Good and Evil; Moral and Immoral; Right and Wrong

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Most people have some concept of good and evil.  Good is that which is pleasant, or leads to pleasant outcomes.  Evil is its opposite:  misfortune, and the path to unpleasant outcomes.

In more practical and immediate terms, good is seen as the abundance of food, comfort, and health, among many other things.  Evil is pain, sorrow and loss of good things.

When it comes to morality, however, there is far more disagreement.  Many people aver that there is no such thing as morality or immorality, not in the objective sense.  They say that these are only opinions, or at most, changeable social constructs.  Others say that morality is defined by a basic universal source.

 

While we may mostly agree that killing people is both evil and immoral, there is ambiguity.  Most people would say that when it is necessary to kill someone in self-defense, protection of loved ones, or justifiable warfare, then killing in those cases is moral.  Others disagree.  They believe that killing a human is never justified under any circumstance.

 

Much more disagreement concerns sexuality.  Something like half of Americans consider homosexual relationships to be completely moral, while others say differently.  Other issues concerning sex are even murkier, for example, the condition known as gender dysphoria, and its proposed remedies.

 

Finally, there are issues that are so complicated that social experiments with them have resulted in tragic outcomes.  Eugenics is one of them.  Voluntary single parenthood is another.  Both had arguments on their side that seemed logical and irrefutable to many.  It was only in later years that the folly became apparent, and by then, much grievous damage had been done.

 

As society becomes ever more complex and unpredictable, there are those who say that no human mind is capable of devising a moral code that will serve well.  If not, then are we doomed?

 

Or, is there a universal moral authority that shows us the correct path?  If so, what is it, and how do we persuade our fellow humans to abide by its revelations?

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