What is Right and what is Wrong and how do we Know?

Question

Murder is wrong, but what about killing someone in self defense? It is right to defend yourself yet the end result is the same, you have killed someone. How can killing someone be both right and wrong

Answer 1

To: the questioner. Consider first that Right and Wrong are god given. Choose Life. God didn't take Cain's immediate life for killing Able. He gave us the answer that we are our brother's keeper. Later, He said to his treasure Israel, in effect...I Am the author of life and death. You will kill every man,women,child, and animal and possess the land. And later He said...from now on I don't want you to look on anyone to hate them, let alone to kill them. In our day and age a nation protects both it's self and the threat of world domination. You know very well that if our nation called on God, rather than needing kings and presidents, that God would definitely lead us in victory the same as the men who blew trumpets around the walls of Jericho. Because we are far removed from His intervention...unfortunately we are following as right intention, the law of any Caesar who will declare for the sake of the people that everyone defend the homeland and also that anyone proven to agressively cause harm to anyone else, is severely punished even to death. No, my dear, it is not right to kill. The understanding between lawgivers is that it is better to end an evil life, then to permit such a life to permeate society and claim the lives of the innocent, or that the dangerous person commit further crimes upon future generations of peaceful ambassodors to other nations who would partnership toward the encouragement and lifting up of all peoples.

Answer 2

RIGHT and WRONG are concepts which are relative. What is wrong to one may be right to another, vice versa. What is Right and What is Wrong depends on whether the question is from a physical science subject or from a human ethical /moral angle.
In physical sciences, mostly, one has either an YES or NO as an answer, without any conditionalities or qualifications.
In Humanities, you can have several answers . A qualified YES or a conditional NO. for instance,
Is it right to drink? See below the responses.
No, when you ask an orthodox Hindu.
Possibly a little will help. A neuro tells a patient with a little tremor.
Yes. You drink and forget the world. A dejected one says.
Yes. It adds to my business when i drink and cajole others also to drink.
Betrand Russel has given enough clarity on RIGHT AND WRONG.
All that he says that these are only relative concepts, related to the situation in which one is posited.

Answer 3

The nature i.e, animals and plants are governed by the law of instinct, this law however is constant.Only, we humans are not governed by this law and so we make our own rules and regulations.Hence the rights and wrongs are our own makes with no doubt, then again each society has different rights and wrongs.But human consicence play a major role in telling us the differenciating the 2. The reason can be our early childhood, the time we learn the moral values, and from this stage we can decide to go ahead of it or not <>
With the vision of moving to the right path we become wise men and women

Answer 4

I suppose it all depends on the kind of environment you were born into. I mean, if you were born in a Klan-type colony you would believe that any other race but the white race was impure and not worthy of life. this would be "right" to you. If you were born into a satanic worshipping group, you would believe that there was nothing wrong with the sacrifices they made (human, animal, whatever) to summon their "lord," or whatever.

Right to me is treating people with dignity and respect and expecting the same from my fellow man.

Wrong to me is a total disregard for others feelings on an issue or concern, regardless of how much it hurts the other person...

I know and believe this because I was born into a Catholic/Christian home and my parents taught me the difference between right and wrong according to their beliefs (which is what I will pass on to my family.)

Answer 5

Right and wrong are based upon two criteria, one own personals morals and second the ethics and laws of the populous. How to how you know guidelines and laws set by religion and government and general beliefs and self explanatory. However as far as the personal morals that strictly falls on the individual.

Answer 6

>> What is Right and what is Wrong and how do we Know?

Because it's what we agree upon...that's the only reason.

>> Murder is wrong

It is? Always? You don't think it's right to kill someone that's going to kill you?

>> How can killing someone be both right and wrong

Because it depends on the context.

Answer 7

killing someone is right if you kill that person to protect yourself or someone else life. and it's wrong because you kill a person- it means you end his right to live.

sometimes the distance between right and wrong is so thin, and not everyone has the same point of view. so you only can sure sth is right or not by believing in yourself, in your intuition. i guess you're going on the right way :)

Answer 8

On a rudimentary level if the fire is hot, don't put your body in it. If you do and percieve pain then deductive logic would allow you to also percieve that others would percieve pain if you put thier bodies in it. Somehow that rudimentary reality was turned into religious scripture. Religious scripture that has been manipulated and fought over for eons. Maybe we should just not do things that hurt other people.

Answer 9

Logic, Empathy and Reason dictate Right and Wrong.

It's amazing, but most cultures arrive at the same basic set of values.

Answer 10

The only solution is situation based. See whether it is needed in the situation. Experience helps to analyse the situation better.
Enhanced perception levels helps observing the situation better.
Deeper involvement with sharp alertness, full awareness enhances perception.