If so, does that mean that "right" and "wrong" are not real things? Shooting my question in the foot here, but here's an example: You can only save one---your child or his friend---from falling off the cliff. (kind of a "Good Son" rip off) No right thing to do, no wrong thing to do. Only your own selfishness to decide. Does this kind of situation mean that right and wrong are artificial ideas?
2006-08-17 09:10:46 · 16 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Every situation is ambiguous: it is only through contextualizing that you can determine what you consider "good" or "bad".
For example: is it good or bad to kill someone? Bad.
What if that person was about to kill a child, and lethal force was the only possible means of stopping him? Good.
What if he was going to kill the child because the child carried a parasite capable of killing millions, and only when the host body was dead would the parasite die? Good or bad...
Right and wrong, good and bad are entirely dependent upon the relevance we give them as they relate to our human condition.
2006-08-17 09:15:43 · answer #1 · answered by Blackacre 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. It only proves that they are relative concepts, not artificial ideas. You would yourself realise by your own example, that saving a life is good. The conflict arises in your case from the fact that two lives are at stake, and only one can be saved. But we'd all agree that in your case it is "right" to save a life, and "wrong" to let the other be lost.
2006-08-17 09:20:57 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Right and wrong ARE artificial ideas, nature doesn't do right or wrong, only humans do.
But if we could agree on a set of ethical rules that make it very clear what is right and what is wrong, then there is always a right thing and a wrong thing to do. This doesn't mean that we know which is which, however.
2006-08-17 09:24:00 · answer #3 · answered by lindavankerkhof 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is no right answer to this question. All ideas are artificial - nonsense pointing at reality. But the ideas do point and we do understand (sometimes), so they are useful. All choices are based on selfishness, it's just that there are many ways people can and do define "self". So what is it you're trying to point at here?
2006-08-17 09:27:40 · answer #4 · answered by neil s 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Another example would be a mom who needed to be at home with a particular child for a good reason, but cannot afford to lose her job as she then would be unable to support him or her. Either way, she's wrong in someone's eyes.
Same with your case - no matter which child she saves, someone is going to call her wrong.
2006-08-17 09:20:06 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't understand why you think that would mean right and wrong are artificial ideas. It just means that they aren't always present in every situation. i can think of a mulititude of situations in which there IS a right and a wrong.
2006-08-17 09:17:00 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Are there things that are morally ambiguous? Sure, is there any "right" color shirt for me to wear today, no, not really.
But I don't think that utterly makes the concept of right and wrong void. It just means there's an "other" category.
2006-08-17 09:26:09 · answer #7 · answered by daisyk 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Consider this concept; 'Right or Wrong' is decided more by 'why' one did 'such and such' not 'what' they did. In the example in the question; the 'right or wrong' may be whether one tries to save either, rather than save one or the other.
2006-08-17 10:07:09 · answer #8 · answered by jefferyspringer57@sbcglobal.net 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, "right" and "wrong" are artificial concepts (they aren't "things" at all). What one person or one culture believes is right can be thought wrong by another.
2006-08-17 09:22:39 · answer #9 · answered by lee m 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
specific, I even have and do. i found out a protracted time in the past that this individual has a extreme subject and all i ought to do is be myself and stand my floor whilst needed. the relationship has superior a splash. purely be a superb as you are able to and forget approximately pertaining to to the attitude of that individual. That individual has esteem subject concerns that are previous your administration. proceed to desire for that individual and take care of them as superb as before, yet do no longer worry pertaining to to the reaction. you are able to no longer exchange the guy, only the way you react to the guy.
2016-10-02 05:13:29 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋