I don't know if I totally agree that society determines a good person. And furthermore, if that's the case isn't society a bit broad. One group within society may think someone is "good" and another may think of that person as "bad." Society may be broad and vague, but I am sure there is a valid argument behind it.
As to the person that responded that a good person is one that gives them money, then what is a bad person? One who takes money from you or someone who does not take money from you. I would guess the first.
I suppose I didn't interpret the question the same way it perhaps was intended. I read it as, "What makes a person good?"
With that in mind, I'll try to clarify my "society" answer.
"Goodness" can either be something we ascribe to something, i.e. it is good because we say it is, or it is something inherent in the object or person itself, i.e. that is a good person/thing, in an of itself.
If something is good in an of itself, then all people must percieve it as good, otherwise we would have no knowledge of it being good in an of itself. However what is "good" cannot be agreed upon, so we have no knowledge as to whether things can be good in an of themselves.
The only other option I would consider is we ascribe what is "good" or "bad" according to societal norms: which I would group together as "society" since it would only be on communal agreement by society that something could be regarded as generally "good". Otherwise, if our deeming of something as "good" is unique to us, then it is only a personal opinion, and not proper grounds to make general statements. To clarify, a "good" person, as a general statement, isn't good because one person thinks he/she is good, but because people agree in general about this "fact".
Sure, they can be a "good" person to our standards, but this doesn't get at what is "good" since people's standards vary. I think this is what you were trying to get at with your topic.
It seems what subjective matters we consider to be true are mere manifestations of a communal agreement.
There is a systematic way of understanding why we percieve people as being good or evil. We define a person as good when they enhance the visible, communal, invisible domains of our lives. I have a diagram that does an excellent job of showing what I mean and I will do my best to describe it here.
Each of the three domains contain three elements that play a fundamental role in the lives of every human being. The elements of the Invisible Domain are: -Knowledge -Free Will -Time The elements of the Communal Domain are: -Community -Self Definition -Family The elements of the Visible Domain are: -Wealth -Body and Body Space -Home
If someone gives you a compliment, they are enhancing your Self Definition and you define them as good. If someone takes from one of your domains you define them as bad. Often an action will affect multiple domains. For example if someone kidnaps you they would be taking from your Free Will, Time, Self Definition, and potentially Wealth plus Body and Body Space.
10 comments:
society
btw, it's andrew k.
if they give me money
I don't know if I totally agree that society determines a good person. And furthermore, if that's the case isn't society a bit broad. One group within society may think someone is "good" and another may think of that person as "bad." Society may be broad and vague, but I am sure there is a valid argument behind it.
As to the person that responded that a good person is one that gives them money, then what is a bad person? One who takes money from you or someone who does not take money from you. I would guess the first.
I suppose I didn't interpret the question the same way it perhaps was intended. I read it as, "What makes a person good?"
With that in mind, I'll try to clarify my "society" answer.
"Goodness" can either be something we ascribe to something, i.e. it is good because we say it is, or it is something inherent in the object or person itself, i.e. that is a good person/thing, in an of itself.
If something is good in an of itself, then all people must percieve it as good, otherwise we would have no knowledge of it being good in an of itself. However what is "good" cannot be agreed upon, so we have no knowledge as to whether things can be good in an of themselves.
The only other option I would consider is we ascribe what is "good" or "bad" according to societal norms: which I would group together as "society" since it would only be on communal agreement by society that something could be regarded as generally "good". Otherwise, if our deeming of something as "good" is unique to us, then it is only a personal opinion, and not proper grounds to make general statements. To clarify, a "good" person, as a general statement, isn't good because one person thinks he/she is good, but because people agree in general about this "fact".
Sure, they can be a "good" person to our standards, but this doesn't get at what is "good" since people's standards vary. I think this is what you were trying to get at with your topic.
It seems what subjective matters we consider to be true are mere manifestations of a communal agreement.
Mother Teresa was a good person.
but i guess deceased people dont count
There is a systematic way of understanding why we percieve people as being good or evil. We define a person as good when they enhance the visible, communal, invisible domains of our lives. I have a diagram that does an excellent job of showing what I mean and I will do my best to describe it here.
Each of the three domains contain three elements that play a fundamental role in the lives of every human being.
The elements of the Invisible Domain are:
-Knowledge
-Free Will
-Time
The elements of the Communal Domain are:
-Community
-Self Definition
-Family
The elements of the Visible Domain are:
-Wealth
-Body and Body Space
-Home
If someone gives you a compliment, they are enhancing your Self Definition and you define them as good. If someone takes from one of your domains you define them as bad. Often an action will affect multiple domains. For example if someone kidnaps you they would be taking from your Free Will, Time, Self Definition, and potentially Wealth plus Body and Body Space.
Nice explanation Dan.
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