Whether something is "right" or "wrong" is directly related

[dolo amber]

to the likelihood that you will get caught.

(I'm talking in general, like...society's moral compass.)

[dolo amber]

1. Kick

:kick:

[GOPisEvil]

2. It's not that certain acts are right or wrong...it's the likelihood of us

DOING them that's the question.

Driving in excess of the speed limit is wrong, but most of us do it. When I speed, I know it's wrong, but I do it anyway. Just because I choose to do a certain activity doesn't make it right.

[dolo amber]

3. That's the point I was trying to make

I would no more walk into a Best Buy or Circuit City and steal software right off the shelf...to do so would be not only incredibly stupid, but I'd feel like a criminal. HOWEVER...I seem (as do 99% of people I know) to have ZERO problem *borrowing* things from friends, downloading things online etc...knowhatimean?:shrug:

I think I probably put the question out there badly...:(

[SOteric]

6. All fine and good when you're talking of some of the more

flexible, cultural interpretations of that which is right and that which is wrong. Where it becomes murky is in matters like slavery, murder, rape and arson. The acts themselves may have a moral absolute (that's been debated for centuries, so we won't resolve it here). But whether or not they are moral absolutes, their inherent wrongness is not based on our getting caught, it's based on the perpetration of a reprehensible act.

So...where exactly is the line of stuffing ketchup packets into your coat pocket, speeding, downloading copyrighted material, adultery, lying, spousal abuse, grand theft, arson, murder. Most would draw the line considerable after the first and well before the last on that list.

[Az]

4. Socrates last words

Aside from the obvious "I drank what?" Were addressed to this very issue. He was accused of teaching his students evil. He countered that doing so is foolish for they would only take these lessons and do evil unto him. It is far more to your advantage to teach others to be good, for then they will be good to you. The single greatest tool we have to teach others with is our own personal actions. By demonstrating kindness and benevelance we encourage others to follow in our footsteps.

[supernova]

5. No there the concepts of right and wrong

I too download things and it is wrong. I file that under "I'm not perfect"

The other dimension is *why* you would purposely do something that is wrong. The woman who took the coffin pictures was wrong to do so, according to present law. But she was right to take those pics because they highlighted a larger truth: the cost of war is death.