John Scalzi needs no help from me, but I wanted to link to his “Omelas State University” entry anyway because:
- I think he pretty much hits it out of the ballpark and into the windshield of a car in the parking lot with this one.
- I have a certain fondness for “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” as an example of an SF story that also touches on ethical questions like Kant’s categorical imperative. I know I probably sound like a member of the freshman philosophy B.S. debate club, but it hasn’t been that long since I took “Ethical Analysis”.
- That said, I also really like the critical comments by John Barnes and Elizabeth Moon on “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas”. I remember reading the debate on “The Cold Equations” in NYRSF; if someone did a similar debate on “Omelas” in book form, I’d buy that. And, yes, I’d preorder the John Barnes book, too.