Good vs Evil - What does it mean?

[Pikachu]

Good and evil are God given absolutes. Our knowledge about them is though limited. Adam and Eve didn't eat all the apples on the three of knowledge, you know.

Originally posted by Pontiuth Pilate
Imagine a world populated by six billion yous, all copying your behavior.

Would you like to live in that world? If so, then you're good. If not, then whatever it is about your behavior that you wouldn't like to see in the rest of the world is evil.

A world populated by 6 billion Pikachus would be an extremely boring place. I would not like to live in such a world, so apparently I am evil. I want diversity. That's what makes life interesting! Diversity can not exist if everybody copy one person's behavior. Your statement is way too general.

 

[newfangle]

Hmmm, this thread branches off into two places:
1) Absolutes exist because God says so.
2) There are no absolutes because God doesn't exist, ergo I eat babies.

I reject both.

 

[Pontiuth Pilate]

Well, killing or stealing are out - as you say. But being imprisoned is also bad- I wouldn't like it done to me and it would certainly be bad all round if it were universally applied. I'm sure any sane person would agree with me, can we add inprisonment to the list of commonsense universal evils?

Of course - when there's no reason for it [done arbitrarily]. As a punishment, however, I think it's justified.

2) There are no absolutes because God doesn't exist, ergo I eat babies.

You know that's not my position - stop trolling

 

[newfangle]

You're one to talk about trolling trollface.

To be quite honest, I don't know exactly what you believe. Is there any way you could sum it up in like 2 sentances?

 

[Bozo Erectus]

Originally posted by newfangle
1) Absolutes exist because God says so.

God is the only absolute.

 

[Yaniv]

My opinion of good is doing to others what you think those people would want done to them.

My opinion of evil is doing to others what you think those people would not want done to them.

(I know the sentences can be hard to understand)

My answer to the initial question of the thread:
Hitler is evil because he clearly did to others what they did not want him to do to them.
Mother Terasa(I have a feeling I misspelled the name) is good because she did to others what they wanted her to do for them.

My share of opinions.

 

[Mrogreturns]

Originally posted by Pontiuth Pilate

Of course - when there's no reason for it [done arbitrarily]. As a punishment, however, I think it's justified.

Don't you weaken the principle of universality once you introduce such contingencies? Of course the rule that governs the contingency is applied universally, but the very existence of the rule can preclude the act from being applied universally.


I now no longer have to consider the consequences of an action if it were applied universally as I can now limit its application to a subset of people. I could reason that killing might be justified as a punishment- is it no longer a universal, commonsense evil?

 

[Margim]

Ok, another question - if all evil, however you define it, was 'magically' eradicated overnight, would evil still emerge anyway, by way of it being all that the majority of humans find unattractive? If so, does this mean that evil is an unavoidable aspect and fact of human existance?

 

[Mescalhead]

No because evil is magic.

 

[Mrogreturns]

Originally posted by Pontiuth Pilate

Of course - when there's no reason for it [done arbitrarily]. As a punishment, however, I think it's justified.

Don't you weaken the principle of universality once you introduce such contingencies? Of course the rule that governs the contingency is applied universally, but the very existence of the rule can preclude the act from being applied universally.


I now no longer have to consider the consequences of an action if it were applied universally as I can now limit its application to a subset of people. I could reason that killing might be justified as a punishment- is it no longer a universal, commonsense evil?

If we can selectively apply the principle of universality, how do we determine what is and is not a moral means of selection?

 

[Smidlee]

wow alot of the post in this thread are very funny. thanks for the laughs ya
( simple question + everyone opinion = mass confusion)