Is what's "right or wrong" just an illusion?

Think about it, how do we really know what's right or wrong? Sure our parents, media, teacher, peers, etc has told us what they think is right or wrong, but is this truly the case? Back then people thought slavery was "right", then as the years went on they deemed it as "wrong" and immoral. So with this being said, what is right or wrong completely up to the individual?

True. There is no real objective standard for morality. Our concepts of what is right and wrong derive from what is socially acceptable, but that changes with time.

Right on wrong is subjective to the culture. We know what's right and wrong for the society we live in.

Think about it, how do we really know what's right or wrong? Sure our parents, media, teacher, peers, etc has told us what they think is right or wrong, but is this truly the case? Back then people thought slavery was "right", then as the years went on they deemed it as "wrong" and immoral. So with this being said, what is right or wrong completely up to the individual?

lol_haha_dead

No, what is "right" or "wrong" is up to society, as such words lose all meaning outside of a social context. They are words describing the proper way to act in a society. With the point being to promote activities which are beneficial to society (and therefore human survival), while deterring activities which are harmful to society.

Now, society can certainly be WRONG about what is "right" and "wrong", insofar as society's values fail to be beneficial to society. But "right" and "wrong" are ultimately determined by the society in which one lives, not by the individual. Concepts of "right" and "wrong" are ultimately for the purpose of benefitting society. And that's for the ultimate purpose of human survival, since humans are an inherently social species. The problem is that society can change VERY quickly. Sometimes society changes faster than our ability to adapt our morality to the changing social environment.

There is two sides to everything, it's all about how you percieve it.

Think about it, how do we really know what's right or wrong? Sure our parents, media, teacher, peers, etc has told us what they think is right or wrong, but is this truly the case? Back then people thought slavery was "right", then as the years went on they deemed it as "wrong" and immoral. So with this being said, what is right or wrong completely up to the individual?

lol_haha_dead

Freedom is slavery. I thought you knew that...

The only wrong thing anyone can do is harm another person.

Yes morality is subjective.

I'm happy to consider positive feelings axiomatically good and negative feelings axiomatically bad, and it thus follows that any action which increases total positive feelings is good and any action which decreases total negative feelings is bad. This is, of course, independent of social mores.sigh-_-

[QUOTE="sigh-_-"]I'm happy to consider positive feelings axiomatically good and negative feelings axiomatically bad, and it thus follows that any action which increases total positive feelings is good and any action which decreases total negative feelings is bad. This is, of course, independent of social mores.R_Dawkins

[QUOTE="R_Dawkins"][QUOTE="sigh-_-"]I'm happy to consider positive feelings axiomatically good and negative feelings axiomatically bad, and it thus follows that any action which increases total positive feelings is good and any action which decreases total negative feelings is bad. This is, of course, independent of social mores.sigh-_-

Morality is entirely subjective. If society decided murder was acceptable, then it'd be "right". It's all a matter of perspective. JinjonatorX

I'd like to clarify one thing though...a society which deemed murder and theft and rape to be morally acceptable would also be a society which is either about to collapse, or has ALREADY collapsed and is on the verge of disappearing. Sure, a society COULD collectively decide that murder (specifically the murder of people WITHIN that society) is morally "right". However, murder tends to not be something which contributes to a stable and productive society. That causes a breakdown in society, which leaves the entire society vulnerable to all sorts of threats. There is a very good reason why most societies DON'T condone or allow the murder of their own people.

Now...the murder of OTHER people is a different matter. If a society is based on being a jock, then it's not at all outside of the realm of possibility that that society will tolerate the murder of NERDS. The nerds aren't considered "one of us", they are considered "one of them". And while societies generally don't condone the murder of "their own", societies have largely had no problem murdering the **** out of "the other guy."

That's because it's an antiquated moral idea. It's an idea of "other tribes will likely kill my people, so my tribe will do better if we kill the other guys first." That's something that ABSOLUTELY might make sense in a specific context, a specific social environment. The problem is that society has become a lot more interconnected in the modern age, and we still hold onto antiquated ideas of how to DEFINE "us" and "them".

Case in point...there are people who don't consider AMERICAN Muslims to be Americans. When referring to Muslims, it's stuff like "THEY either should adapt to OUR culture, or get the hell out of OUR country." And the same thing applies all over the planet. People fashioning their moral ideas of "us" from an antiquated paradigm which no longer applies. For all intents and purposes, "they" now ARE "us". But the morality lags behind the actual societal shifts, and as such we get people fighting perceived moral battles against those who they should be working with.

Instead of thinking in terms of right or wrong, I'd look at the consequences and perspectives. Personally I think they yield better result than thinking in terms of right and wrong

you're an axiom :xsigh-_-