Who/What dictates what is right and wrong? God, Society, the individual?

Question

Perhaps what is right and what is wrong is independent of all three? Or so say ethical realist.

Answer 1

Good question. Since there is nothing better than reason, and since it exists both in man and God, the first common possession of man and God is reason. But those who have reason in common must also have right reason in common. And since right reason is Law, we must believe that men have Law also in common with gods.

Indeed the true law is the right reason which is in accordance with nature, applies to all men and is unchangeable and eternal. By its commands this law summons men to the performance of their duties, by its prohibitions it restrains them from wrongdoing. Its commands and prohibitions always influence good men but without effect upon the bad. To invalidate this law by human legislation is never morality right, nor is it permissible ever to restricts its operation, and to annul it wholly is impossible.

But there will be one law, eternal and unchangeable, binding at all times upon all people, and there will be as it were, the common master and the ruler of men, and that is God. God is the author of the law, the interpreter, and its sponsor. The man who will not obey it will abandon his better self and in denying the true nature of man will therby suffer the severest of penalties, though he has escaped all the other consequences which men call punishment.

Therefore Law is the distinction between the things just and unjust or right and wrong, made in agreement with that primal and most ancient of all things. Nature in conformity to Nature's
standard are framed human laws punishing the wicked and defending the good.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Answer 2

In the beginning, man needed to explain the things which happened to him both good and bad and someone created a force and assigned responsibilty for uncontrollable events to this entity we call God. In the world in every country and every society, drugs were common place used to help and to heal but one of the effects was of course hellucinations and these were likewise attributed to 'God'.

In the course of history, some very wise people both male and female were able to direct people and shape outcomes by the use of magic and visions and the 'God' became a religion. There were pagan gods and then there was the one 'God' of both the Jews and Aktenackten as well as Mary Magdeline and several female pharoes. Note that the world religions are all headed by men...the reason is because the fear that the woman of the past were right and the men simply wouldn't tolorate it. The world religions feared woman and sited faulse stories as evidence to why woman should be treated as they are.

The cathars who were around in the early days of the Catholic Church said that God is within us and there was no need for a God outside of us.....you can imagine what happened to them. The servived and changed the name to Gnostics who were pursecuted from the beginning and when the Knights Templars fell on that fateful friday the 13th, the Priori of Sion had no choice but to again authorize change into what we now know as Masons.

During this time, the church was growing in leaps and bounds due to the crusades and whatever the secret was was burried litterally and it will remain so until someone is brave enough to stand up to the Church.

In the end, right and wrong belong to the heart. It belongs to who ever is making the choice. And what follows choice is always consequence.

So technically, there is no right or wrong only choice and consequence.

You see?

Namaste!

Answer 3

Society dictates what is wrong to the individual though sometimes the individual does when society is wrong. A common statement is that society is not to blame for the criminal actions of an individual well not always. Sometimes the society is wrong in their treatment of the individual society is rude disrespectfull and attacks the individual and then refuses to accept blame when deserved.Labels people criminals without possesion of facts or evidence is racist, bigoted, makes judgements on levels of education without evidence to back it up. Society when based on the automobile has such control the individual is powerless to exist.

Answer 4

The individual. Despite our environmental messages of what constitutes right and wrong, it is entirely within the individual to make those decisions and to act or not act.

I've never killed anyone. I have no reason to do so. This has nothing to do with the society, law or religion. If I felt the need to do so though, I might. Conversely, someone who wants to kill, but doesn't do so because their god dictates this has the bigger issue to contend with in my view.

Attributing those values onto others (society, religion, law) is just a way to avoid responsibility in life for our actions.

Answer 5

I would suppose that what one person feels is right or wrong doesn't coincide with what another person feels is right and wrong. There are too many factors to consider, Nationality, races,creeds,and yes society. My theory is that if I can lay my head down on that pillow at night and sleep soundly then my conscience is at peace so it's got to be an individual thing.

Answer 6

I believe the individual makes the final notes in class, though his/her teachers may have been at least society and often the teachings of some form of one God as well.

Answer 7

All ideas of right or wrong mirror our idea of Good and evil

The good and evil that you see don't even exist in reality, at least not outside of the mind that believes in them. They are only judgments passed by the individual from their own unique perspective. What one person sees as bad or evil may seem to be the only logical thing to do from some other perspective. The ideas of both good and evil are point of view specific. This is why people like bush and bin laden are either loved or hated. Bush is seen as good by people who share his fear based thought system. Those who have a compassionate concern for all of mankind often see him as evil.

Bin laden is much the same. He is a villain in much of the western world, but he is somewhat of a celebrated pop star on the Middle East. There are T-shirt shops that sell items with his picture as though he was Jesus. It all depends on your point of view or perspective.

To sum it all up good is the name we give to people who do things that we think we like.

Evil is the name we give to people who do the things that we don’t like.

This is of course based solely on our particular point of view.

Love and blessings

Don

Answer 8

Man is the only animal that has a conscience. He can think and choose what he does in his life. Society, our family and friends, our faith teach us what is right and what is wrong. There are rules in society and each of us chooses to either live a purposeful life or one of criminality....

Answer 9

The culture and religion we are raised in all play a part. But who we are at heart is up to the individual, and is known (if not acknowledged) only by the individual.

Answer 10

i think it could be all three,
depending on what the individual believs
because although society give humans in each culture rules and customs to live by,
the choice between right and wrong really only truely lies in the heart of the individual and what they want to beleive society, God, or themselves