Right & Wrong

This may go against the grain for some, but I don’t believe in right or wrong. At least, not from a universal or absolute point of view. Can something be right or wrong? Of course, but it’s subjective and related to the judge or jury, aka humans.

Murder is probably the first thing to come to mind as universally wrong. Personally, I agree. Not a fan. But where and what holds us to this wrong or sin? God? What about the Crusades? What about the Aztecs believing in sacrifice? What about self-defense or an accident?

The Bible and most religious works are anti-murder. Now there are and will always be zealots who may twist the words of their religion to suit their needs and justify killing. Aztecs sacrificed themselves believing to be feeding their god to allow the sun to keep moving. All these could simply be seen as justifications, including self-defense or an accident, but justification doesn’t determine if an action is universally right or wrong does it?

Maybe let’s define some of these words. Right is “being in accordance with what is just, good, or proper” per Merriam-Webster. Wrong is “something wrong, immoral, or unethical”. Merriam-Webster’s definition of wrong seems wrong as I’m not a fan of using a word to define itself. Justification means “the action of showing something to be right or reasonable”.

Basically we are talking about morality and ethics. Morality and ethics are set by society and religion and then refined by ourselves. Justification is essentially trying to make something that is considered wrong, right. Almost by definition of justification, you could argue right and wrong must exist if you feel a need to defend your actions. But if right and wrong is defined by those around you, then you are really justifying based on being told the action is wrong.

Let’s take for example lying is wrong. Or so we are told in the Bible and by most parents or parental figures. As such, when we are caught in a lie, most people feel shame or guilt and feel a need to justify the lie. But what if we were never told lying is wrong? Would we still learn to lie? Would we still feel shame or guilt when caught? Is the shame and guilt about the lie, or simply about being caught?

Lies are about deceit. You lie to someone in order to deceive them so they don’t know the truth. The reason or justification for the lie is irrelevant for this discussion. The question we are trying to determine is if lies are universally and absolutely wrong. Lying seems to be in the heart of our nature. We learn to lie as kids from an early age. Usually these lies are because we want something and will lie to get it. I wouldn’t be surprised if newborns learned to lie once they realized they get attention when they cry. Some people believe you sometimes need to let your baby cry themselves out so they don’t learn they can get attention whenever they want.

Lying is also natural in nature. Most animals use camouflage to either hide from predators or stalk their prey. This is deceit. Now nature could be wrong, but maybe nature is just itself. Nature doesn’t specifically target a specific person or animal because of what they are wearing or what they posted online. Nature isn’t purposefully cruel. It’s indifferent. Nature doesn’t have morals or ethics. It just acts and reacts.

As such, it seems to me, unless a deity exists that set the rules on right and wrong universally, right and wrong is defined by humans to control behavior. So similar to our discussion on about everything being permitted, right and wrong seem to possibly be constructs to limit our actions. So if no right and wrong exist and we believe everything is permitted, what’s to stop us from doing whatever? Responsibility…