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What Is Good And What Is Evil? - Page 3

Good and Evil is strictly based on what society deems is not status quo(?). Takeing religion out of it wouldn't matter. People form groups and the group would deem things to be Good/Just and others to be Evil/bad. For some reason the book lord of the flies screams to be mentioned here....

Evil What Good What

Is it possible to take religion or religious aspects out of the picture when talking about Good and Evil, I don't think so.

For most people everything that is Good is a reflection of a perception of God and everything Evil is a reflection of a perception of Satan. With that line of reasoning it could be said that Hitler was evil because of how terribly wrong some of his decisions were. A religious person would look at what he did and say, "surely he must have been influenced by Satan." This does not necessarily mean that Hitler was Evil, only that he made wrong choices that could be perceived as being influenced by Evil.

What Is Good And What Is Evil? Health & Special Psychology

I believe I have an answer to this that may be controversial (it is only a theory, one that I am not sure if I believe).
Good is that which is supported and upheld by the most powerful.
Evil is that which fights that which is powerful.
If God exists and is the most powerful then he is good and whatever he supports him is good. Satan (who is far less powerful in this scenario) is fighting God so everything that he supports is Evil.

If God does not exist, then Good is found in the most powerful entity (the strongest military, Majority, Larger society)
Evil is found in the weak, minority, those that cannot defend themselves.

Who ultimately determines Good and Evil. It is he who is in Control. Therefore I hope and have faith that There is a overriding Authority (GOD) determining what is good or what is evil, or these things are determined by flawed individuals who then impose them on others.

Edited: dbackers on 25th Jul, 2007 - 8:02pm

Page 3 Evil What Good What

The aspect of Good and Evil based on a Philosophical stance is everything about what the individual or group says "good' or "evil" is and therefore cannot be deduced via an external force or religion unless said individual or group has adopted the external force's view, which in effect is the same as deciding for themselves.

Evil What Good What

So in essence are you saying that Good and Evil (as described by Philosophy) is only a construct of what the majority thinks is Good and Evil?

If the Majority supports Abortion, is it good and Anti-abortion Evil?

I am still trying to figure out in my own mind if something can be Good or Evil unless there is some External reference (Bible, Book of Mormon, Koran,God) to the action. Otherwise it is subjective based on what the Majority states is good or evil and really has no logical basis rather then the whims of the larger group.

Edited: dbackers on 30th Jul, 2007 - 9:19pm

What Is Good And What Is Evil?

In essence yes. Maybe you are thinking in an eternal perspective so it is overshadowing the philosophical stance. For instance we can bring this to simple terms by using the education system. One group may feel that corporal punishment given by a teacher to a child is "good" while the other group sees it as barbaric and "evil". Nothing about religion there really although both sides may TRY to impose religious thinking into it. The ironic thing is that even with religion the two sides will still disagree, so in the end what is good and what is evil is what is agreed upon - see my point?

What Good What Evil - Page 3

I am trying to grasp good and evil in terms of the greek philosopher Heraclitus who talk extensively about LOGOS.

In the dictionary one of the definitions of LOGOS is:

I want to know under this philosophy if there is a "cosmic governing principle" that deals with good and evil?

Socrates,one of the leaders of philosophical thought, said:

According to Socrates there is an ultimate good that is outside of the realm of man that one may come to know. I would suspect that he thinks that there is a flip side to the good.

I reason that philosophy has room for the idea that there is a concept of ultimate good and evil that fits into the order of the cosmos. I just believe that we may not have enough information to determine what those concepts are.

Edited: dbackers on 31st Jul, 2007 - 1:03am

What Good What Evil Psychology Special & Health - Page 3

Maybe, but when you remove the element of religion you can see how changing is the view of what is indeed good or evil, hence why religion has so much success among people, because it is man's understanding that something better than he is must guide him as to what step he must take or in other words define what is good for him. This can be seen in the most primitive religious settings, however, this is the Philosophy Board, so I will not dwell on that here.