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Morality

By Gordon Francis Corbett

The Oxford English Dictionary defines the adjective "right" as, "...3a.a.  That which is consonant with equity or the light of nature;  that which is morally just or due."

My father taught me that living truly well requires telling right from wrong and standing by the right.  Abnegation of this sacred duty begins a long slide into the abyss of immorality.

We may disagree on what constitutes "right."  We may discuss its nature.  We may debate its results.  We may never abjure its guidance.

Cynics proclaim the opposite:  that only fools live by any transcendent code, and that any truly "smart" man follows the star of expediency.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Expediency is a sword whose edge eventually and inevitably turns on its user.  It strips away his gains and slices his soul to the core.

So, we must learn how to distinguish right from wrong, using the branch of philosophy called "ethics."  Many ethicists have created many ethical codes.  Most of these disagree, and mostly about their premises.

Create or adopt a premise, reason from it logically, and see where your reason leads.  If you hate your conclusion, you may have reached it by reasoning incorrectly from a good premise or by reasoning correctly from a bad premise.  In any case, do not immediately accept your work as done.  Wait a week or two and revisit your topic.  Check your premise.  Is it right?  Review your logic.  Is it right?  Verify your facts.  Are they correct?   Do other sources' citations disagree?  If so, check the backgrounds of all of the sources, yours and the others.  Some speak for sponsors unworthy of your trust.  

You may find help in several different philosophic departments.  Logic will help you to distinguish between correct and incorrect argumentation.  Epistemology will help you to discover truth.  Ethics will teach you how to act generally, and the natural law will show you how to treat your fellow men.  You can learn more about these studies in a good university or merely from studying good books.  I recommend books by Ayn Rand, David Kelley, and many others of the Objectivist school.

Sometimes factual information changes.  Scientists occasionally discover completely new knowledge, shattering information previously thought valid, and thereby altering a decision you are pondering.  

Example:  consider the alleged phenomenon of extra-sensory perception, otherwise known as ESP.  For centuries, people have claimed that they have learned or experienced things impossible to have been learned through any of the five senses.  At some time in the future, scientists may discover that at least some of these claims are genuine.  If someone relates to you a hair-raising but seemingly impossible story supposedly involving ESP, some recent discovery may have validated or disproven it.

Still, science can only tell us new things.  It cannot say how we should use them.  That knowledge flows from ethics and the natural law.  If our successors heed them, they will have the greatest possible chance to live in prosperity, in freedom, and in joy.

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