Revisiting Goodness

lukj: We ought to do good! 
 

Felix: What is goodness? Is it just survival? 

lukj: No, I don't think so. I don't think goodness is reducible to survival. 
 

Felix: Then is goodness reducible to some other terms? Can we measure goodness as simply psychological pleasure? Or fitness?


lukj: I don't think so. I think goodness is irreducible! We might ask, what is goodness, but we cannot put it into any other terms. There is no further fact of the matter. 


Felix: Isn't that incoherent? Doesn't that make goodness transcendent? And because there are no observable transcendent things, it doesn't actually exist? 


lukj: I think there are transcendent things, and we can observe them in everyday life! Take love, for example. If I were to tell my significant other that I love them because it fires chemicals in my brain, or because I am evolutionarily wired to love them, or any other non-transcendent meaning, then I devalue the concept of love. 


Felix: Then why does one love? 


lukj: I love because I love! There is no further fact of the matter; love cannot be put in other terms. It is transcendent! 
 

Felix: And goodness? 
 

lukj: The good is good because it is good! There is no further fact of the matter; to put goodness in other terms devalues it. 
 

Felix: I still don't think I can believe in transcendent things without being able to observe them. Surely, my experiences in reality show me that people do not actually love genuinely, and it makes me despair. I see people getting taken advantage all the time, and institutions that profess to believe in transcendent values become hypocrites the next day. 
 

lukj: It is good that you see that other people fail to meet the expectation of what love is. But just because others have wronged you does not mean that goodness has been done away; no, to the contrary! Your conscience has awakened, and it is because you recognize what goodness truly is that you are able to critique where others fail to be good. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Way of Kings and Words of Radiance -- Short review

Finished Sanderson's TWoK and WoR recently. Some notes:  Pacing: Definitely had some slower parts (especially TWoK's first 2/3rds). WoR's duels were better than the end.  Characters: Shallan's character really grew on me. I didn't expect to like her as much as I did. Kaladin continues to be very tiring -- albeit he is growing slowly. Contrary to what other readers think, I don't think he is actually dealing with depression. I think he's just exhausted. I did enjoy his realization that Elhokar was to Dalinar what Tien was to Kaladin. The analogy's good, but I think it's a bit forced given the asymmetry between Elhokar's poor moral record and Tien's blamelessness.   Dalinar has taken a backseat. I think that he continues to be too trusting of others (particularly Aladar and Sadeas). He takes risks that he shouldn't take, and gets away with it. For example, he insists on putting his whole camp in a position that cannot escape the Parshendi. ...
Read more

The Resilience of a Man

 Okay, forgive me for being parasocial. I'm watching jasontheween's prom night stream and the vibes are absolutely off. Before, Jason and his date Sakura got matching nail designs -- with Sakura having a "J" drawn on her nails. But later on in the night, Sakura half jokingly tells him that the "J" isn't for him but for his cameraman Jawhn. Jason asks her to take it back. She doesn't. The vibes immediately fall off. The car ride back is awkward as hell. It's obvious Jason wants to say something and Sakura's talking just to talk.  When they get back, Jason's friends are all telling him to keep shooting his shot and don't take the joke too seriously. But Jason's never had something like this happen to him so publicly. Yea, he's been "lil bro'd" before, but not to the extent of being in such a cuck position. It's absolutely infuriating to be put in that position. His friends are correct to say that he should take...
Read more

Prohibitions against mind-altering drugs: Biblical and Kantian perspectives

I understand that the Bible does not necessarily provide a comprehensive moral theory. There are times when proper, methodical exegesis is necessary to derive certain flavors of Christian ethics. These, however, are inevitably influenced by non-Biblical sources. For example, much of virtue ethics is derived and appropriated from Aristotelian ethics.  I want to focus on verses speaking out against alcohol use in the Bible. There are many of them, and they seem to prohibit drunkenness rather than alcohol use at large. Ironically, Jesus's first miracle is turning water into wine. Let's take a look at scripture:  Ephesians 5:18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise. Proverbs 23:20-21 Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags. The moral ...
Read more