What is right?

Question

How can we justify any given thing as right or wrong when perception, law and beliefs vary. World peace is only impossible because we all have knoledge and the ability to think for oursleves. Some people will think to answer well (x) is certainly wrong and (y) is moral, but what makes it so in your justification? It's like the situation war wise in the world at the moment. There are two sides to every story and many minds and people involved/ uninvolved. All answers welcome.

Answer 1

You have many questions going on there and we'll begin with the first one. How can you justify between wrong and right? We all base what's wrong or right based on our schema (i.e what we learned in the past and our past experiences that help us adapt to our environment).Right and wrong vary from culture to culture, city to city, people to people and from one situation to another. It always changes and that is because the same solution to a problem may not be the same solution to a similar problem. You mention that world peace is impossible because we all have knowledge and the ability for ourselves and yes that is true. There is no such thing as world peace. In order for peace to be attained you need war to gradually become peace and without it there would be no such thing as peace. Peace itself however does exist but just not in a worldy scale. Answer X is probably wrong because in that particular situation X did not serve its purpose you wanted to attain but Y seems to satisfy it just fine. It is based on your beliefs and what you think is right or for most, what you think the majority is right (i.e the popular kids, what you see on tv and even the people you admire). There will always be two sides to a coin and even if the last person in the worl was left to itself it'd probably have two sides to it to. It's what keeps the balance, Yin and Yang.Another thing, I am not a big fan or religion but I am not atheist either, the bible has taught us so many things but its history has been too bloody for me to withstand and with the help of a friend I have come to see a bible as a metaphor rather then an instruction manual. When the bible mentions, respect your god, I see this as respecting your morals and yourself. I have learned that in order to be happy you have to live happy and make it your goal. It requires a lot of thinking by the way. My morals and goals have been pretty reasonable such as, smiling when I can and thank the energy out there for giving me another breath.

Answer 2

There are common unwritten laws in humanity that we follow everyday even with different personal belief systems. Some people violate these laws but that does not make them acceptable. With war, yes there are two sides to every story but there also is the third side: the unbiased truth. Harming children or the weak or elderly is universally frowned upon. Even criminals have a code of conduct. That is why child rapists are afraid to go to jail because they know that while some would not harm him for hurting women or men, children are a seperate and universal law that they should be sheltered and protected. We can all justify our actions but ultimately, we have an innate sense of right and wrong inside of us that does not make excuses in the dark of night or light of day.

Answer 3

The whole concept of morality, the essence of ethics is to preserve some sort of universal law. Perception varies to some extent, that much is true. Ethical desicions are based on basic human character. In order to create some sort of semblance of order in our society, cultures have developed laws - written and unwritten - which reflects the views of many - perhaps not all, but a sufficient majority. Transgressions are treated appropriately.

What is a conscience? We know how our actions will be percieved in the public eye. This fear of being shunned, of causing anger, leads to desicions we like to call 'moral' desicions, not based on factual information but on what will seem acceptable to society in general. We may not be born with these ideals, but they have evolved in exposure to the masses and what is 'right' and what is 'wrong' has become ingrained into our minds.

To answer your question - there is no way to justify what is 'right' except that many people agree that it is, in fact, 'right.' Consensus is key. Now, as for world peace - when immigration proves to transform us all into a 'beige' unspecified race, then the problem will be solved. Integration is a wonderful thing to behold, no?

Answer 4

There is no right or wrong in essence, but most people seem to have an inborn or learned sense of moral right and wrong. A lot of the time people use this sense of morality to decide on the spot what is correct and what is not. I don't think people should do that, because they don't take into consideration all the variables attributed to the decisions that are being judged.

I think people will naturally gravitate to whatever is in their best interest as right or wrong (as in what they'll do) but when you ask them they will simply take the moral 'high road' and say they'd do something they wouldn't.

My sense of right and wrong has been broken and remade many times depending on what injustices I've seen certain systems caused, and I truly believe that every different situation has a different right approach, so simply making a carte blanche statement for every type of situation isn't morally right.

Answer 5

But the essence of what is right or wrong hardly changes from one person to the other. Most variation you will see is caused by laziness, more or less, in one person's thinking. We know what is right and wrong, even 'lower' species of animals, have concepts of right and wrong. This is fundamental. And logical proof is both impossible and irrelevant. If anything, it is a concept of aesthetics. A society which is ethical is more beautiful than one that is not, and the common appreciation for ethical society is universal in the same way that appreciation for the setting sun behind a broad ocean is universal.

Answer 6

Morals and ethics are based, or are supposedly based, on what provides for the best interest of the society you are a part of. This, then, is the basis of any perceived notion of right and wrong. If it is bad for the society, it is wrong. If it is good for the society, it is right.

Since each individual belongs to more than one societal group (city, country, nation, world), then an overall moral and ethical system should pertain to the larger group, although realistically the practice of any moral or ethical system pertains to the smaller group since it is more personalized.

Answer 7

The Will is positive, the Judgment is negative. As long as your being persists in that condition, you shall be right, even in imperfection.

http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hegel/works/pr/prconten.htm

My personal excerpt from it: 'Some, who are thought to be taking a profound view, are heard to say that everything turns upon the subject-matter, and that the form may be ignored. The business of any writer, and especially of the philosopher, is, as they say, to discover, utter, and diffuse truth and adequate conceptions. In actual practice this business usually consists in warming up and distributing on all sides the same old cabbage. Perhaps the result of this operation may be to fashion and arouse the feelings; though even this small merit may be regarded as superfluous, for “they have Moses and the prophets: let them hear them.” Indeed, we have great cause to be amazed at the pretentious tone of those who take this view. They seem to suppose that up till now the dissemination of truth throughout the world has been feeble. They think that the warmed-up cabbage contains new truths, especially to be laid to heart at the present time. And yet we see that what is on one side announced as true, is driven out and swept away by the same kind of worn-out truth. Out of this hurly-burly of opinions, that which is neither new nor old, but permanent, cannot be rescued and preserved except by science.'

http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hegel/works/pr/preface.htm#xvii

Answer 8

I really think that the principles surrounding the 10 commandments says it all, and is a good basis for expanding the definition of right or wrong in today's society.

The key is to get everyone to agree for the sake of peace and progress.

It is very hard to separate the man-made laws from the moral laws because they are both so intricately inter-twined.

Answer 9

I know what your talking about...I try to explain this to people and they just shut me off. I suppose it's because they are sensitive and believe that they are right. Like you said there are always two sides to every story. But each side believes they are right and will stop at nothing to stop and consider that maybe they are wrong. Maybe if people become more open minded we will achieve world peace. But, until then we will never have it.

Answer 10

well, society itself has set what is right and what is wrong... it is really hard to define because,as you have said, perception, law and beliefs vary. i might even be someone who believes in something that looks right to me but some people might find wrong. so you can't avoid conflicts because everyone has a set individual perception of right and wrong... but i guess there is something in common with what most thinks is right: it's to avoid hurting other people. no matter what,where or whom you believes,we see morality has something to do with how we deal with people or other living things.

it's hard to explain and it's like almost 3 am and i can't think much now...lol