[Serious] The Good

[Acrobat]

Good and Evil are only 'real' in the sense that they are human reactions to various experiences and situations.  The notion that they exist as substantive, independent standards is ludicrous on the face of it.  If that were the case, then Good would be the same for everyone.

Boru

Truth and Falsity are only 'real' in the sense that they are human reactions to various experiences and situations.  The notion that they exist as substantive, independent standards is ludicrous on the face of it.  If that were the case, then Truth would be the same for everyone.

Acro

---

(This conversation started in the Shoutbox, but I thought it deserved a bigger scope.)

There are different concepts of what the Good is. Some people hold that Good and Evil are both real. Others say that only Good is real and Evil is its privation. 

This may vary even within a religion. I think it would be interesting to look at and compare different ideas, especially in reference to different thinkers. For example, if Avicenna and Averroes differ. Or different views within Christianity. 

There are ancient concepts which I'm not very clear on -- for example, the idea that being is in some way identical with the good. 

I'm looking forward to different views. 

For starters, here's a link I gave in the Shoutbox to the Catholic Encyclopedia's article:

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06636b.htm

I agree with the privation view:

“ to say that evil is a privation of the good is to say that evil is a failure—an absence of something where it ought to be. McCabe asserts: “Good and evil are logically related not like north and south but like north and not-north. Evil is not a positive alternative label to Good; it just means the absence of the Good label.”