and disagree with Draco. Harry is good-hearted and 
considerate of the feelings and well-being of others. Draco is mean and 
contemptuous of others and seems to actually take pleasure is hurting 
and disgracing others.

In the case of the school rules, it's not a question of it being right 
for Harry to break a rule but wrong for Draco to break the same rule. 
As a general rule, it is usually wrong but sometimes right for /anyone/ 
to break the rules--be it Harry, Draco, or anyone else. It's a question 
of whether the breaking of a school rule is /excusable/ in a 
/particular situation/ due to particular circumstances and the 
particular motives and reasons involved in the decision to break the 
rules.

When harry sneaks around at night just for the fun of it, or because 
he's being mischievous, then if he is caught there is no reason why 
that breaking of the rule should be excused. But when he disobeys a 
teacher's orders in order to save Hermione from a troll, that breaking 
of a rule is excusable. (Granted he should have just told the teachers 
that she was in the bathroom, but that's another issue--stupidity on 
his part :-) Similarly, when Draco breaks the rules and puts hexes on 
other students (such as the hex he put on Neville as a mean joke) then 
if he is caught, that breaking of the rules should not be excused. But 
if Draco actually did something nice for someone (I can't imagine 
that), but happened to break a rule in the process, then that should be 
excused.

This is the way it is in real life. In school, if you are caught 
breaking a rule, a teacher might preface the discussion with something 
like: "You'd better have a /very/ good reason for...". Parents do the 
same thing. I teach my sons that hurting other people is wrong, and if 
I saw one of them maliciously hit (or hurt in any way) another child, 
I'd punish him in some way because he would be wrong for doing so. But 
if my son saw some bully beating up another kid and decided to step in 
and knocked the bully off his %&$, then I can't see myself punishing 
him for that. And it's the same with the law. If I shoot a man, it will 
be investigated and I will have to appear in court. When I explain that 
I shot him because he broke into my house with a gun and was 
threatening my life and the lives of my wife and children, then my 
breaking of the law is excused. (No, I haven't been in that situation, 
I'm happy to say ;-)

The only times that Harry's rule-breaking is excused are when he does 
have a very good reason for breaking them. If Draco broke a rule and 
had a good reason for breaking it, his breaking of the rule would be 
excused too.

--Dan