Chapter 10 

: The story of right and wrong and its cultural implications

SLIDE3:
Today we are going to talk about a very naturalized concept in the English language and
its antonym. Specifically, the concept of “right” and “wrong”
The first thing we have to consider when analyzing the concept of "correct" is that there
is no equivalent term in European languages. If we ask a French or Spanish speaker to translate
an English conversation in which the word “correct” appears several times with different
functions, it will be impossible for them to choose a single word that can be used in all cases.
Scholars of English linguistics and anthropology consider the concepts denominated by
the terms "right" and "wrong" as intrinsic to a worldview extended to all of humanity, not only
to the Anglophone population.
This view is deeply inaccurate as these terms do not have a global reach outside of the
English language. Nor are they widespread concepts, although some cultures may translate the
ideas of "right" and "wrong" into their own terminology, they are not universal ideas.
The concept that is universal is that of “truth”, which has a phonetic representation in all
languages. The same fate befalls the concepts of “good” and “bad”. But not “right” and
“wrong”.

SLIDE 4:
If we take the concepts of “good” and “bad” from classical Greek, we will see that the
English translation is in terms of “right” and “wrong”. The Greek idea behind these concepts
could even be better translated as "better" or "worse" than "right" or "wrong."
In the vast majority of languages, the concepts of "right" or "wrong" simply do not
exist. Sometimes the idea of "conscience" is used to indicate the faculty of discernment between
the two. Although many times, if the explanation about the idea of "conscience" should be
expanded, it is concretized as the internal voice that achieves a distinction between good and
bad.
What we fall into is the basic idea of good and bad. Which, in English, is different from
right and wrong. This has been the case for several centuries, specifically from the 18th century
to the 20th century, during which the use of the “correct or incorrect” binomial was much more
frequent than that of the “good or bad” binomial. Its use, furthermore, was accompanied by a
striking and intriguing confidence, as if it were a notion as or more innate to thought than that of
"good or bad".

SLIDE 5:
The use of the concept "right" became popular in the use of English during the 17th
century, because Shakespeare used it, although he used it as a verb, for example:
You wrong me, sir. Thus still to haunt my house (The Merry Wives of Windsor)
In this period of time there was no use of "wrong" as opposed to "correct", mainly
because the meaning of the term had a transitive verbal meaning. It was only at the end of the
seventeenth century and the beginning of the eighteenth century that the binomial was
consolidated: “correct and incorrect” as contrastive terms. Although they were not totally
opposite, but what was wrong was just a deviation from what was right.

SLIDE 6:
Interestingly, the term right has an equivalent in other European languages with the
meaning "reason", that is, when the term is used to indicate that someone is right:
You are right:
– French: tu as reason
– Italian: hai ragione.
Being right does not imply agreeing with popular opinion. It is only enough that our
interlocutor or whoever gives an opinion about our opinion believes that we are correct, for
them to say: you are right.
In turn, the replacement of the binomial "good or bad" by that of "right and wrong" as
moral opposites, was gaining more and more weight as a rational and enlightened semantic
field, against one based on theocentric beliefs.

SLIDE 7:
In relation to the rational and procedural aspect of "right" we find the statement: "That's
right", which can be used when indicating a reality that is believed to be affirmative.
In the example of the following conversation:
THOMO: You must be the new Typist.
SUNDRA: That's right.
The answer could not be replaced by expressions such as "that is true" or "I agree" since
they would no longer be coherent. The answer given sounds more factual and conversational
than the other options.
In turn, the terms “really” and “truly” have been used to a similar extent in English as
representatives of “truth”. By saying "that is right" instead of "that is true" the speaker expresses
a higher degree of factually confirmable evidence than a metaphysical belief. That is, the
expression “that is right” reflects the idea of facts; that of "that is true" reflects the notion of
metaphysical belief.

SLIDE 8:
There is no opposite expression to "that's right", which has the ability to reaffirm the
opinion or position of the other. Telling someone “That’s wrong" is not conventionally used
conversationally.
Calling another person's opinion or actions "wrong" has a strong offensive and
inappropriate undertone, so its use in conversations is avoided.
SLIDE 9:
In this example that compares the English language with the Italian language, we see
the use of the Italian word “vero” (true) within a conversational structure that is not natural in
English. What is used in English is an “opposite polarity” structure, as in:
-It is not a sin, is it?
This tag question aims to find out the interlocutor's opinion, not the veracity of the
emitted sentence. In the other European languages, the interlocutor asks if the sentence is
actually true. Instead, an English speaker asks his interlocutor if he believes that the matter is
that way or not.

SLIDE 10:
The tag question, which is mainly North American, sounds more forceful, indicating a
reference to a verified test, before which the interlocutor has no choice but to confirm.
The use of the word “right” in tag questions implies a rational justification. In contrast
to the use of "opposite polarity", which is more related to a subjective opinion. For example:
She is nice, isn´t she? (Personal appreciation)
She is nice, right? (Known and self-evident fact)
In the questions “He was just doing his job, right?” or “I was living (…) in a one-room
apartment…right?” Right implies that what is expressed by the speaker is verifiable and
accurate.

SLIDE 11:
In all languages there is a difference between what is true and what is good. Both terms
are used in all of them for differentiated aspects and in different phrases. In English, the use of
right in expressions such as “the right solution” or “the right answer” appears to cover both
aspects: the approval given by being good and the intellectual aspect of being true.
In the example “do the right thing, put it in the bin”, it is not presented as just doing
something that is good but doing something that is right. The action makes sense: it is rational.
Not because we metaphysically perceive it this way, as a belief, but because it is a consistent
way of behaving in society. As a social action, it is determined by the cultural worldview.
As in the example of the shoes, it is not the same to say that the shoes are good for
dance than that they are the right shoes for dance. The first expression gives the idea that,
despite not being adequate, they can work; the second expresses the fact that they are adequate.

SLIDE 12:
What does "procedural morality" mean? That it is a morality focused on the means we
adopt to pursue our ends. As long as the means does not harm anyone, everyone is free to
proceed as they wish. This responds to the progressive separation of the moral from the
religious. If a religion presented us with morality as an objective of personal fulfillment,
morality separated from religion would seem to limit itself to regulating behavior so that it
facilitates free individual action.
This separation is related to the idea that all beliefs require a rational justification. This
is what the notion of “rational ethics” or “procedural ethics” alludes to. This is reflected
linguistically in the dispersion of the words right and wrong. Something that is right is also
procedurally justifiable.

SLIDE 13:
Over time, the direct and equivalent opposition between right and wrong, as juxtaposed
to right and left, was reduced at the same time that the term "right" gained polysemy.
The denomination “wrong” is used less and less since calling someone an executor of
incorrect actions is considered judgmental. This, in turn, is a consequence of the relativization
of truth and the idea that each person is free to do what they consider correct, as long as it does
not harm others. Increasingly, attempts are being made to use a language that is more tolerant of
differences, that avoids moral condemnations, considered offensive.

SLIDE 14:
During the three centuries that separate Shakespeare from Bernard Shaw, the frequency
of use of the terms true, truth, right, and wrong have changed tremendously.
There is a theory that “truth conversation” has declined over the years:
The use of right and wrong as parallel concepts has increased.
The use of right as an adjective has increased tremendously compared to the
use of true.
The explosion in the use of right in spoken English is related to its conversational use.
For example, “that´s right”, “all right” or the interrogative “right?”

SLIDE 15:
Which leads us to the use of right as a response in dialogues. Usage dating back to the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as in this play by Shakespeare:
-She is a princess of the blood, and I a subject.
-Right, but a noble subject.
The use that the renowned author gives to the term is that of approval. The same way it
is used today.

SLIDE 16:
Considering the use of right as a manifestation of a conversational spirit of cooperation
leads us to a variety of concrete uses.
For example:
 -Off we go, St. John (request)
-Right.
Or:
-Jolly good – give her my love (instruction)
-Right, Melanie, right.
Or:
-Actually, I've just finished (a game), I’m afraid… perhaps next week.
(suggestion)
-Right, I'll hold you to that. `Night.
Or:
- I will be grateful if you stop doing that (request)
- Oh right, right
The term cooperation is useful, pointing out new types of interpersonal interaction in
democratic societies: the use of right as a response to a request, a suggestion, a directive or an
instruction, indicates the interlocutor's willingness to collaborate with whatever the speaker
expresses.

SLIDE 17:
In short, everything is considered in relation to a cultural context, different cultures have
different cultural scripts, that is, unwritten rules of behavior. These rules dictate, by social
convention, how members of their society should speak, feel, and act.
For example: In Japanese culture disagreement in conversations is discouraged; Anglo
culture supports freedom of expression; Jewish culture values the expression of disagreement.
Let's see:
Japanese culture:
People think that if someone else says to you: I think about it this way; it is not
good to answer him: I do not think in the same way.
Anglo Culture:
If I think something about something I can express: I think about it this way.
Everyone can do it.
Jewish culture:
If a person tells me that he thinks in a certain way about something, and I think
differently about the same thing, it is good to say: I think differently.
Jews regard disagreement as enjoyable and interesting.