Morals: What is Right and What is Wrong?

[heliacalRebirth]

Good and bad are terms I hear thrown around a lot, whether it be about someones taste in food or the way they exhibit themselves in mind and body. I began to think about it and a question rose to my mind… what does being good or bad truly mean? I was taught morals; that means they don't come naturally to us. They're a learned behaviour. But… over time I began to question these morals. Maybe it's just the whole "rebel" teenage stage (likes for eriksons' theory of psychosocial development ^.^), I don't know. But I wanted to see everyone's opinion on the topic!

Here are my questions I pose for you:

what is good and bad?

How do you determine what is good and what is bad?

Does going against societies' mutual view of right and wrong make you a bad person?

 

[Scrap Iron]

I do think that some basis of morality comes naturally to us inasmuch as a lot of what's considered morally right or good is also mutually benefits, as it were, the actor and the acted upon. I could argue that mutually beneficial, morally right behavior is the foundation and indeed the very reason people formed the concept of cohabitation and society to begin with, and not because it's intrinsically right but because it's beneficial or even necessary for the survival of any social animal, human or otherwise.

 

[Fijoli]

what is good and bad?

Good and bad are merely concepts, I Think, ideally intended to persuade one from doing hard work instead of what comes easy. An age old question that has no real answer. I believe that there is a BIG GIANT FAT OBNOXIOUS LINE between what is good and bad.

How do you determine what is good and what is bad?

What I see is that it is all relative to the individual, their life, their survival, their world. What I think is not what they think and we all think something different then the person next to us. We will run ourselves in mad circles debating such a topic so Subjective as this. At the end of the day you just know what a good deed or a bad deed is and if you don't, you get eaten alive O.O

:p
Does going against societies' mutual view of right and wrong make you a bad person?

<.<
>.>
o.o

No and yes, One thing is for sure, Try to be a hero and someone will always hate you, be the villain and Everyone will hate you. The real question is do you want to be hated by few or hated by most. No matter what you do someone out there is always going to accuse you of this and that. When you don't see in they way they see it, when we do things differently than everybody else...doesn't make us good or bad. makes us smack dabin the middle. We all can commit great acts of kindness or Evil travesties and I fear the day people forget to call on both sides of human nature.

while the acts themselves may hold "negative" actions, the Intentions ultimately get underestimated and forgotten. If some seeks to hurt me or my own I will hurt them Neither of us are evil if left to only our intentions, further complicating the debate. no reason for hurting others or ourselves is nothing short of 'bad'. Doing what one must to protect their family, the life of others is 'good' done with 'evil'.

but even still...

There is a feeling inside, and instinct we have, if it feels right then to us in our fleeting moments it is our own goodness that we create that guides us to the answers we can only give ourselves. that is why I believe, those who have committed great evils are described often as 'lost'.

They have lost their inner guiding goodness and now have become accustomed to the attention/reward that evil doing gets them. No conscience is alone, there is always a little devil in one ear and an angel in the other.

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[Space Furret]

I am a Wiccan. Therefore I must be a Satan worshipper.
So my views of good/bad must be skewd!

But we (as humanity) are so quick to jump on whats 'wrong' and 'right'. Just like whats 'normal' and 'abnormal'. While in truth there is no such thing in which humanity could fit under these terms. We're not Borgs, we don't have one census that is carried out. To each their own, and to each their own opinion.

There is no good. There is no bad.
There is just opinions.

 

[LogicfromLogic]

What is good and bad?

Everyone's morals are different and what they see as right and/or wrong. Mine are pretty complex when it really comes down to it because I've been given some real reasons in real life as to why and how they came to be.

What is wrong to me:

I don't think it is morally correct to tell another person how to live. Trying to change who that person is because you don't like them I find to be a wicked and evil thing to do because you are essentially calling them ugly, and that who they are is bad when you turn around and tell them to be themselves. I think everybody is beautiful, and to try and take that beauty from them is sad, and morally wrong.

I think calling someone names and jumping to conclusions is wrong, as well as talking behind someone's back.
Lying unless used to help someone else in dire situations is morally wrong to me. I don't like being lied to, and I will never go out of my way to do it.

I hate it when something bad is happening in public or behind closed door yet you hear it and nobody does anything about it. They continue on their way as if nothing was happening. Someone could get seriously hurt, or if they are being bullied, they could have nowhere to go. they are stuck there being humiliated and you walk on because your life means more than theirs? No, that is not how things work honey. When I see someone just walk by someone in distress and do nothing because 'it's not my place', I want to crawl into a hole and die there because I've lost my hope for humanity in this world. How can you just watch suffering and do nothing? When I see someone littering, or an animal crying out for help or anything in trouble, my first instinct is to run yes. But because of my morals, I force myself to do what is right. Why? Because it is morally correct to help other beings in this world even though you are scared.

Hatred; hate is what causes pain all around the world.

What is morally right to me:

Love. I think loving your enemies is the best way to get rid of enemies, love helps you do such wondrous things. Love really does help the world run, because once you realize that love can be easier than hate once you get the feel of it, people would flock to it. There would be no suffering anymore left unheard.

Going out of your way to make the world a better place.

Loving Mother Earth enough to clean up after those who feel that she is trash.

How do you determine what is good and what is bad?

By what I feel deep down. When I see something, I let myself feel it emotionally, and decide whether I think it is morally correct. I put myself in that being's place and ask if i like it, or if I want to plead for help.

You would be surprised what empathy does for someone. You can't judge someone for their life because you weren't there, and if you were, think of why they did what they did. Why they are hateful and spiteful, or why they thought that was their best option. Understanding changes things.

Does going against societies' mutual view of right and wrong make you a bad person?

No.

Because society does a lot of things against one another that is neither morally correct or incorrect, or both. As I said before, everyone's morals are different. You will upset someone one way or another, and you'll make someone really happy with yours. Just don't let people corrupt yours unless you feel that you really should; just because the guy next door hates your neighbor doesn't mean that you have to too. It means that his morals and belief system is different.


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[Levusti]

To me, what is defining right and wrong is like defining love, hope, faith, sadness, distress, or anger.

It's kinda impossible because it means different things for different people.

And what about what is conventionally right and what is conventionally wrong? They get warped in a lot of situations.

Think about this: In World War II, many Christian men and women and many non-Christian men and women hid their Jewish friends. When the Gestapo questioned these people who protected their friends, they lied.

According to the morals of most religions and societies, lying was a WRONG thing to do. Even the Christans were in the wrong for lying. Even the non-Christians were in the wrong for lying. But they saved people! But they lied, which is still inherently wrong!

So I don't bother saying what is wrong and what is right. Only that the opinions and the integrity of others not be compromised. However, this privilege should not be taken to mean that your opinions are all right if it creates results that physically, mentally, socially, or emotionally harms another.

It seems like a cop out, what I'm saying, I know. However, I feel like that I am still growing. I have not understood the world well enough to know that what I believe is truly right or what others believe is truly wrong. Daily, I find myself understanding these principles more than I had in the past. I'm still growing. Ask me again in ten years. I'm sure I'll have a different answer. ;D

 

[Lady Sabine]

what is good and bad?

How do you determine what is good and what is bad?

Does going against societies' mutual view of right and wrong make you a bad person?

Good and bad do not exist. Moral and amoral (personal opinion), ethical and unethical (opinion held by larger group, such as society in general), but not good and bad.

On a personal basis, I determine it by the effect it has on society at large compared to the effect on the few. As a general rule of thumb, something that is good for society while not causing any real harm to a minority is good. Example: you may not burn tires in your backyard because it pollutes the air that everyone breathes.
However, there are some situations where it's hard to say which is which because the costs for either outcome are so high. Example: the atomic bombs were dropped because the USA estimated millions of people would perish or suffer debilitating wounds in an invasion of Japan.

And lastly yes, going against a widely-held ethical (socially unacceptable) viewpoint makes you a "bad person", at least for the society you are currently in. Sometimes society is wrong. More often, I would say, the person going against the grain is wrong. This isn't to say that being a "bad person" is an amoral decision nor should people start being good people just due to pressure, but on a whole human beings have survived because people follow the rules, get along, and don't do things that other people dislike. We are biologically designed to work together, to make sure each other are healthy & happy. Actions that go against this biological programming are usually inherently "bad".