Quote Originally Posted by 40oz
so therefore what is morally right and wrong, or good and evil, can only be what an individual accepts as his personal morals.
Well, you're on the right track. To understand what is moral you must first ask and understand why man needs a code of values - or morals to begin with.

That is, people, as they live their lives, form distinct aesthetic reactions and emotional behaviors associated with their conscious learnings and experiences, and those thoughts form their personal definitions for the polar concepts of right and wrong. Often the events that form these definitions are major points in people's lives, and the schemata they form from them can be intense.

Sounds like you are describing perception. We see reality, process it, then the produce judgments from those experiences; emotions.

I'll give you all example of what I mean. My standard of morality is life. My life more particular. From when we are born we learn very basic values that we soon realize keep us alive such as water, air, shelter and food. As we grow and our minds become more sophisticated and our values evolve and become more complex: politics, religion, philosophy, language and so on. Again, along with the Objectivist thought, the standard of morality is one's own life: What makes ME happy? What are the values that will shape the course of my life to ensure that I will be productive and successful?

In essence, the code of values, or morality, that you adopt should be the one that is going to most benefit you -- rationally. I use that word because you can go out and con people but that is obviously uncool.

Does anyone disagree with the notion that man should live his life for his own sake and discredit the old religious injunction 'you are your brother's keeper'?