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What Is Good And What Is Evil? - Page 4

I think I can agree with JB on this. If religion is completely taken out of the context then what is good, and what is bad must be defined by the majority. In this instance abortion could very well be seen as a good thing, if the majority agreed that it is. We just have to remember that this is Philosophically speaking.

An agreement of a majority has to be influenced by an exterior force. If that force is God, or something in the cosmos as Socrates alludes to, it is still an exterior force. Without this exterior force there would be nothing for us to compare against to determine what is good or evil. One could even wonder, if there was nothing to compare against, would there even be Good or Evil?

Evil What Good What

If this is the premise then no, I do not believe there would not be a concept of 'good' and 'evil', both of which I believe are religous concepts.

I do, and I don't disagree with you,
I believe we are arguing the same thing JB.
From my earlier post

I agree with you, the majority (the most people agreeing) or other strong force determines by agreement what is good and evil. The minority (those that are on the other side of the so called "good" Majority as defined in our concepts of good and evil without God) does not and is often deemed evil.

The above definition of good and evil scares me.

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

Evil is the absolute form of that which is not correct according to the majority standard, therefore evil can even be making a mistake therefore describing the whole human race as evil, hence being evil or performing something not accepted by the majority is evil, henceforth we should all be called criminals.

Page 4 Evil What Good What

Whether there is religion or not, there will always remain a concept of good and evil because there will remain a natural law of survival and order. This law of order will ensure that for man to survive, life will be governed by a certain order so man can prevail over life in a world of chaos.

In my opinion, all aspects that support the natural order so as to maintain the value of life will be deemed as good. On the other hand, all aspects that will be in excess of the laws of natural order that will result to extreme termination of lives or unnatural deaths will be deemed evil.

Example, if there was a famine that resulted into massive deaths, this famine could be viewed as a concept of evil simply because it was so devastating it was beyond the order to maintain life. However, the concept of evil may not apply in case death had just resulted only due to hunger.

The holocaust issue where millions were massacred including women and children might be an irrelevant illustration because this is part of history and difficult to separate viewing it as evil without religion. Although, it could possibly still be viewed as evil simply because of the massive devastation of lives but this would be said so as evil NOT BY ALL PEOPLE but perhaps only to those who were not subject under Hitler's rule of law and order. The Germans would think that the holocaust was a good thing but it certainly will not defy many other people who resisted it to think that such holocaust was indeed an evil thing.

So, basically I believe there will still be a concept of good and evil, the evil thing being the extreme opposite or antithesis of that absolute good or that which sustains life preserved by mankind's law of order. As there will be that natural order to value life over death, to value a rule of order over chaos, then there will remain such concept of good and evil, even taking away religion for that matter.

Philosophy is beautiful!

Edited: mcborne on 31st Jan, 2009 - 9:40pm

Evil What Good What

All basic religions have the same basic morals. With the exception of cults, the rules are the same. Don't murder, don't lie, listen to your parents... Etc...

What Is Good And What Is Evil?

Name: Jane

Comments: Both good and evil exist in every one of us. Religion helps us to perceive this and 'manage' it because it reminds us of what good and evil we are capable of. Without religion and the knowledge that God put us here, we'd be no better than animals. We ARE better than animals.

What Good What Evil - Page 4

Name: Bob

Comments: I think Good and Evil will always be in some way determined by larger society because it always has been. With or without religious doctrine humanity has constantly had to structure and restructure itself around new developments and in order to keep itself going.

It seems to me that far from being the primary reason for the labels good and evil; religion has instead been a reflector of what was already determined as such. The prime example to show how different societal perceptions of "good" and "bad" can be is the Ancient Egyptians.

For the Egyptians, fertility was everything. Living by the Nile, they were subject to the whims of nature in ways the modern west can't really comprehend. Would the Nile flood? Would their crops survive? Would there be drought? Would the new baby die? Would the new mum die? It was all terribly uncertain. So, they tried to beat that uncertainty by "worshiping" fertitlity. People had as many babies as possible. Paternity didn't really matter, so all children- be they the children of slaves, mistresses or wives were treated as having the same value in the one household. Adultery was frowned upon but not worthy of anything more than that. Husbands and wives could divorce easily and the concept of a "virgin bride" didn't exist. Who cared, really? Fertility, that was the important thing. And so it was in their religion and so it was with their Pharoah. He was the conduit between the Gods and men and his public fertility was necessary to keep the land abundant and the river flowing. Once a year he would pleasure himself into the Nile. Fertility was everything.

By ancient Roman times, adultery was a punishable, criminal offence. The ancient Jews ascribed it a sin worthy of death. Virginity in women becomes paramount. Fertility is seen as something in need of control not an end in and of itself because paternity is very important and there is more protection from drought and so on due to higher levels of imported food and trade.

So we can see that "values," religion and societies views become very intermingled in trying to ascertian what is "right" and what is "wrong."

Is it ever possible to do anything else?

What Good What Evil Psychology Special & Health - Page 4

There would be no concept of good and evil. If the point of view of the dominating part of a society said abortion was right and the other said it was wrong then there would simply be a coin where you never know which one is really right. People wouldn't know what was right and wrong and it would simply matter on the point of view of the individual. Holy and evil would not "be" because that is determined by putting a weight on one side of the coin. That is what religion does. The human mind is incapable to sort out what is right and wrong itself because why would anything matter but yourself. Why would it matter if you killed someone's husband to get there wife. You'd be happy. Without religion we'd all just be self serving people only ever thinking about ourselves. We wouldn't even think about what was right and wrong but simply about what would be the next thing to make yourself happy. That would be the only thing that exists.

Message Edited... Persephone: Please do not bring up religious references in the Philosophy Board