Is always "doing the right thing" possible? How does it hurt to imagine no one has achieved it?

jan 4, 2001 | xzins

[xzins]

This is a philosophical debate I was part of. Got any philosophers out there in freeperland?

[Frohickey]

Yes. Including not doing a thing.

[riley1992]

Well, since I think this post may fall under 'Not the right thing to do', I would have to venture the answer is, No.

[anniegetyourgun]

"See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ." - Col. 2

[Happygal]

Depends on what you believe is 'right'. Everyones concept of what is 'right' differs. So therefore, I would imagine it is impossible to always 'do the right thing' in the eyes of everyone.

[Post Toasties]

Sometime, there is no obvious 'right thing' that can be done because either:

1) The only options all have comparably undesirable (or desirable) consequences or aspects.

2) Nothing can effectively be done which will materially improve the situation.

3) Somebody else is an exclusive better choice to do that 'right thing'.

4) What appears to be 'right' within one set of considerations may not be so under another.

Have I induced terminal ennui yet?

[xzins]

It's properly filed under "your questions/opinions" and further under the heading of miscellaneous. That is what those categories exist for. YOU as freeper/lurker are free to use "my preferences" to turn this variety of post off if you don't want it on your screen.

FR is great because it can INCLUDE so much and also PERMIT filters of things some aren't interested in.

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

It is not possible to always do the right thing. The definition of "the right thing" is open to interpretation. For example, a student caught cheating on a college exam should be expelled from the college. That would be the right thing to do to many people. The student would want a second chance and would prefer a lesser sanction. That would be the right thing to do in the student's opinion.

Bill Clinton should have been removed from office in the opinion of many, including me. That would have been the right thing to do. Others obviously disagreed and they thought the right thing to do was to let him get away with everything illegal he had done.

[DoughtyOne]

One person did achieve it. And if I am not mistake He stated that He didn't have any more tools available to Him than we do to us. That being said, I'm not trying to say that we're guilty for not achieving what He did. But I do feel that we should be the best we can, and strive to understand what is best.

[Pontiac]

Is always "doing the right thing" possible?

No. Since it is impossible to always know what is the “right thing” to do, it is not possible to always do the right thing.

[xzins]

it is impossible to always 'do the right thing' in the eyes of everyone.

So, is it your opinion that morality is relative? That there is no absolute morality?

Or are you just saying that you cannot get everyone to agree that someone has been "totally moral?" In that case, I agree with you.

But if there's an absolute morality, then it doesn't matter what others might think if someone abides perfectly by "The Perfect Moral Code."

[riley1992]

You're kinda touchy, aren't you?

[xzins]

Including not doing a thing.

Do you mean "non-action?" That if nothing is done, then no right thing is violated?

[Duke Nukum]

Yes, it is possible to "always do the right thing" but first you must realize that you are not who or what you think you are.

I firmly believe that at some level, we always know what the right thing to do in any given situation is, it is just that most of the time we choose not to do it. We blind ourselves to our true nature and then we bind ourselves to a false reality.

If you want to know why there is evil in the world, it is because we want evil in the world. We put it there, us. It is our choice. It is our decision.

Why we have made this decision, I do not know. Just like I do not know why so many times I choose to do the "wrong thing."

The inablilty to grasp this is the great failure of "liberalism" going all the way back to Pythagoras. Make that "unwillingness."

[nothingnew]

It's properly filed under "your questions/opinions" and further under the heading of miscellaneous. That is what those categories exist for. YOU as freeper/lurker are free to use "my preferences" to turn this variety of post off if you don't want it on your screen.

Amen Brother...now to your qestions...

Is always "doing the right thing" possible? How does it hurt to imagine no one has achieved it?

IMHO, the answer to your first question is NO.

Second question...Someone did, and He'll be back someday...Until then, we do as best we can to follow in His footsteps...again, just MHO.

FMCDH

[xzins]

Do you think any individual exists or ever existed who "always did the right thing?"

If you think no one has ever lived a life where they always did the right thing, does is sadden you to know that such a life has never been lived?

[Post Toasties]

There is also virtue in simply doing no harm (in some situations), which can be classified as doing the 'right thing' in a negative sense.

[xzins]

LOL. No terminal ennui, yet. Good responses, though. Are you assuming there is no such thing as an "absolute moral code?"

[Post Toasties]

Since I'm agnostic, I think I can say 'no'.

[xzins]

How would you include both justice and "a second chance" in a single "absolute moral code?" What would guide when a second chance would be offered?