Hmmm, now that's a stumper for most people, I think! Echo of Feithy, here.
-Rae
nearly everything. it's a pretty non-overlapping venn diagram, usually.
things that are good are not always right. for example, eating chocolate before dinner may be good, but because it spoils your dinner it's not right. also, things that are right are not always good. it is right that we all have to die sometime, but it sure as hell isn't always good...
<table><tr><td> The same different between Wrong and Evil. "Right" means that something is done correctly in the eyes of one's peers. It is a way to better define fairness. "Good" is something a little more global that is more applicable to everyone or a larger majority or community.
Every decision has a right or wrong (or neutrality) that has an effect that is good or bad (or neutral).
-Babysitting your younger brother is the right thing to do, whhich allows your mom to work at night which is good for the finances, even if it means you cannot go out that night.
-Being healthy is a "good" thing, and to accomplish that the "right" thing to do would be to eat less fast food. I'd sure miss eating those Rally hamburgers though.
-Supporting your favorite musician is a "good" thing. So the "right" thing to do is to buy their CDs when you want to listen to them. I'd sure miss downloading MP3s though.
See, they're not always easy answers. Many times doing the right thing is hard so that we can contribute to the good.
-Paying more taxes because you make more money is "good" for society, but not fair ("right") for the individual (I believe in higher taxes for higher income).
"Good" is not something we do. "Good" is something we achieve. "Right" is what we do to achieve the "Good".
Unfortunately doing the "right" thing is very hard alot of times. That's too bad, because if it was easy then maybe we wouldn't have so many problems in the world.
If I had to say what the difference between 'right' and 'good' when one wishes to differentiate between the two I would say that 'right' is a normative term, while 'good' is an ethical term. That is, 'right' is a term that is usually used to reflect accepted soceital standards. Especially, soceital standards that are codifed as law. (Of course 'right' can mean 'correct' as in '2+2=4 is right,' but you probably don't think that 'right' would be interchangeable 'good' here.) While 'good' is a term to that is usually used to indicate that an action is moral or virtuous. (Of course 'good' can mean 'well' as in 'I feel good,' but again, you probably won't think that 'good' would be 'interchangeable' with right here.) Although, having said all this, 'good' and 'right' appear to be very flexible terms in the English language and their meanings in context often change from author to author. Plus words hardly mean anything out of context anyway, if ever. Somehow I think there might be a little more to your question, Kelly. What made you wonder about this question? Is there more that you're not telling us? Very interesting question though; Thanks for asking.
right = the way something SHOULD be done to achieve an end goal (moral highground, legally correct, whatever)
good = the way that works to achieve the same end goal (regardless of human conscience or the law)
Comments (7)
That is a damned good question.
Feithy
Hmmm, now that's a stumper for most people, I think! Echo of Feithy, here.
-Rae
nearly everything. it's a pretty non-overlapping venn diagram, usually.
things that are good are not always right. for example, eating chocolate before dinner may be good, but because it spoils your dinner it's not right. also, things that are right are not always good. it is right that we all have to die sometime, but it sure as hell isn't always good...
<table><tr><td>
The same different between Wrong and Evil. "Right" means that something is done correctly in the eyes of one's peers. It is a way to better define fairness. "Good" is something a little more global that is more applicable to everyone or a larger majority or community.
Every decision has a right or wrong (or neutrality) that has an effect that is good or bad (or neutral).
-Babysitting your younger brother is the right thing to do, whhich allows your mom to work at night which is good for the finances, even if it means you cannot go out that night.
-Being healthy is a "good" thing, and to accomplish that the "right" thing to do would be to eat less fast food. I'd sure miss eating those Rally hamburgers though.
-Supporting your favorite musician is a "good" thing. So the "right" thing to do is to buy their CDs when you want to listen to them. I'd sure miss downloading MP3s though.
See, they're not always easy answers. Many times doing the right thing is hard so that we can contribute to the good.
-Paying more taxes because you make more money is "good" for society, but not fair ("right") for the individual (I believe in higher taxes for higher income).
"Good" is not something we do. "Good" is something we achieve. "Right" is what we do to achieve the "Good".
Unfortunately doing the "right" thing is very hard alot of times. That's too bad, because if it was easy then maybe we wouldn't have so many problems in the world.
If I had to say what the difference between 'right' and 'good' when one wishes to differentiate between the two I would say that 'right' is a normative term, while 'good' is an ethical term. That is, 'right' is a term that is usually used to reflect accepted soceital standards. Especially, soceital standards that are codifed as law. (Of course 'right' can mean 'correct' as in '2+2=4 is right,' but you probably don't think that 'right' would be interchangeable 'good' here.) While 'good' is a term to that is usually used to indicate that an action is moral or virtuous. (Of course 'good' can mean 'well' as in 'I feel good,' but again, you probably won't think that 'good' would be 'interchangeable' with right here.)
Although, having said all this, 'good' and 'right' appear to be very flexible terms in the English language and their meanings in context often change from author to author. Plus words hardly mean anything out of context anyway, if ever. Somehow I think there might be a little more to your question, Kelly. What made you wonder about this question? Is there more that you're not telling us? Very interesting question though; Thanks for asking.
right = the way something SHOULD be done to achieve an end goal (moral highground, legally correct, whatever)
good = the way that works to achieve the same end goal (regardless of human conscience or the law)
Comments are closed.