The Good:-
What is good has to do with benefits. Something that benefits something or someone else is called good for that thing or person. We can think of this instrumentally or biologically. Instrumentally, a hammer is good for pounding nails, and what is good for the hammer is what enables it to do so well. Biologically, air, water, and food are good for living beings.
Instrumentally, what is good for a thing enables that thing to serve its purpose. To make sense, an instrumental usage of the term "good" requires reference to somebody's purpose or intention. Thus, a hammer is good for pounding nails, and nails are good for building things such as furniture or housing, and we build furniture and housing because we want the comfort and utility they afford us. The instrumental usage is expressed in terms of usefulness, of utility for achieving a purpose or intention. Some hammers are better than others in that they have better heft or weight or balance and thus can be used to pound nails more effectively.
The instrumental usage leads to the biological usage. Why is it good for human beings to have comfort and utility? Because comfort and utility nourish us and keep us alive. Unlike the instrumental usage, the biological usage does not require reference to conscious purpose or intention.
The biological usage is expressed in terms of health and well-being. Biologically, what is good for an organism is what helps it survive and thrive, what nourishes it. Some things are better for us than others in this respect. For instance, a diet of whole grains and vegetables is better, in the sense of providing better health for humans, than a diet of simple carbohydrates and fats. Another example: some plants need full sunlight to thrive, and others need shade; thus full sunlight is good for the former, and shade is good for the latter. The good, in this sense, is that which enables a thing to function well.
The instrumental usage intersects the biological when we consider what is good for something that is itself good for a purpose or intention. For instance, keeping a hammer clean and sheltered from the elements is good for the hammer; if it gets too dirty to handle easily or too rusty to provide a good impact on the nail, it is not useful as a hammer. So we can talk about what is good for the hammer in a way that is analogous to what is good for a living being. The good, in this sense also, is that which enables a thing to function well.
The approach to ethics that emphasizes goodness is called the teleological approach, from a Greek word, telos, that means "end", "purpose", or "goal". Biologically, what is good for an organism helps that organism survive and thrive. Instrumentally, what is good for a thing enables that thing to serve its purpose.
Just as good is defined in relation to an end, the value of the end is defined in relation to another end. For instance, a hammer is good for driving nails. Driving nails is good for, among other things, building houses. We build houses to have shelter and warmth. And we desire shelter and warmth because they sustain our life.
This chain of goods and ends stretches in both directions from wherever we arbitrarily start looking. A hammer is good for driving nails. So what is good for the hammer? Whatever enables it to perform its function. It is not good to leave it out in the rain; it is good to handle it carefully, swing it accurately with grace and force, and put it away safely.
This approach is also sometimes called a consequentialist approach or an effect-oriented approach because both usages give meaning to the term “good” by reference to the consequences or effects of an action or event. That whole grains are good for humans means that the effect of eating them is healthful. That a hammer is good for pounding nails means that using it for that purpose is likely to have the effect you want, namely that the nails go in easily and straight.
The Goodness approach to ethics uses the terms "good" and "bad" and their variants and synonyms to evaluate actions, things, people, states of affairs, etc., as well as maxims or guidelines for conduct.
Some synonyms for "good" in this context are "helpful," "nourishing," "beneficial," “useful” and "effective." Some synonyms for "bad" are their opposites: "unhelpful," "unhealthy," "damaging," “useless” and “ineffective."
There are degrees of goodness and its opposite, badness. That some plants need full sunlight to thrive and others need shade means that full sunlight is good for the former and not so good for the latter.
I am very skeptical of claims there exists something absolutely good, that is, something alleged to be good without reference to its effects. Certainly on my definition of “good” such a concept makes no sense. Also, there is no end to the chains of goods and ends, no summum bonum (highest good) in which all chains culminate or from which all goods are derived. The world is a web, not a hierarchy. The only ultimate good would be the good of the entire universe and all that is within it, not an abstract entity or concept apart from it.
An ethic – a set of moral principles or values – based on goodness applied to concerns about choices between courses of action will ask questions about the anticipated or hoped-for benefits of one course of action as opposed to another. An ethic based on goodness applied to concerns about character will ask questions about the anticipated or hoped-for effects on one's habitual way of approaching life of one course of action as opposed to another.
The Right:-
What is right has to do with conformance to rules or regulations. This is easy to see in non-ethical situations. For instance, the right answer to "What is 37 divided by 9?" is "4 and 1/9." We apply a mathematical rule, the rule for how to do long division, and derive the right, or correct, answer. In ethical situations, we apply a moral rule to determine what the right course of action is. If one finds a wallet with some money in it and the owner's identification as well, the right thing to do is to return the money to the owner because it is wrong to keep something that does not belong to one, especially if one knows who the owner is. The moral rule in this case is "it is wrong to keep something that does not belong to one.”
The approach to ethics that emphasizes rightness is called the deontological approach, from a Greek word, deon, that means "duty." One does one's duty when one acts according to the moral rules. We could also call this a rules-based approach. (By “rules” I mean prescribed guides for conduct, not generalizations that describe physical reality, such as the laws of nature,)
According to the deontological approach, an action is justified on the basis of a quality or characteristic of the act itself, regardless of its consequences. That characteristic is its conformance to a rule. Morality is concerned with identifying and obeying moral rules. It is right to obey the rules and wrong to disobey them. Any particular act can be judged right or wrong according to whether and to what extent it conforms to the moral rules. A central concern, then, is to identify the rules so one can make sure one is acting in accordance with them. Once the rules are established, all one needs to do in order to be moral is to do one's duty, which is to act in accordance with the rules.
The language associated with this school uses the terms "right" and "wrong" to evaluate actions. Some synonyms for "right" are "proper," "legal" and "correct." Some synonyms for "wrong" are "improper," "illegal" and “incorrect."
The problem, of course, is how to determine the moral rules. Humans seem to have an innate sense of morality, of right and wrong; but, notoriously, the actual set of rules they espouse varies from culture to culture. Although many people unreflectively adopt the rules taught them by their parents, teachers, religious leaders and culture, the task of philosophy is to provide a rational grounding for one’s choice of what rules to follow. Philosophers have proposed numerous ways of determining what the rules are, such as divine command, the dictates of pure reason, and using an intuitive moral sense to apprehend an unseen but existent world of values. So far, there is no agreement on which of these is correct.
There are a number of other uses of the term “right” in addition to conformance to moral rules, such as the following:
• Correct, truthful, as in “the right answer.” This implies that rightness is exclusive, that there is one right answer or opinion and that others are wrong.
• The best possible option or a very good option, as in “the right choice.” This also implies exclusivity, but is problematic. Often one does not need to do what is best. Sometimes one only needs to do something good enough to get a useful response, a response that gives feedback so one can further hone one’s strategy, one’s response to what is happening.
• Fitting, appropriate, in harmony with the way things are. This sense is more akin to the goodness paradigm. It asserts an aesthetic component of rightness, as when one artistically puts an element of a composition in “the right place.”
• What the speaker approves of or assumes people generally approve of. This is an uncritical usage and is the least useful.
I mention these for completeness. The primary meaning of “right” in an ethical context is conformance to moral rules, and that is the meaning I address in this chapter.
Why It Matters:-
If someone says something is good, one can always ask "good for what?" If someone says something is right, one can always ask "according to what rule?" The two domains of discourse really are separate, and it is not useful to mix them. Mixing them is a form of category error, that is, an error “by which a property is ascribed to a thing that could not possibly have that property.”4 That something has good effects does not make it right. That something is in accordance with a moral rule does not make it good.
Making the distinction between Good and Right is important because it promotes clarity of thought. I do not argue that clarity of language is a necessary condition for clarity of thought, but it certainly helps. (Some people think more in pictures than words. I know artists who can get a little confused about words but create absolutely stunning works of art.) The clearer one’s thinking, the more likely one is to succeed in the real world. Accurate thinking based on accurate perception leads to accuracy of action, action that leads to attainment of one’s goals. Clear thinking enables one to survive and thrive.
Sources:-
http://www.bmeacham.com/whatswhat/GoodAndRight.html
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