In the essay, “The Good Enough Life” by Frank Bures
the balance between right and wrong is brought into question. The essay begins
with a quotation, “Aspire to high principles. Just don’t go overboard.” The
author continues by telling of one of his first college courses that was
structured around the life of Gandhi. Bures found himself quickly thrown into a
lifestyle where he tried his hardest to model himself after Gandhi. After it
was brought to his attention that he may be going overboard with the lifestyle
change, he was faced with questions of ethics and trying to decide what is
right and wrong. Bures quotes author Arthur Kleinman, “Ethics is frequently
taught as black and white, but the world we live in is always gray.” I find
this to be interesting and accurate. We’re taught what is right and wrong in
black and white terms, but the world we live in does not function in a black
and white way.
Bures mentions the “classical ethical dilemma” of
“is it better to steal food to feed your family, or to let your family starve?”
Most people would agree that it is wrong to steal, but when you add a starving
family to that equation, things become gray. Jean Valjean from Les Miserables steals a loaf of bread
for his starving family and spends his whole life running from the consequences
of that choice. I feel like this essay concludes that ethics of right and wrong
are wrapped up in our own definition of what we consider to be right and wrong
based on the circumstances. There is no black and white answer to what is right
and wrong.
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