RE: Good and Evil
May 5, 2015 at 6:54 am
(This post was last modified: May 5, 2015 at 6:55 am by Ben Davis.
Edit Reason: correction
)
Hi dahrling (I can't type that without thinking of Black Adder Goes Fourth),
Yes, they can be nothing else as ethics are subjective. From my perspective, I navigate the grey areas using definitions of the 'harm' that might result from action/inaction.
I'd argue that there's no such thing as 'absolutely' good or evil, once again due to the subjectivity of ethics. I don't like the terms 'good/evil' as they polarise thinking and trick people into using broad classifications which detract from deep consideration of the questions at hand. I'd ask you to consider if anyone can really be 'absolutely' evil (did Genghis Khan love his mother, for example)? So for me, you could define the terms however you like but since they don't add value to my ethical framework, I won't use them. Consequently, universal acceptance is impossible.
It's a trade-off. A certain amount of selflessness is a good thing. I'd suggest that someone who acts with no selflessness at all would risk doing harm to themselves and others (for example, being unkind to others therefore being socially excluded to their detriment). To the corollary, someone who acts only with selflessness would risk doing harm to themselves (for example, not defending themselves against attack). So there's a balance which can be struck both personally and socially.
As intimated above, I argue the harm. A non-consenting child being traded, as property, to an adult for social and sexual gratification is harmful. It may have been 'accepted' at the time, by the local culture, but it was still causing harm and people would likely have known it (I wonder how many of Aisha's female relatives would have felt sorrow at the transaction?). The trade-off was that the benefits to Mohammed were a greater consideration than the harm done to Aisha. In a 21st C, UK context, we would grant (in law) the lack of consent to be the overriding consideration, given that we honour individual rights to personal autonomy and freedom of expression (it's a shameful thing, indeed, to own another). Since the transaction resulted from an ethical framework based upon patriarchal, misogynistic, bigoted slave ownership, I would say that it was unethical.
(May 4, 2015 at 1:07 am)dahrling Wrote: Now, the question here is: are good and evil truly points of view?
Yes, they can be nothing else as ethics are subjective. From my perspective, I navigate the grey areas using definitions of the 'harm' that might result from action/inaction.
Quote:Is there anyway to define good and evil in an universal sense - a definition that everyone, from every culture, can agree on?
I'd argue that there's no such thing as 'absolutely' good or evil, once again due to the subjectivity of ethics. I don't like the terms 'good/evil' as they polarise thinking and trick people into using broad classifications which detract from deep consideration of the questions at hand. I'd ask you to consider if anyone can really be 'absolutely' evil (did Genghis Khan love his mother, for example)? So for me, you could define the terms however you like but since they don't add value to my ethical framework, I won't use them. Consequently, universal acceptance is impossible.
Quote:And is being "selfless" truly a good thing - what makes it so? It may be "good" for others, but is it good for you? And is being selfish then "evil"? Putting your own desires and necessities first? Is there a limit to it? A line?
It's a trade-off. A certain amount of selflessness is a good thing. I'd suggest that someone who acts with no selflessness at all would risk doing harm to themselves and others (for example, being unkind to others therefore being socially excluded to their detriment). To the corollary, someone who acts only with selflessness would risk doing harm to themselves (for example, not defending themselves against attack). So there's a balance which can be struck both personally and socially.
Quote:Also, take for example someone who is a Muslim and defends his/her book of teaching by saying that the evils it presents (like how a little girl was wed to Muhammad when she was only 6 years old, and how their marriage was consummated when she 9) were considered "correct" or "acceptable" at the time they happened. How does one respond to this? How can we argue against this if good and evil aren't universal truths, if they are only based on culture?
As intimated above, I argue the harm. A non-consenting child being traded, as property, to an adult for social and sexual gratification is harmful. It may have been 'accepted' at the time, by the local culture, but it was still causing harm and people would likely have known it (I wonder how many of Aisha's female relatives would have felt sorrow at the transaction?). The trade-off was that the benefits to Mohammed were a greater consideration than the harm done to Aisha. In a 21st C, UK context, we would grant (in law) the lack of consent to be the overriding consideration, given that we honour individual rights to personal autonomy and freedom of expression (it's a shameful thing, indeed, to own another). Since the transaction resulted from an ethical framework based upon patriarchal, misogynistic, bigoted slave ownership, I would say that it was unethical.
Sum ergo sum
