What defines "RIGHT" and "WRONG"?

Question

Does it even exist?

Answer 1

Morals are determined by what the majority of people deem acceptable and unacceptable. It is subjective at best...

Answer 2

yes, they do exist, but not everything considered right or wrong is absolutely moral or absolutely immoral. There are certainly social norms that say something is right in one society and wrong in another, but there are also things that are right or wrong without any subjectivity. For example, it is ALWAYS wrong to rape someone for fun. This is a moral absolute, and it is wrong on a basic level, even if a certain society says it is not wrong. Just because a culture has a certain norm does not mean that norm is right, an entire cultural norm can be wrong. A good example of that would be slavery. Slavery was wrong. It was not only acceptable, but morally good for the North in the Civil War to conquor the South and force them to abandon slavery. (I know the Civil War was not simply over slavery and was not begun to free the slaves, but my point here still stands) It was the cultural norm of the antebellum south to have slaves, that was considered their right and proper place. They were wrong, absolutely. It doesn't matter that they believed it was right, that doesn't make it any less morally reprehensible, so the argument that "some cultures believe different things so there is no objective right and wrong" is completely false unless you want to say slavery was as good and moral as any other social norm. I cannot believe anyone would honestly argue that slavery in the antebellum south was as morally right as civil rights being extended to all races today is. There are certainly many social and cultural norms that are subjective, but this does not mean there is no objective morality.

Answer 3

Generally it is defined by social norms, which are translated into the laws in a particular area. What is right in one country might be very wrong in another.. So, I would said No, there is no definite right and wrong. It all depends on the social context. You would enjoy taking a college ethics class.. I'd highly recommend a bioethics or ethics of healthcare class.

Answer 4

It depends upon the society that you are in and the morals in that environment. Some people eat cattle; other communities worship the same animal. Sociopaths in each society have no sense of right or wrong, but this is a flawed mental condition.
Our community, society that we live in, and family traditions/beliefs combine to make a strong conscience/knowledge of what is acceptable within that environment. Babies are born pure; within months, all of the above will start to influence the babies awareness of acceptable behavior, labeled right or wrong.

Answer 5

The few words in your question belie its complexity. Usually, what's right is to do justice for innocent people. What's wrong is to do what's right for unjust people. Would you want/expect your actions to be done to you? That's the golden rule at its apex. Yes, right and wrong exist. But the context makes the difference. Good luck, sweetie. Sounds like you have a difficult decision in your future.

Answer 6

Ultimately, this is defined by our own ethical code. However, when a large group of people concur about what is "right" or "wrong" it becomes a moral. If you really want to spin your head around read some Fourcault.

Answer 7

notting that exists is completely right or wrong

everything in this world must be a balance

even the goods have bads...
even the bads have goods...

right will always have a wrong side to it
and
wrong will always have a bad side to it

all rights is no rights
all wrongs is no wrongs

that's why I always talk about balance in this world...and views of many

nomatter what you do...
whatever you do will always be wrong and right

this world is just like a yin-yang

within all yin
their will always be a yang

likewise reverse
yang will always have a yin
right will always have a wrong

example...
if you love somebody, but that somebody love somebody else...
namely your friend...and she love him too

the right thing to do is to get that somebody you love back, but the wrong side of things would be to steal your friend's love

I guess...
all you can do to ensure that things go right is to think about everything and everybody else, but your self and set things straight

Answer 8

Common Sense.

Answer 9

I would say value of right principles is a move in the right direction. For example: A gang of thieves can share values, but they are in violation of the fundamental principles that most of us believe in. Principles are the territory. Values are the maps. When we value correct principles, we have truth - a knowledge of things as they are.

Principles are guild lines for human conduct that are proven to have enduring, permanent value.

Answer 10

Conscience is an ability or faculty or sense that leads to feelings of remorse when we do things that go against our moral values, or which informs our moral judgment before performing such an action. Such feelings are not intellectually reached, though they may cause us to 'examine our conscience' and review those moral precepts, or perhaps resolve to avoid repeating the behaviour.

Commonly used metaphors refer to the "voice of conscience" or "voice within."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscience

For philosophers who transcend the wordly norms, inner voice is the only guide.

It is the voice of the soul.

Answer 11

Right from wrong is based on the characteristics of God himself. Like in the Bible it says though shall not kill. That's because God created life and said that it was good, so you should preserve life. And you can trace that back to the characteristics of God himself, meaning God is life.