Rights and wrongs

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Any action that goes against the law is obviously wrong. Anything that harms another person or violates her rights cannot be right.

Also, what is cruel has to be wrong. These are clear-cut concepts.

But, most times, our actions fall into grey areas where it is difficult to clearly recognise right and wrong. What is right according to you may be construed as wrong by another, so there are many subjective approaches that blur the lines.

If you do not have the wisdom, patience or understanding to know clearly whether something is right or wrong, appropriate or inappropriate, look to the possible consequences of any action. Would it be beneficial, even moral? But, then again, these too could be subjective values, for what is thought to be beneficial to one may not be so to another, and what is deemed moral could change with changing times and mores and in different cultures.

If an action is ethical and its results too are ethical, perhaps that is the closest we may come to ascertaining if an action is right or wrong, apart from the legal, human rights and cruelty tests. Sometimes, no action is also an option.