Moral Paradoxes
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- Dec 9, 2021
- 2 min read
FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. STUDIO - 09:00
Picking up a white bass guitar and turning on an amplifier's rhythm pattern, Peter begins to play.
PETER (V.O.): I haven't played bass for months. It's also nice to touch the guitar.
Playing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Professional work aside, I've been preoccupied with stock investment.
Peter pauses to check entrepreneurship fund. He sees numerals in green.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I needn't do anything.
Playing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I've an evening Harvard webinar to attend though. The topic is: The paradox of moral value.
Later, Peter stretches his left hand fingers. Then, he touches his stomach.
Act 2
FLASHBACK
INT. RESTAURANT - AFTERNOON (Yesterday)
Having been introduced by a FRIEND, a GENTLEMAN presents his name card to Peter.
PETER: You got a DPhil in Law from Oxford.
GENTLEMAN: Yes.
PETER: What was your thesis?
GENTLEMEN: It's about jurisdictional matters between Mainland China and Taiwan.
PETER: Where did you read your 1st degree?
GENTLEMAN: Beijing U.
PETER: Oh, my wife got her LLB from Beijing U too. She studied in Hong Kong in the 1990s. Beijing professors flew here to teach.
The gentleman nods.
PETER (Cont'd): Years ago, Professor Zhang Ping invited me to give lectures in Beijing.
GENTLEMAN: She's very famous.
PETER: My 1st degree is actually in Philosophy. I taught myself as a London U external student.
The gentleman looks surprised.
RETURN TO PRESENT
INT. STUDY - 17:00
Peter has finished a phone conversation.
PETER (V.O.): That's what I can do, professionally and ethically.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Applied ethics addresses specific and practical issues of moral importance.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Moral paradoxes are situations in which an agent stands under two or more conflicting moral requirements, none of which overrides another.
Peter is attracted to a TV news story.
PETER (V.O.): What is this unofficial Uyghur tribunal?
Peter surfs the web.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): The so-called people's tribunal is based in UK. The official international tribunal doesn't have jurisdiction.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The arbitrary tribunal knew its determination wouldn't have any legal effect.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): So, it's mere fiction. I can also create an instant fictional appeal board to override the tribunal's fictional determination now!
Wondering.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Is the tribunal acting under some non-legal duty?
Wondering.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Is an undue process apt example of moral paradoxes?
Act 3
INT. DINING ROOM - 20:55
Joining the Harvard webinar, Peter watches attentively.
PETER (V.O.): Oh, it's from the psychological perspective.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The Harvard professor has done experiments to evidence people using the same cost-benefit analysis of options, irrespective of their moral content.
Peter and his WIFE begin to have dinner.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): He remarks that our moral discourses can be analysed and predicted physically, similar to quantum physics.
Then, the family pet joins.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It has been a long time since I last joined a Harvard event.
As the webinar ends, Peter says Thank You before pressing the leave button.
FADE OUT
THE END
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