What is GOOD?

[Whateverist]

One sentence in a post by Frodo, who I esteem highly, has got me thinking about what we think is "good" in relation to our actions. My initial impressions are included in the reply I made there which I've also copied below. Most theists, I suspect, like Kant would consider a "good" action one that requires a deliberate intent. One has done "good" when duty and not sentiment (nor any other gratification) is the reason for ones action. Intuitively I have always balked at this notion. This sense of "good" arises out of a desire to codify what originates in empathy. But to my mind it twists our nature in a way I find unhealthy and not at all "good". I wonder what others think about what counts as good in the realm of human actions.

Yes I disagree that you can be as good as is possible with a positive world view with a neutral world view. This is quite simple to see.

This is a little puzzling for me. Is it good to do good? Sometimes yes. But can there be an excess of good? If someone thinks incessantly about what is good and spends every waking moment attempting to do what he has decided is good .. is that a life well spent? (Would it be for you?)

I think that I am neutral on the value of the good. Most of the actions I do which what others might describe as "good" are from empathy. I don't act on empathy for any 'pleasure' that gives me. Nor do I do it out of any desire to act in accordance with any moral code of which I am aware. I do it for its own sake. It is a natural inclination which I neither thwart nor attribute to any higher purpose.

Is it better to do good things because we have decided they are good and we do them out of a sense of duty to the good? I don't think so.