Good moral core (Re: Dirty Harry/Clean Harry)

[cubfanbudwoman]

No: HPFGUIDX 117178


SSSusan wrote :
> " what I'm arguing is that the moral compass may, to some degree, 
> just "be there."  "
 
Del replies :
> In the realm of the Potterverse, this explanation would have a
> terrible consequence : if the moral compass can "just be there", 
> then can it also "just not be there" ?
> 
> Is Tom Riddle bad like Harry is good : because they are just that 
> way ?


Well, now, that's a very good question.  How did I get myself into 
this position?? :-)

I was arguing the moral compass as being somewhat "just there" 
partly as a counter to the idea that it's an entire moral system 
that's been taught from without and which is referred to as if it 
were a chart ["Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, ..."].  
Contrary to that, I think Harry's moral code has developed over 
years based upon some innate tendencies and the environment he found 
himself in and his *interest* in choosing for himself.  For 
instance, his choices seem to be based in part on his desire to NOT 
be things--Dudley, the Dursleys, Draco, Voldemort, a Slytherin; that 
he's made a decision through watching & identifying of what it is he 
does NOT want to be.  The "just there" is the only thing I could 
come up with for an explanation [ha--as if it were one] for why 
Harry's been able to look outward for another way of being & 
behaving, rather than blindly following the examples shown in the 
Dursleys, which many children would have done.  So does this mean 
we're talking about some sort of innate predisposition?  In part, I 
think so.

I know this gets caught up with Neri's free will remarks, too, at 
some point.  Once he's old enough for Hogwarts, he's starting to 
make more conscious decisions which I would say involve exercising 
free will.  But as a young child I think the "just there" thing is 
the only way I can explain why in the world Harry was able to look 
outward for other ways of being, while other children would've just 
repeated the patterns they saw in their immediate environs.

Help somebody!  I'm talking in circles, I think.  And what DOES this 
say about the *possibility* that a moral compass just *isn't* there 
for some?  Would JKR buy into that?

Siriusly Snapey Susan, with what has to be her weakest post in her 
time here!