Reading 00b

How do you normally determine if an action is right or wrong? What sort of ethical or moral framework do you depend on or utilize? What sort of things do you consider?

When I need to make a decision about whether something is right or wrong, the thing that I rely upon most is my instinctual gut feeling. I believe that this gut feeling determination is based on an ethical framework that is established when we are younger and then hold onto as we get older. Like most others, my parents tried to pass on some of their own moral framework to me by directing me on what is right and wrong when I was younger. I would say that this is probably one of the biggest factors in my ethical framework. The morals that parents pass on to children can differ greatly from one person to another, which is a big reason why people have different views on what is right or wrong.

One thing to consider when determining if an action is right or wrong is the legality of an action. Laws are established in order to create some kind of uniform guide on how people in a civilized society should conduct themselves. At its core, a law is just a uniform decision by a society that a specific action is wrong. As such, it can be a good thing to consider when deciding on the morality of an action. On the other hand, it may not always be a good thing to only consider the legality of an action alone because some laws may be unjust, such as the laws that used to exist regarding slavery and women’s rights. Laws may go against a person’s religious beliefs or morals, so they may not weigh laws as heavily when determining if an action is right or wrong. Because of these issues, I think the best thing to do when determining if an action is right or wrong is to consider the legality of the action, but do not base your entire decision on that factor.

Another extremely important consideration when determining if an action is right or wrong is to think about how the action will affect others. I would say that in a very general sense I agree with the utilitarianist idea that an action is good if it helps others and bad if it hurts others. I think this is a pretty good but rather simple way of thinking about things. If an action is going to harm someone else, then it is most likely wrong. There is an issue, however, with this idea because you can have a situation such as the famous Trolley Problem where harming one person would help many others. Because there are situations like this, you can’t apply this utilitarian idea in every situation. I believe you should consider it in each case, but not rely upon it soley.

All in all, I believe it is important to weigh a variety of different factors when determining if an action is right or wrong. Morality is not a black and white issue, so it is rare that an action will be entirely right or entirely wrong. I believe that people should take many factors into account, and ultimately make decisions when thinking about these issues as a whole.