What if there really is no such thing as "right" and/or "wrong"?

Question

I love people who can't answer a legitimate philosophical question without being angry or defensive.

To elaborate: Killing is wrong in the U.S. However, some cultures and situations require a "kill or be killed" approach. U.S. law justifies this killing by calling it self defense. But is the act of killing still considered wrong? Is it right? Or is it somewhere in the middle?

Answer 1

Right and wrong mean nothing in themselves. They require a moral baseline as a referent.

The answer to many questions is "depends."

Is it wrong to kill? Asked like that, most people would say yes.

Is it wrong to shoot a midget to death who was just walking along, minding his own business? Most folks would say yes.

Is it wrong to shoot a midget to death who has broken into my house? Most folks would assess the physical threat of such a person and say that at most, he's threatening my property and not my life.

Is it wrong to shoot a midget to death who has broken into my house and is carrying a knife? Eh, murkier.

Is it wrong to shoot a midget to death who has broken into my house, is carrying a knife, and is headed toward my baby's room? Little less murky.

It's all in the moral baseline.

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DISCLAIMER: No midgets were harmed in the writing of this hypothetical.

Answer 2

the world would be a mess if there was no distinction between right and wrong. just look at the wild, as one answer previously stated, where the is no distinction. take as an example the movie End Of The Spear, which is based on a true story of a tribe that lived in the jungles of Ecuador. in the movie the Waodani tribesmen of Ecuador were killing each other to the point where their people were nearly extinct. they had no idea that killing innocent people was wrong until Christian missionaries were able to show them. Now that they know the difference between right and wrong the tribe's people are finally living long enough to have grandchildren.

an answer to this question could get much deeper and more complex but i think that basically if there was no such thing as right and wrong, the world would be a mess and there would be much more suffering within humanity than there already is. we might even do as the Waodani's almost did and kill each other off until there is no one left.

Answer 3

There IS no such thing as cold hard right or wrong. There is only varying shades in between of something that is slightly more or slightly less good or bad depending on the current situation and the person who is viewing it. It is ALWAYS relavent to the person who is being effected.
If someone loses a hundred dollar bill and someone else finds it one person thinks its a bad situation and the other thinks its a good one. The one who lost the money generally never thinks that the person who finds the money may need it more than they do and ther person that finds it rarely thinks about the loss and effect of the person that lost it because they think they have lots more where that came from.

Nothing is cut and dry good versus bad, light versus dark etc...

Answer 4

Considering Nietzsche's "Will to Power," to every living creature more important than even the will to live is the will to grow, to expand and dominate ones surroundings. Life is not as important as the flourishing of the self, because life in itself, if not given any purpose, is pointless. So for someone to take another ones life in order to protect or expand his own existence is quite natural; something true for all living forms that we know of.

Still, while it is not "wrong" to take a life, if one does so for reasons other than protecting his own existence then the act becomes worse than wrong; it becomes pointless because it serves no creative purpose.

While entropy is present in all systems, it's the opposite of life and a person that pushes for it by killing others is taking life without furthering his own existence and promotes a state of being which can't agree with the nature of a living thing.

In the end, there is no wrong or right - there's just actions and consequences.

Answer 5

These dilemma are age old. Nothing new. Why take killing in the usual sense? Take Euthenasia, another form of killing. Mercy killing. . right or wrong? Killing oneself ? Society and the law says wrong !

If there is no such thing as right or wrong anarchy will prevail in the society, like the one in Iraq now. Already law in the hands of a chosen few ( elected?) is a threat to the world peace. What if law is taken in their hands by one and all. We return to the cavemen stage, putting the clock back 50000 years!

I believe there are existing simultaneously, two "rights" and "wrongs". One for one`s own conscience and the other , the society`s compulsion for orderliness. I feel both should be judicious;y followed.

Answer 6

Well technically speaking there is no such thing as something being right or wrong we humans tend to make up justified answers for our actions that's why we tend to perceive it as two emotions right and wrong. Taking killig into consideration we are afetr all humans and tend to have a lust for killing be it animal or another human. If u wanna get a more clear picture plz msg me.

Answer 7

What if? Right and wrong are programed in us at an early age. Back in da day we were all savages. Killin eachother over all kinda things. Whether it was a feelin we felt, over food, or a material item. Now we have different groups of people (christians, bums, teachers, students, hustlers, pimps, ho's) sayin what is right or wrong to them and it varies. If there was no such thing as wrong or right we would just be. As humans we search to classify and stereotype everything. Who's to say whats truely right or wrong. We all have our own definitions of things. Like whats real?

Answer 8

If there really is no such thing as right and wrong, then you wouldn't be questioning this, wondering what is right and wrong and if it exists. Your question seems to be proof of a conscience that questions these balances, whether you think it be just for philosophical purposes.

Answer 9

Right and Wrong is all about perception.
That's why wars happen.
Hitler was truly a horrible maniacal freak, but he thought what he was doing was right. So in a sense there is no true definition of right and wrong. It's more a line between what is accepted by the majority of humans and what is not.

Answer 10

There is no absolute 'right' or 'wrong'

We can only decide for ourselves what is right or wrong. Personally I don't believe in killing for any reason other than pure self defence and even then only if it's absolutely necessary. The trouble is it's that 'only when it's absolutely necessary' that people will argue over.