Do we need RULES, LAWS, REGULATIONS & COMMANDMENTS to KNOW what's RIGHT or WRONG?

Answer 1

I agree with student_of_life.

What's the correspondence between "illegal" and "wrong", "legal" and "right"?

Is driving 10 miles over a speed limit a moral violation? Does everyone have to believe abortion is "right", because it is legal? Rules and laws only indicate what is "allowed" and "not allowed".

Also (forgive my tangent), why do so many people believe in the phenomenon of "the helpless masses"? There's this notion that "I" think, and feel, and behave well, but "they" do not. I've never understood this mindset--"masses" are comprised of single beings acting independently. If I, as an individual, have developed a personal sense of morality, why should I suppose that other individuals have not?

If the actions of another defy my personal code, I do not assume that person lacks morals. Rather, I assume his ideas of right and wrong differ from my own.

And now we have arrived at the true rationale for laws. In a world where every person has a different sense of right and wrong, we are forced to set a standard for behavior--or else renounce accountability.

Answer 2

I do think that we do need rules and Regulations when we do something that is against the Law, or nature. But it depends on what commandments they are, when we have to know if it is right or Wrong to do it. As one of the Answerers of this question said, that it all pertains to The Ten commandments, I agree on it but if we have to abide on God's command, and not on Man, because as it is a lot of People do not even respect the Laws of God, and commit Horrible Crimes with no remorse, this has to change because are we going back, when the primitive people who walked this Earth, were like Animals and killed each other? Those first people who walked this Earth, have an excuse in being the way they were because, they did not know any better or they were not civilized as we are. But what is our excuse? Are we getting hypocritical, Bigot, and No feelings for Mankind? I hope to god we are not. so, I think we do need Rules, Regualtions & Commandments, that we have to abide by.

Answer 3

I've never been totally sure if I inherently have my conceptions of right and wrong or whether I've been conditioned with them. Am I really born with a conscience? It's comforting to think we have inherent ideas of right and wrong, but judging by humanity's atrocious past I tend to think our notions of right and wrong are conditioned by societal influences such as rules, laws, regulations, and commandments.

If we always had these ideas then how come so many early civilizations were often mercilessly violent and amoral? School textbooks tend to gloss over our past but if you read actual source accounts of what we have done it's startling and frightening how cold, heartless and brutal we can be and all too often are when there are no rules, laws, regulations and commandments.

Our rules really only came about because it's in our best interest not to kill each other and not because we innately sense these ideas and just happen put them down in writing. I have always been a firm believer that if you hear anything enough you'll eventually believe it. Though I've been told that many times...

Answer 4

No we don't really need these to know the difference from right and wrong. We all learn that through how we are raised. But we DO need rules, laws, regulations, and commandments to keep people from doing those things defined as wrong.

Answer 5

No, of course not. There is a "euthyphro's dilemma" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthyphro_dilemma for all moral appeals to authority: Is the authority (rule, law, etc.) good? If so, then you already possess an independent standard of right and wrong. If the authority determines right or wrong, then all laws, rules, etc. are morally equal because they are all equally laws or rules.

People who claim that the law determines what is right or wrong have a big problem here. If the law is really the only source of morality, then all laws are equally good. A law ordering you to turn jews over to the gestapo is morally equivalent to a law against burglary because they are both laws and morality comes (in this view) only from the law. The moment you say that the law against burglary is better than the law about jews, you are relying on a separate standard of morality. You judge the law good or bad and decide whether you should follow it or break it.

Answer 6

It is part of how we are socialized. As children or parents provide rules which mirror soicetal laws and regulations as a way of ensuring that our behaviour approaches the accepted norm. There are probably some adults who do not have the internal moral compass to guide them in their behaviour and for those people rules and laws are necessary. Plus, knowing what is right and wrong doesn't mean that we people are going to behave that way. Lots of criminals know what they are doing is wrong. So laws are also made as a way to try and enforce the rules and to ensure some fairness in the consequences for not following the rules.

Answer 7

Laws, regulations, rules and commandment are drafted to create social order and social responsibility. If there are rules people have certain standards to follow and abuse of freedom is prevented. The main purpose of law is for the betterment of social living and for the people to know what is prohibited and what is not. Most of the time the essential role of law is to override the wrong doing with the right one.

Answer 8

Yes we do. These rules, laws, regulations, and commandments have pretty much been around as long as society has been around. I read a lot about how we were raised, but if these things were not in place long before us, how would have our parents gotten their sense of moral duty? Your conscious is just you. the Little voice goes off when something you were trained, as bad by these rules, is done. without this moral training we would not know right from wrong. even atheists get the morals they have from the religion they once believed, or the religion their family once believed.

Answer 9

I know I'm gonna catch mortal Hell for this but here goes.
A long time ago, a very Godly man went up a big hill and came down a much older wiser man and blessed with 2 tablets of stone which had been burnished by the hand of God which were called the Ten Commandments.
And ever since, all the laws of man have been based on those rules of inspiration by God's holy ordinance.
Thus, then came along our Forefathers who created our Constitution and its laws, bilaws and amendments. They were godly men.

Answer 10

Rules, laws, regulations and commandments are needed only because some people do not know or care about what is right or wrong - they follow selfish impulses and cause anguish, loss and harm to others.