Opinion or Fact? What do YOU believe about RIGHT and WRONG?

Quiz Questions

• 1.
  Which of the following statements BEST represents your beliefs?

  • A.
    There are many different individual perspectives about what is right, but none is any better than another.
  • B.
    There are many different cultural perspectives about what is right, but none is any better than another.
  • C.
    There is one correct perspective about what is right and it should be applied consistently.
  • D.
    There are a few perspectives about what is right which each have a piece of the truth, and other perspectives that are clearly wrong.
• 2.
  Which of the following statements BEST represents your beliefs?

  • A.
    We must not judge another culture's decisions about right and wrong.
  • B.
    We must resolve differences about right and wrong at times, but should consider different ideas and cultures when doing so.
  • C.
    We must not judge another individual's decisions about right and wrong.
  • D.
    We must resolve differences about right and wrong at times, and there is one view of the truth that should apply.
• 3.
  Which of the following statements BEST represents your beliefs?

  • A.
    There is one best way to address individual and cultural differences about good and bad.
  • B.
    Different individuals should be left alone to carry out their own ideas about good and bad.
  • C.
    There are a few ways to address individual and cultural differences about good and bad that are better than other ways.
  • D.
    Different cultures should be left alone to carry out their own ideas about good and bad.

Quiz Outcomes

• 1.
  Subjectivism

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  This quiz was designed to help you identify if you think there are truths/facts when making decisions about what's right. It is not a personality assessment. We each may use a combination of multiple perspectives, however most of us lean towards a certain viewpoint. Each viewpoint has pros and cons. Your answers indicate that you lean towards a SUBJECTIVISM approach. Subjectivists are known for believing that there is no independent standard of what's right. You likely believe that right and wrong are up to each person’s feelings. Main Consideration: You tend to think that there are no universal truths about what's right, just individual feelings. You tend to believe that the morals of an individual cannot be wrong, just different. You may live by some of these sayings: “Who am I to judge?”, “To each their own”, “Live and let live”, “You be you” or “You do you.” Questions: You may ask: Who am I to say what’s right for you? How can we each do what we feel is right in the moment? How can I be as open as possible to another person’s way of doing things? Strengths (Pros): Some attitudes are just how people feel and are neither right nor wrong (e.g., public praise or a private note to acknowledge your good work). By asking: “Who am I to judge?” you remain open-minded and focus on the idea that some things are just personal preference. You accept different ways of viewing the world and get beyond imposing individual preferences. You avoid the assumption that one person's perspective (including your own) is based on some universally accepted objective standard and that it is better than another perspective. Some behaviors and ideas are just based on feelings. Potential Challenges (Cons): In you efforts to be open-minded you may not consider evidence that there can be very good reasons why one decision is more right than another. There are some things that seem to be clearly wrong regardless of what someone feels (e.g., child abuse, genocide). For example, person A may accept person B discriminating against someone in an interracial relationship (“Who am I to say that their beliefs are wrong?”), but person A changes their mind when their own child is in an interracial relationship. Then, person A sees the harm caused and decides that it is clearly wrong for person B to discriminate against people in interracial relationships. Theoretical Background: Ethical Subjectivism Conclusion... and what do I do now? Subjectivism highlights a valuable lesson: some attitudes are just how people feel and are neither right nor wrong. However, this does not mean that nothing is right or wrong. Reasonable people agree that standing up against unfair persecution is right, even if we are not the perpetrators (e.g., the unfair treatment of people with disabilities or people who have different political viewpoints). Therefore, we must look to other perspectives (e.g., see Pluralism) when deciding what is right or wrong. Note: Subjectivism can be seen as a more extreme type of Relativism. To better understand how you make decisions, take the "How do YOU decide what's right?" QUIZ by clicking on the "More Info" button below...
• 2.
  Relativism

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  This quiz was designed to help you identify if you think there are truths/facts when making decisions about what's right. It is not a personality assessment. We each may use a combination of multiple perspectives, however most of us lean towards a certain viewpoint. Each viewpoint has pros and cons. Your answers indicate that you lean towards a RELATIVISM approach. Relativists are known for believing that there is no independent standard of what's right. You likely believe that right and wrong are depend on culture. Main Consideration: You tend to think that there are no universal truths about what's right, just cultural customs and opinions. You tend to believe that the morals of a culture cannot be wrong, just different. You may live by some of these sayings: “It's all relative”, “To each their own”, “Live and let live”, or “When is Rome, do as the Romans do.” Questions: You may ask: Who am I to say what’s right in another culture? How can I be as open as possible to other cultures and ways of doing things? Strengths (Pros): Some cultural practices are customs and are neither right nor wrong (e.g. the best way to perform a wedding or a funeral). By asking: “Who am I to judge?” you remain open-minded and focus on the idea that some things are culturally dependent. You accept different ways of viewing the world and get beyond imposing on other groups. You avoid the assumption that one cultural perspective (including your own) is based on some universally accepted objective standard and that it is better than another culture's perspective. Some behaviors and ideas are just based on culture. Potential Challenges (Cons): In you efforts to be open-minded you may not consider evidence that there can be very good reasons why one viewpoint is more right than another. There are things that many would agree are clearly wrong regardless of a culture's customs (e.g., slavery, denying women’s rights, destroying the environment). For example, a person may be accepting of another culture discriminating against people who are gay (“Who am I to judge their cultural practices?”), but this person changes their mind when their own child shares that they are gay and wants to visit that other culture. Then they decide that it is clearly wrong to discriminate against people who are gay. Theoretical Background: Moral Relativism, Cultural Relativism Conclusion... and what do I do now? Cultural Relativism highlights a valuable lesson: that many practices and attitudes are culturally created and are neither right nor wrong. However, this does not mean that there is nothing that is right or wrong. Most of us would agree that slavery is wrong regardless of where it occurs, therefore we must look to other perspectives (e.g., Pluralism) when deciding what is right. To better understand how you make decisions, take the "How do YOU decide what's right?" QUIZ by clicking on the "More Info" button below...
• 3.
  Absolutism

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  This quiz was designed to help you identify if you think there are truths/facts when making decisions about what's right. It is not a personality assessment. We each may use a combination of multiple perspectives, however most of us lean towards a certain viewpoint. Each viewpoint has pros and cons. Your answers indicate that you lean towards a ABSOLUTISM approach. Absolutists are known for believing that there is one universal standard of what's right. Absolutists believe that this one correct standard should be applied consistently across people and situations. Main Consideration: You tend to think that there is a universal truth about what's right, regardless of different customs and opinions. You tend to believe that morals may differ, but there is one truth that should guide us all. You may live by some of these sayings: “One path to the truth”, “The truth is out there”, or “There is one right way.” Questions: You may ask: What is the definitive truth? How can I apply this universal truth? How can we help others to see the right way of doing things? Strengths (Pros): Some things seem to be clearly right or wrong regardless of preference, culture or context. These are things that many feel we should not be open to or tolerate (e.g. child abuse, sexism, slavery). Consistent measures of right or wrong allow us to have concrete ways to critique ourselves, critique others and resolve differences. These consistent measures also allow us to assess our moral progress (e.g. women now have the right to vote in many places). Potential Challenges (Cons): In your efforts to consistently apply one standard of truth about what's right, you may not be as open to other approaches which may have a piece of the truth. For example “Never Lie” sounds like a good universal standard, but it may be right to lie if it could save a child from someone who is abusing them (e.g., lie about where the child is hiding). Considering other opinions and questioning our standards can be helpful. We can become open to different ways of viewing the world and get beyond imposing one narrow way of reasoning. Absolutism may stop us from considering multiple reasonable approaches and balancing out their pros and cons. Theoretical Background: Moral Absolutism, a form of Deontological Ethics (based on the wisdom of philosopher Immanuel Kant and others). Conclusion... and what do I do now? Absolutism highlights a valuable lesson: there are some things that are clearly and consistently right or wrong (e.g., human trafficking). However, it seems that more than just one perspective has at least part of the truth. These different focus areas can be held in an absolutist way (e.g., “X is the only worthwhile approach”), therefore it is important to remember the pros and cons of absolutism as they apply to different focus areas. We suggest considering a few well-respected focus areas when deciding what is right (see Pluralism and the 5Cs: Character, Code, Consequences, Care and Consult). To see which of these focus areas you lean towards, take the "How do YOU decide what's right?" QUIZ by clicking on the "More Info" button below...
• 4.
  Pluralism

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  This quiz was designed to help you identify if you think there are truths/facts when making decisions about what's right. It is not a personality assessment. We each may use a combination of multiple perspectives, however most of us lean towards a certain viewpoint. Each viewpoint has pros and cons. Your answers indicate that you lean towards a PLURALISM approach. Pluralists are known for believing that there are truths about what's right and that several perspectives can help in our search for truth. Pluralists believe that there are a few ways to address differences about what is right that are better than other ways. Main Consideration: You tend to think that there are truths about what's right, but that we must be open to a few approaches, not just one. You tend to believe that although opinions may differ, there are several, sometimes conflicting, principles that should guide all of us. You believe that these principles need to be balanced. You may live by some of these sayings: “Balance the truths of perspectives”, “Bend, but don’t break." Questions: You may ask: Which approaches hold a piece of the truth? How can I balance multiple truths? How can we find an intersection of reasonable approaches? Strengths (Pros): Some things seem to be clearly right or wrong regardless of preference, culture or context. Pluralism allows us to have the conviction that there are some real truths about right and wrong. It also encourages us to be humble and seek out different viewpoints that we may not have considered since no one approach has been shown to be flawless. It helps us pursue a middle ground between being too open to any random viewpoint (e.g., thinking “there’s no wrong way”) and too closed to different, but reasonable ways of focusing on what is right (e.g., thinking “there’s only one right way”). Potential Challenges (Cons): In your efforts to find some truths about what's right, you may consider too many or too few approaches. Pluralism, as a concept, provides no guidance for which approaches to consider, beyond “multiple”. How many different approaches have a piece of the truth? Pluralism does not provide an answer. Also, pluralism provides no guidance for what to do when approaches conflict (e.g., some approaches advocate stealing to save a life, others do not). Sometimes approaches point to the same answer, but how do we “balance” approaches when they point to different answers? Theoretical Background: Moral Pluralism Conclusion... and what do I do now? Pluralism highlights a valuable lesson: There seem to be some truths about right and wrong, and multiple focus areas may each illuminate a piece of those truths. Pluralism can help us find a middle ground between being too rigid and too permissive. We believe that the evidence favors a pluralistic approach to ethics. When deciding what is right, we suggest considering five well-respected focus areas which come from over 2,000 years of moral philosophy (see the 5Cs: Character, Code, Consequences, Care and Consult). We can look to these individual approaches to address the Cons of Pluralism. To see which of these focus areas you lean towards, take the "How do YOU decide what's right?" QUIZ by clicking on the "More Info" button below...