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Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Local Issues Obituaries Weather Archive Revels Etcetera Backpage Hot Topics Most Viewed Forum Photo Galleries Video Readers Polls O-Zone Online Games Movie Preview Special Sections Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad May 25, 2006 Lifelong Learning Richard Kaplan teaches a class , “Practical Ethics,” for Southern Oregon Learning in Retirement. Orville Hector | Daily Tidings SOLIR students tackle tough questions By Catalina Myers Tidings Correspondent On a sunny spring day that could have been perfect for gardening or golf, a group of retired men and women were sitting indoors, absorbed in a heated discussion about ethical issues. The 13 participants were taking a six-week class on “Practical Ethics,” offered by Southern Oregon Learning in Retirement (SOLIR). All found it worthwhile to spend two hours each Friday at Southern Oregon University, learning what their instructor calls “ethical problem-solving.” “The quality and the level of enthusiasm that people feel is amazing,” student Joyce Epstein said after class the other day. She said that she values the opportunity “to engage in a class that enriches my life.” Course instructor Richard Kaplan is a retired Silicon Valley executive with a background in health and safety issues. “My personal ethic is to help people to understand and recognize ethical dilemmas and understand the way they feel,” he said. At each class meeting, Kaplan asked students to consider and discuss tough, polarizing issues, using their critical thinking skills while staying aware of their personal values. The resulting conversations were lively, to say the least. Abortion, capital punishment, religion, animal rights, media ethics, inmate torture — all were on the table. Occasionally, tempers flared, and Kaplan would step in to calm things down. But the students were generally respectful of each other. “Thinking about the other side” “You need some respect coming into this,” said John Forsyth, another of the students. “That’s why I think practical ethics is good. It gets you thinking about the other side.” Lisa Watkins, another student, commented during class that there seem to be a lot of “no way out” issues in life today, where no moral solution is possible. Kaplan replied that although many issues seem overwhelming at first, if a large question can be broken into smaller parts it becomes easier to handle. “Don’t try to eat the elephant all at once,” he said to the group. Local subjects such as neighborhood disputes were also discussed. Some students have even called Kaplan at home to discuss their own ethical concerns and how they might approach them. But in those conversations, as well as in class, Kaplan refrains from giving personal advice. He said his goal is to help students develop skills they can use whenever they’re confronted with tough questions. He hopes they’ll use those skills to avoid slipping into dogmatism or rationalizing. “Rationalizers,” Kaplan told the class, are those who tend to “let everything go.” They’re not much help in discussing ethical issues because they can see a rationale for everything. But the most destructive people in any discussion are the “dogmatists,” Kaplan said, because they can’t be persuaded to see any other point of view and can overpower others with the certainty that their view is the only correct one. More productive society “I feel people face ethical dilemmas, if not every day, in many different times of their lives,” Kaplan said. “If we all acted in a way that was respectful, we would have a more productive and happy society.” The six-week ethics course concluded last Friday. At the last session, Kaplan gave everyone a handout to take home, titled “Your Ethical Toolbox,” which was adapted from the website of Elon University’s philosophy department. It urges students to “remember the four great ethical ideas: Respect, fairness, care and virtue.” This spring’s ethics class was the second time Kaplan has taught the course. He’s thinking of offering it again in the future with a new angle: “Ethics as Learned from the Movies.” SOLIR offers a wide range of courses to members, who pay a yearly fee of $100 to participate. The program is open to anyone of retirement age. Besides taking daytime classes, members may volunteer for such duties as planning curricula, teaching courses, organizing social events, assisting instructors and helping with administration. SOLIR program coordinator Aletha Lundblad said the program has 635 members, and some classes — usually literature and science — are so popular that students take part in a lottery to win seats in them. She said the fall SOLIR catalog will be available at the end of July. Lundblad added that she will be retiring at the end of this month, after nine years as SOLIR program coordinator. “Now I can take some classes,” she said with a laugh. --> Copyright © 2006 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved.