So what is right and wrong? What is it inside of you that says a wrong is a wrong? Usually when someone says they know something is wrong, it’s only because they have been told that it’s wrong or that they feel that it's wrong. This feeling is the main purposes of our emotions. Emotions can be seen as an ethical fail safe when reason, which would otherwise govern ones actions, has been abandoned. We literally feel bad when bad things happen. That’s nature’s way of trying to keep us on the right track. When bad things happen to us or others, we suffer. And when we are in pain, we are forced to pay attention to the cause of that suffering as a means of aversion. All animals use this to survive. It’s personally beneficial then to take actions that do not result in suffering which could ultimately lead to death if ignored. Suffering is a way by which we can measure the rationality of our actions. Preferable actions or those actions that result in the state we want and need to live in to survive, naturally relieve our suffering compared a state brought about by irrational actions which do not. So if we say we want peace, freedom, and happiness and then take actions that do not give us this, we are being irrational. What we are doing is wrong.
Because no separation can be made between a cause and its effect, the label of right or wrong apply to both action and its outcome. So if someone robs you, that person is wrong because they did the action. But why do we call some actions right and others wrong? There must be some sort of universal standard because the vast majority of us seem to agree on fundamental ethical principles. We may all agree that eating an apple is a right action. That is; No wrong is taking place while the apple is being eaten. The same goes for riding a bike. Reading a book. Holding hands. Admiring nature. Actually, if you try to list all the actions a person could take that are a right, it may very well approach infinity. Nearly every single thing you could possibly do in this life is ok to do. Nearly. This is where the wrongs come in. If the rights are nearly infinite, it stands to reason that the wrongs are as well. But when you attempt to list all the conceivable wrongs, you quickly find this is not the case. In fact, there are only a few.
- The first is LYING. This is the act of being deliberately untruthful.
- The second is THEFT. This is taking another person’s personal property without their consent.
- The third is TRESPASS. This is the wrongful entry onto the land or personal living space of another.
- The fourth is ASSAULT. This is a physical attack against another person.
- The fifth is RAPE. This is a sexual act inflicted upon another person without their consent.
- And the sixth is MURDER. This is the taking of another person’s life.
Any act you can think of that negatively effects another person, falls into these six categories. Although these wrongs are described by six distinct words and definitions, they all share something in common with each other. There is something deep within each wrong that binds them - and will forever separate them from a right. A simple analysis of each one reveals the connection.
- Lying: When someone lies, what are they doing? They are denying another person the truth. They are denying another person the ability to acquire it. Because all of reality is open to objective observation, the information is freely disseminated among all people, animals, and the environment. This free flow of information has allowed natural evolution. So the restriction of truth from another is the denial of the objective information they use to rationalize and survive. Lying is denying a person the ability to make the right choices and take right actions. It’s the theft of truth.
- Theft: The act of theft is simply taking personal property without permission.
- Assault: The act of assault is the theft of a person’s physical and mental well-being.
- Rape: The act of rape is the theft of person’s choice to sexually associate with whom they choose.
- Trespass: The act of trespass is the theft of a person’s security in their own home or dwelling place.
- Murder: The act of murder is the theft of a person’s life.
So did you catch the link? No matter what wrong is committed, no matter what category it falls under, a wrong is always and forever a form of THEFT. Theft is the divide between what is good and what is evil. Just as rational proofs can be rendered in mathematics, the same can be applied to ethics. When a correct answer is given in mathematics it is rational. When it’s wrong, it is irrational. It turns out that the same is true for ethics. A right action is rational and a wrong action is irrational. Here’s how it works:
Since all wrongs are theft, if a person steals something from someone else, what does the action convey? The act of theft is saying that personal property rights do exist and do not exist at the same time. The person stealing is saying personal property rights don’t exist so they have the right to take what they want from you. But he is also saying that personal property rights do exist because he want this for himself. Obviously, this thinking is inherently contradictory. If everyone acted in the same illogical way, everyone would be freely taking everything from each other to the point that no one would have anything long enough to actually use the object they took which would completely defeat the purpose of taking it in the first place. We own things for a reason; that we may use it for a specific purpose which requires a specific duration of ownership for its proper usage.
If it were universally true that theft was just as reasonable as breathing, there would be so much theft, murder etc. that coherent human societies would never be able to form. Families would never form. We would not exist. But you might say, even if it was deemed ok to steal, I would never do it because I know it’s wrong. But, if you’ve never contemplated a rational proof of ethics, you can’t really know that a wrong is a wrong. Because this is universally true, it applies between any number of people anywhere in the universe. If it’s rational here, it’s rational everywhere.
a wrong is always and forever a form of THEFT
Now, there may be some die hard skeptics out there that could say, "So what? You can prove that theft is illogical, but that only works if logic is valid. If you use logic to conclude that a theft is wrong and irrational, then you must prove the validity of logic."
Logic is the use of thought to validate the sense data from our experiences. Here’s how it works. The thoughts that we use are made of words. Words are simply symbols or concepts for the reality we experience. Table equals that thing. Sun equals that thing. Objects are nouns. Adjectives are used to describe the attributes of those objects. Verbs are used to describe the actions of those objects and prepositions are used to describe relationships between those objects. These components build our sentences and thus our thoughts. And in order for us to acquire those words and the things associated with them, we must utilize our senses. As we mature from birth, sight, sound, touch, taste and smell are all physically associated with the corresponding words we learn in a given language. Because of this, logical conclusions are anchored to a foundation of objective experience. When a conclusion can be universally verified by others, it can considered true. People such as solipsists who argue against the validity of objective truth, don’t realize that the use of language to argue against the existence of objective truth is inherently contradictory and inherently self-defeating. Let’s use an example:
They might say, "There is no such thing as truth."
And you reply, "So you are saying that truth does not exist?"
And they would respond, "Yes."
And you reply, "So it’s true that truth does not exist?" And they respond…
The reason it works this way is because of the loop. Objective reality, objective truth is required for a functioning language. The very same language the critic used to try to debunk objective truth. It can never be done. So when people attempt to deny objective truths such as those that are the natural outcome of the logical process, they have taken themselves out of the loop and are no longer connected to objective reality. When this happens, a mind is forced to live an illusion. They’re living a lie. Because their minds are out of the loop, they are more likely to repeat past mistakes or find equally illogical ways to change their circumstances. This is the inspiration for the famous quote:
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions."
So let’s review:
- Wrongs are irrational actions
- Irrational actions cause suffering
- Logic is valid because it's a tool of language which is connected to objective experience
In short: Theft is wrong. Everything else is right.
So now we know the difference between right and wrong.
-Brian N.
Article #1: Islam: The Radical Truth