Reply to the below discussion and cite all work.
Palmer Elliott
MondayJul 11 at 3:28pm
What does “right” really mean? How do you know when something is right or wrong?
The basis of making right or wrong ethical decisions is a long-standing debate among those who have walked on the earth. The foundation in determining right from wrong is important in every person’s life because it is what everyone lives by in their profession, in their family life, and in all aspects of living (Ferrell et al., 2022). The first question pertains to what “right” actually is. For a simplistic answer, Luke 18:19 where Jesus speaks that “…No one is good except God alone.” (NASB 2020) So, what is “right” and “good” is what God is, says, does, speaks, and what is in his nature. This is a distasteful argument to those who are unbelievers in the Lord of the Bible, but there is no grounded ethical standing for any other belief.
Subjectivism tries to make sense of the problem of right and wrong stating that each person has their own perspective of what is good and there should be no judgment on any other person’s perspective. This cannot be backed by logical sense because every person would do whatever they desire and cause chaos in the world. It is more widely accepted that people are imperfect instead of knowing what right and wrong are on their own.
That is why a belief in one God, the God of the Bible, gives objective truth to morality and ethics. An argument for a universe that has an objective standard of morality has to rely on the fact that morality is something that is outside the physical world and is something that is metaphysical. (How do we know right and wrong? 2021)
This leads back to the main point that God is our standard of what is morally good. Imperfect humans could not make anything perfect, including perfect morality. Jesus sums up what is good in God’s eyes as he says “The foremost is, ‘Hear, Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one; 30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31, NASB 2020) For then what is love if it is good? The Bible states that “Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant. 5 It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered, 6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails;” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8, NASB 2020)
Now, we truly know what is deemed right and good.
References
Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2022). Business ethics: Ethical decision making and cases. Cengage Learning.
Foundation Publications, publisher for the Lockman Foundation. (2020). Nasb: New american standard bible.
How do we know right and wrong? Is there a God? (2021, June 30). Retrieved July 11, 2022, from https://www.is-there-a-god.info/clues/rightandwron
