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Ok i havent posted in the Philosophy forum for a while. ANd this has been on mind for a quite a while. I need some starting points. What is a good basic definition of the following: morality, ethics, values, good and evil, right and wrong. I certainly recognize the concept of wrong, but worry about evil. Is evil merely a manifestation of my biases against yours? Are there such things as universal values? (Very important question.)

This will take some time.

Wow... that is deep, and going to be tough to answer. To me, there will be general guidelines, or certain constants that will be evident throughout most peoples answers... but this will cause a mass debate. I will give this a shot.

morality - What is right, just, etc. in human behaviour

ethics - Guidelines, rules, set of principles for actions

values - That which one feels is important

good - That which is gerenally positive or desired

evil - That which is looked as negative, unfavourable

right - Seen as an act in accordance with what is true, honourable, benificial

wrong - That which is incorrect, erroneous, dishonourable.

Are there such things as universal values?

No. It is impossible to find one value that everyone would agree is important.

Yeah i seem to be having the same problem i know there is answer but there are so many of them but what i dont get is the values which are subjective, as is the concept of "good" & "evil". Further, many organized religions will give you differing interpretations of what is specifically immoral, and some have certain acts that are labeled wrong in their book yet will tell you that it no longer matters.

Go figure.

Well I feel that if we "listen" to our inner voice and are in touch with ourselves then we will instinctivly know what is evil, morally wrong, ethically right and so on. So, yes I do believe in universal values. It ddoesn't have to be taught by the church but a matter of us being in "touch" with our inner self, soul or whatever you may want to call it.

Yep I am in a hippy mood today

Deep down we all have a sense of what is right, wrong... it is a matter of whether or not we listen.

Ignorance silences purity.

Evil: Against the morals of the majority

In a society where the majority are Evil, then someone doing Good would by thought of as Evil. So...my definition works perfectly fine

Aiding somebody is not evil. You are doing what is recessary to help that person... I doubt helping to ease their pain is evil.

Morality is used to refer to what we would call moral standards and moral conduct (a system of principles and judgments based on cultural, religious, and philosophical concepts and beliefs, by which humans determine whether given actions are right or wrong) while ethics is used to refer to the formal study of those standards and conduct (the systematic study of morality).

Originally posted by Smallville
Aiding somebody is not evil. You are doing what is recessary to help that person... I doubt helping to ease their pain is evil.

Depends what if I kill you to stop the pain you get from suffering.

Or what if I kill you to stop the pain from your neighbour who hates the music you listen to late at night?

In both cases I stop suffering and help somebody but is it good? or Evil?

use google.

type

define: (word here)

and it will show the definitions for you.