How do you decide what is right or wrong to do in a situation?

[pearl]

2) The circumstances and consequences. The when, where, what will result, amount, and so on. The foreseen good consequences must be equal or greater to the bad, but there can be bad.

I think this is the key. Not only the present consequences but the far- reaching consequences of an act for all concerned. However, in what is presented here doesn't allow much time for discission making process and one is dependent of a moral compass.

 

[Hermit Philosopher]

Dear @Leahpolitan_icecream,

@sun rise below, reminds us of two things: a) when it comes to thought experiments in the field of ethics, they differ from reality in that any aspect of urgency is removed and b) in decision-making, we are limited to assessing outcomes from the aspect of probability.

The premise is that we know with certainty two possible outcomes. But most of the time we don't. We have possibly some facts and some assumptions. So my first step assuming a snap decision is not needed is to ask what we do and don't know and what is subject to assumption and conjecture.

In real life, the degree of immediacy in an action, defines whether it justifiably can be classed as a moral choice or simply is a matter of instinctive reaction to circumstance.

Often, the ethical aspect of an action is established in hindsight. Still, it is far from irrelevant, as our judgement of it has great impact, both on our perception of the agent and on our perception of the consequences of the event in question.

If nothing else, thought experiments in the field of ethics let us know what we would ideally liked to have done in a given situation, thereby showing us our moral standpoint.


Humbly
Hermit

 

[Clara Tea]

Title question is enough
But a tad bit more direction, what do you consider for these? How do you do it? 25 Moral Dilemmas | Pixi's Blog

I just act by instinct with morals and it helps me care for people, I don't think long or anything or have a process so I hope to learn here because sometimes I regret what I did and have no way to answer why

Many theists say, I'm right, you're wrong. Especially about different religions "My God is true, your God is False."

Then there is the peaceful Muslim religion, whose holy words speak of killing infidels (must not say it's not peaceful, or they will get another Mafia-style assassination order called a Fatwa, just as they made a Fatwa against Solmon Rusdie for writing Satanic Verses that criticizes the Muslim faith. The Muslim religion not only asserts that their God is right and other Gods are wrong, some Muslims consider it a holy mission to murder. This is perhaps why we see so many Muslim terrorists. Is it a misunderstanding of the holy words? Maybe?

"Right" is sometimes taken to mean following God (or Christ). Yet, while God says "thou shalt not kill," some Christian preachers and followers go to wars and make torture camps. The word of God is clearly understood, but also clearly disobeyed.

Deciding what is right or wrong is a simple matter of recognizing Satan. It is complicated for some, who want to "fight evil" but for others it is easy....one does not fight and kill if one is following God.

Satan rules by fear, greed, and deception.

One can recognize Satan by merely looking at the trails (blood trails of war and torture camps, trails of greed (cutting tax for the rich at the expense of the working middle class, and trails of environmental damage). Satan hates nature, because God made it and balanced it so well

 

[Clara Tea]

I think this is the key. Not only the present consequences but the far- reaching consequences of an act for all concerned. However, in what is presented here doesn't allow much time for discission making process and one is dependent of a moral compass.

President W. Bush, the Religious Right candidate made wars and torture camps, and spied on US citizens against the laws of the Constitution, and wrecked the economy and ecology. He used his moral compass. A compass is a device used to draw a perfect circle, it has a sharp point and a pencil. Round and round he went with his compass, never getting anywhere.

We have moral compasses, but also many choose to ignore them, and this is where the problem lies.

 

[Clara Tea]

Dear @Leahpolitan_icecream,

@sun rise below, reminds us of two things: a) when it comes to thought experiments in the field of ethics, they differ from reality in that any aspect of urgency is removed and b) in decision-making, we are limited to assessing outcomes from the aspect of probability.



In real life, the degree of immediacy in an action, defines whether it justifiably can be classed as a moral choice or simply is a matter of instinctive reaction to circumstance.

Often, the ethical aspect of an action is established in hindsight. Still, it is far from irrelevant, as our judgement of it has great impact, both on our perception of the agent and on our perception of the consequences of the event in question.

If nothing else, thought experiments in the field of ethics let us know what we would ideally liked to have done in a given situation, thereby showing us our moral standpoint.


Humbly
Hermit

Indeed, you are right. Lust is instinctive, love is a moral choice.

Ethics can usually be predetermined, and hindsight is not necessary. However, covering up bad ethics is just a matter of Public Relations (PR), which entails changing definitions. White becomes black, up becomes down. In the case of torture camps, attorney John Woo (Professor at Chapman University) redefined the word "torture" so that no torture could exist anywhere (Hitler didn't torture by those standards). Redefining is another way of lying. Wikipedia was rewritten by the Central Intelligence Agency, and used to read that W. Bush handled criticisms about torture camps. Couldn't we say the same thing about Hitler?

 

[Clara Tea]

Any time you have to make a quick decision concerning unfamiliar circumstances,of course the percentages that determine

May be this kind of compass, to take a position.

I'm aware, but I was pointing out that some compasses lead in a circle, and people can get lost.

 

[Stonetree]

I'm aware, but I was pointing out that some compasses lead in a circle, and people can get lost.

Good point, I wonder how many decisions made in that administration were made by the Vice President.
I deleted as my post was a knee jerk reaction and I,now, see the reason you based your choice of compass to work better to make your point..

 

[Lain]

Very informative thank you

Have you ever had a weird result from your process here?

No. I've had weird reactions, such as that all lies are intrinsically evil. People often object to that more than they object to the resultant sexual codes or laws about what acts in war are just, and I can not for the life of me comprehend why.

 

[Nakosis]

Don't smart people spend time on it? Professors, I met an ethics professor, how is it not rational?

I suspect they would have many rational theories and opinions but no actual answers. IMO, the rationale may exist but it is locked behind a subconscious we can't access.

Fear may cause us to dislike or hate something. We can feel the fear but knowing the actual cause of that fear is difficult.

 

[Sheldon]

Intuition, to me, is just the brain working out the situation, and making decisions regarding it, faster than I can be consciously aware of it. So I let my brain do that. But because my brain can make mistakes in both perception and judgment, I think it's always a good idea, if time permits, to consciously question the validity of what the mind intuits to be the proper response.

You mean like starting a sentence with. But?

 

[pearl]

We have moral compasses, but also many choose to ignore them, and this is where the problem lies.

What is moral to one is not the same morality for another, as for Bush he believed he was pre-ordained to be president, it seems that was his moral compass. After many other failed endeavors, he 'found Jesus'.

 

[1213]

How do you decide what is right or wrong to do in a situation?

For me there is three basic guidelines that I think all come to "love your neighbor as yourself".

Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not give false testimony," "You shall not covet," [TR adds "You shall not give false testimony,"] and whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love doesn't harm a neighbor. Love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.
Romans 13:8-10

And:

”All things are lawful for me," but not all things are expedient. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be brought under the power of anything.
1 Corinthians 6:12

"All things are lawful for me," but not all things are profitable. "All things are lawful for me," but not all things build up."
1 Corinthians 10:23

By those, I nothing of this world should rule what I do, I want my decisions be based on God’s will, love, because I think it is good. And that means, I want to love others, because I think it does nothing harmful for others. And also, what I do, I want to be something that makes things truly better.