Right and Wrong Options

[elaboratedream]

Lets start this out by saying that I don't want this to turn into a debate about religion. We have FAR too many of those.


As a society, we have a detailed code of what is right and what is wrong. Laws are put in place to try to discourage people from doing something that is "wrong."

But where do these concepts of right and wrong come from? Don't say that it comes from some sort of higher power. First, that's all bs, but more importantly, these concepts of right and wrong have been around far longer than any modern religions.

What makes something right? More importantly, what makes something wrong?

discuss.

[Spirited Away]

Something I wrote relevant to one aspect of the topic at hand.... so repost! Yay!

For a number of people, I agree that societal pressure may play reason to their conforming to philanthropy. For a few others, I truly believe altruism is instinct.

Each society is made up of individuals who generally carry similar thoughts of what is fair and what is moral (though not always). I think this societal pressure can be explain if we focus on the smaller picture: indviduals. Individuals may display concern for others for selfish reasons or purely for the sake of what is right. Rightness in this case, I think, comes from experience: past and present, and I agree with you that the instinct to survive does influence how we act upon these circumstances. For example, people may want to rid starvation in Africa because it feels right. Why does it feels right? Because any kind of obstruction to our survival is wrong. Why is it wrong? Because since our inception and experiencing life, our innate goal is the continuation of it thus.