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]

1. You're saying that if I kill someone, I forfeit the right to live? How so? Wouldn't the society forfeit the right to live when it executes the murderer then?

2. Right, you can't find someone guilty of stealing when he's only thought about doing it. However, how would you know what my intentions are with the grenade? It's like people growing weed in their basements and police raids the house and arrest the owners. The police would be in the wrong again? Or if I am arrested for taking nude pictures of children in sexual acts and selling them. It's my choice, right? How about DUIs? It's my choice to drink and drive, why should I be arrested?

Once again, the case of whose free will has precedence.

3. About second hand smoke... If I was a pussy for sitting there first and complaining, you'd be a butthole for coming later and blowing smoke in my face. So again, whose free will has precedence. I want to sit there, but you want to blow smoke in my face.

This is a problem. You are trampling on my right as someone with the same free will as you to sit in my favorite spot. By your standard, you can go up to anyone on the street and blow smoke "O's" on their faces and get away with it.

4. You said, and I quote "inforcing laws against something that isn't wrong is wrong. Someone chose to do w/e and you didn't let them". The first bit, is passably acceptible, the second part is problematic; the example/premise doesn't support the conclusion. If someone choose to do wrong (the "w/e" that you mentioned), and I didn't let them, I would still be in the wrong?

I apologize for that one, I had written out why I didn't think foreclosure laws were wrong, but the post got messed up and I had to rewrite it all and forgot that part.
Foreclosure laws aren't wrong because the person made a choice not to pay, and in so doing, they also made a choice to lose the property.

Well now, this is confusing. You said if I didn't let them do whatever they want, I would be the one committing a wrong act. So why would foreclosure laws not be wrong here?

In the case of the prostitute, the neighbors are in the wrong. You weren't affecting anyone directly by being a prostitute. the men might have been in the wrong, and the neighbors were definately wrong. By hurting the prostitute (who did nothing wrong by charging money for sex seeing as his/her client was willing to pay.) the neighbors were in the wrong.

This is interesting. You seem to think that free will belongs to only certain individuals. Here, you seem to think that I can whore around all I want because I have the free will to do so, but you don't think that the neighbors can exercise their free will to remove the prostitute. One way free will?

And how do drugs affect anyone else's free will???

How about the free will of those who want to live in a world free of drugs? Whose free will is more important?

I didn't say all laws are wrong. I was saying that laws against things that aren't wrong are wrong themselves.

I didn't say that you said all laws are wrong =). I quoted Thomas Paine to make my point about experience being the guide to right and wrong.

How do you feel about laws that protect people from themselves? Let's say laws that incarcerate the mentally ill?