Sense vs. Sensibility Making choices is fundamental to our lives. When we are making decisions, the biggest paradox may be the conflict between the sense and the sensibility. It has been over two hundred years since Jane Austen wrote the novel Sense and Sensibility, yet to our surprise nothing has really changed. We still struggle to make the moral and ethical choices that people have struggled with over the years. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King Jr. broke unjust laws and engaged in nonviolence direct action in order to gain equality and freedom. In “Dog Lab”, Claire McCarthy wanted to take advantage of the dog lab for further learning, but she was reluctant to attend the lab because killing a dog was inhumane and against
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King had tried to stand between two forces, “One is a force of complacency, made up in part of Negro community who, as a result of long years of oppression, are so drained of self-respect and a sense of ‘somebodiness’ that they have adjusted to segregation. The other force is one of the bitterness and hatred, and it comes perilously close to advocating violence.”(King, p472) He conveyed that what he decided to emulate was neither the “do-nothingism” of the complacent nor the hatred and despair of the black nationalist. Based on his willingness to compromise his sense and sensibility, the nonviolent direct action was an excellent way to create a situation which would inevitably open the door to negotiation. The use of compromise is not only a solution to resolving disagreements in negotiation, but also an effective method for settling the conflict between sense and sensibility in everyday life. McCarthy also used the compromise and made up her mind to do the lab, but she would go help anesthetize the dogs first, because helping with the anesthesia, she thought, would be taking full responsibility for what she was doing, something that was very important to her. To make a decision, we must understand the consequences of acting or not acting. And, perhaps most important, we must learn to take responsibility for our decisions. Though McCarthy felt regretful for her choice after the experiment, the choice she made taught her a significant life lesson and led her to examine her own values.“The knowledge I had gained wasn’t worth the life of a dog to me. It was time to make some changes, some changes back.”(McCarthy, p484-485) If she had considered the potential consequences of her choices, she might change her mind. Whenever confronted with an ethical decision, we would better forecast the potential outcomes of the various decisions we are
King had tried to stand between two forces, “One is a force of complacency, made up in part of Negro community who, as a result of long years of oppression, are so drained of self-respect and a sense of ‘somebodiness’ that they have adjusted to segregation. The other force is one of the bitterness and hatred, and it comes perilously close to advocating violence.”(King, p472) He conveyed that what he decided to emulate was neither the “do-nothingism” of the complacent nor the hatred and despair of the black nationalist. Based on his willingness to compromise his sense and sensibility, the nonviolent direct action was an excellent way to create a situation which would inevitably open the door to negotiation. The use of compromise is not only a solution to resolving disagreements in negotiation, but also an effective method for settling the conflict between sense and sensibility in everyday life. McCarthy also used the compromise and made up her mind to do the lab, but she would go help anesthetize the dogs first, because helping with the anesthesia, she thought, would be taking full responsibility for what she was doing, something that was very important to her. To make a decision, we must understand the consequences of acting or not acting. And, perhaps most important, we must learn to take responsibility for our decisions. Though McCarthy felt regretful for her choice after the experiment, the choice she made taught her a significant life lesson and led her to examine her own values.“The knowledge I had gained wasn’t worth the life of a dog to me. It was time to make some changes, some changes back.”(McCarthy, p484-485) If she had considered the potential consequences of her choices, she might change her mind. Whenever confronted with an ethical decision, we would better forecast the potential outcomes of the various decisions we are