How Do We Decide What Is Right? Ethics and Moral Choices

Imagine you find a wallet on the street. It contains a large amount of cash and an ID card. You are saving up for something you desperately need, and no one saw you pick it up. What do you do — and, more importantly, WHY? Most people would agree you should return it. But what makes that the 'right' choice? Is it because you'd feel guilty if you kept it? Because rules say stealing is wrong? Because you'd want someone to return your wallet? Or because keeping it would harm the owner? The fact that you can give several different reasons for the same decision shows that ethics — the study of right and wrong — is more complicated than it first appears.