Love Thy Neighbors at Occupy Wall Street

I was 17 years old. This was Philosophy 101. There stood Dr. Rob Brady, diminutive in stature, expansive in mind, with a Socratic gleam in his eye and devilish grin on his face.

"Let's imagine your wife is imprisoned in Nazi Germany. They will let her go free if she agrees to have sex with a Nazi guard and be impregnated. Do you advise your wife to have sex with the guard or not? And if so, do you hope that she enjoys herself?" I will never forget the horror I felt when I saw the number of people who would let the woman rot in a Nazi prison.

"Let's imagine constructing a society using the philosophical strategy known as the 'veil of ignorance.' In this set-up, you have no information regarding who you are -- your race, gender, class, sexual orientation, intellectual capacity, physical ability, etc. You must try to establish a just society. Only after you have constructed the society is your own social location revealed." I wasn't religious; I was captivated by the ethical challenge.