(no subject)
This is a short essay I just wrote for Philosophy. I thought you might enjoy it.
There is no clear cut definition of what is good, and what is evil. These are merely opinions perceived by our mind and determined mostly by societies common standards. Therefore the individual decides goodness, not a single source. Of course such things as religion, law, and family have a profound impact on what we hold to be evil. Also situations may determine our beliefs on good and evil. Let us the example of revenge and justice. Assume a man kills another man’s brother. One might say that the second man is entitled to bring the murderer to justice by means of death. Another person might disagree, believing that all murder is evil and the second man is only seeking revenge. This proves that society contains many sets of morals. In today’s society there is a heated debate over the legality of abortion. Pro-lifers believe that abortion is murder and should be strictly prohibited. But many people oppose this under the constituently protected freedom of choice. Does a law make something right? Only the individual can decide. Another firm example of societies profound effect on morals can be seen through the church. Hundreds of years ago the Christian church was much more strict with what it considered to be good and evil. Many things we claim as freedom of choice would have been severely punished in years passed. Yet we see that same church organizing a powerful Inquisition, which employed many gruesome methods of torture to force confessions of evil out of sometimes-innocent people. What is good and evil is very obviously undefined when looking at world society as a whole, and the proof of this is endless. Therefore it is up to us to decide what actions we take and under what grounds we make them.
There is no clear cut definition of what is good, and what is evil. These are merely opinions perceived by our mind and determined mostly by societies common standards. Therefore the individual decides goodness, not a single source. Of course such things as religion, law, and family have a profound impact on what we hold to be evil. Also situations may determine our beliefs on good and evil. Let us the example of revenge and justice. Assume a man kills another man’s brother. One might say that the second man is entitled to bring the murderer to justice by means of death. Another person might disagree, believing that all murder is evil and the second man is only seeking revenge. This proves that society contains many sets of morals. In today’s society there is a heated debate over the legality of abortion. Pro-lifers believe that abortion is murder and should be strictly prohibited. But many people oppose this under the constituently protected freedom of choice. Does a law make something right? Only the individual can decide. Another firm example of societies profound effect on morals can be seen through the church. Hundreds of years ago the Christian church was much more strict with what it considered to be good and evil. Many things we claim as freedom of choice would have been severely punished in years passed. Yet we see that same church organizing a powerful Inquisition, which employed many gruesome methods of torture to force confessions of evil out of sometimes-innocent people. What is good and evil is very obviously undefined when looking at world society as a whole, and the proof of this is endless. Therefore it is up to us to decide what actions we take and under what grounds we make them.