Right and Wrong

The difference between right and wrong is something that has caused much debate among people for years and years. In great part because the knowledge that one possesses affects their perception of right and wrong. For example, if a man believes and understands that stealing is wrong he would feel that stealing is wrong, but if a man was never taught that stealing was wrong he would not feel that stealing is wrong.

However some would use this argument to allow them to break laws because they didn't 'know' that stealing was wrong or against the law. I believe my original argument to be true but it can only apply to those who have had not contact with those who understand stealing to be wrong. Otherwise they would come to understand that stealing is wrong by the example and teachings of others.

Socrates once said that a man would never do evil if he knew good. While his statement did have some good support I believe this statement to be partially false. Yes, a man who knows good would rather do good but if he does not have good things on his mind he may do something he would not have done otherwise. I believe that a man will not do evil if his mind is filled with not only knowledge of good but also good, wholesome, thoughts.

I believe that we are creatures of circumstance. In one circumstance we may make one choice in a given situation, but in another we may make another choice completely. For example, a man has been thinking about various things concerning women, given a chance this man would most likely resist very little to the enticings of pornography. That same man having had more wholesome thoughts is his head would be less likely to even think about viewing pornographic material. For another example, if a man has had been caused to be angry throughout his day he would be more likely to use violence to solve a situation. But, if he had been having a good day he would be more likely to attempt to talk it out rather than to solve it with violence.

Religion by far has had the greatest impact on what men perceive to be wrong and right. The Bible has always been and always will be the number one best selling book ever written. This book has been the place where men throughout the ages have discovered their question to that eternal question, 'What is right? What is wrong?'

The last point that I will discuss is that of the conscience. The majority of people, myself included, believe that men are born with the innate ability do discern wrong from right. This being said, 'Why do so many people wish to discuss the difference between wrong and right?' I think that this understanding is not so much what is wrong or right but rather what is true. Man is possessed with the desire to discover that which is true. But many ask the wrong question during this search. They ask 'What is right?' and 'What is wrong?' when the question they should be asking is 'What is true?'. It is this asking of the wrong question this has led to the many oft contradictory responses to the question of what is right and what is wrong.