Questions tagged [good-and-evil]
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Source of Cicero quote on good/evil?
Inability to tell good from evil is the greatest worry of man's life.
This quote is often attributed to Cicero. Unfortunately, I'm struggling to find much on Google beyond various "inspirational ...
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8answers
438 views
How do we explain the brain's ability of thinking about non-materialistic concepts? [closed]
Question edited to avoid distraction
If a physical event from a materialistic point of view cannot be good or evil, and the brain is just made of matter, does this mean the concept of good/evil came/...
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Need Help Interpreting Preface to Aristotle’s Ethics
I’m currently reading the translator’s preface to Aristotle’s Ethics and read a sentence that I simply cannot figure out the meaning behind. It states
There is, Aristotle insists, no difference of ...
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3answers
113 views
Evil/good understood as selfish/cooperative
If we take a narrow view on good and evil, for practical applications (e.g. criminology, law), would it be correct to change the terms of "good" and "evil" with the supposedly more ...
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0answers
62 views
How would Kierkegaard answer the problem of evil?
Will he consider evil as part of a greater good?
Or is it something beyond our reason?
What answer would be most consistent with his beliefs?
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76 views
Is there a philosophical framework for deciding on exposing humanity changing technology?
Let us assume, there is an inventor who thinks he/she is possess a humanity altering technology. For example, an artificial intelligence. He/she is also concerned, with possible adverse effects, his/...
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6answers
588 views
Would an all-powerful God still be all-powerful if they can never do evil?
God is perfectly good, and so never does any evil. God is also all-powerful, so God can do anything that is logically possible.
But, it's logically possible for there to be a bad world (a world with ...
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3answers
98 views
Is a good being, also just?
Question: Does a good being, also have to be just/fair?
Side Question: What philosophers/resources would be recommended to research such an idea?
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6answers
542 views
Can any Christian action truly be morally good?
If someone does a morally good action because they fear God, which is a selfish motive, surely this means it is not a morally selfless action.
In the same way, if any morally good action is not ...
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2answers
2k views
What should you do in this situation?
You've been on a cruise for two days when there's an accident that forces everyone on board to abandon ship. During the evacuation, one of the boats is damaged, leaving it with a hole that fills it ...
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2answers
262 views
Does God still know what He has forgotten?
The following is from the Christian text Hebrews 10:15-17: [my emphasis]
15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:
16 “This is the covenant I will make with them
...
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5answers
297 views
What does it mean for something to be “evil”?
Is evil a perception or is it something that is objective?
Here's my line of thought on it: "If evil were a perception then the law would be moot to some extent. However, if evil were objective then ...
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1answer
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What does Beyond Good and Evil aphorism 4 mean?
It ends:
recognise untruth as a condition of life: that, to be sure, means
to resist customary value-sentiments in a dangerous fashion; and a
philosophy which ventures to do so places itself, ...
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0answers
8k views
If Satan punishes bad people, doesn't that make him a good person? [closed]
In Christian theology, the devil is generally thought of as both being evil in himself AND as being the punisher of bad people. But isn't punishing bad people a good thing? And if so, wouldn't that ...
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1answer
118 views
Has any philosopher claimed that reality is a simulation, and the evil genius wants us to stay alive, in order to explain what seems like a miracle? [closed]
Has any philosopher claimed that reality is a simulation, and the evil genius wants us to stay alive, in order for that philosopher to explain what seems like a miracle?
Would anyone ever admit to ...
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5answers
568 views
Is evil a necessity?
I do acknowledge the fact that differentiating between good and bad is a next to impossible task due to lack of clarity in their definitions and their relative meanings.
It just bothers me that the ...
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1answer
102 views
Is it ethical to try to convince someone of something without explicitly letting them know what that is?
Is it ethical or virtuous to try to convince someone of something without telling them explicitly what that is? For example, is it ethical to try to convince someone that an art work by Picasso is ...
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0answers
61 views
Did Heidegger talk about malice at all?
Did Heidegger talk about malice at all?
I agree and find interesting if not useful most of Nietzsche's aphorisms but felt that his analysis of malice was just weak, and obviously so. However, I liked ...
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1answer
446 views
Ethics vs manipulation: Is it ethical to manipulate and is ethics a form of manipulation?
Are there ethical frameworks in which manipulation is acceptable? Knowing that we are being raised and conditioned to accept an ethical framework since early childhood is it fair to say that all ...
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8answers
50k views
Trying to Understand Quote by Nietzsche
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a
monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also
into you." - Nietzsche (Beyond Good and Evil: ...
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3answers
282 views
What is a non-circular definition of evil?
I am looking for literature on the definition of “evil”.
I have scanned through as many papers as I can, the ones I have read fall in three categories:
No definition at all. The author assumes that ...
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6answers
3k views
Why is it said that God is benevolent?
I'm not sure if this is the right SE but I'll try to ask this here. If it isn't the right SE please tell me in the comments and I'll delete my question.
Usually it's said that God is benevolent ...
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2answers
431 views
History of Noble Savage idea
I used to believe that the idea of noble savage, that humans are innately well natured and corrupted into bad bahavior by socialization was originated by Rousseau. However, I just accidentally came ...
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2answers
708 views
What happens when evil realizes it is evil?
Evil exists. Evil believes that what it does is right. And Good believes what it does is right. Both are right in their frame of reference. However if Good makes the Evil realize that it is Evil then ...
2
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1answer
211 views
What is the exact relationship between empathy and evil?
In common parlance, we label people who lack empathy as "evil". That is, people who commit acts of evil because they cannot put themselves in the shoes of their victims are seen as evil.
Why is this? ...
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7answers
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Is immorality just irrationality?
If someone acts immorally - assuming some sort of free will - then they are doing so despite it being demonstrably wrong, i.e. it is a mistake as surely as 1+1=3 is a mistake. Doesn't this then give ...
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4answers
170 views
Has any philosopher ever claimed that doing “good” things is not good?
Has any philosopher ever claimed that doing "good" things is not good?
That may sound amusingly facile. And due to disagreement between what is "good" there's definitely something to say for its ...
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0answers
185 views
Does pain tend to be more differentiated than pleasure?
Does pain tend to be more differentiated than pleasure? Which is said to be open to more interpretations and variations, pleasure or pain?
See what Sade had to say about this sort of question, quoted ...
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5answers
420 views
Are there actually any good arguments for neoplatonist privation?
When it comes to dualism versus neoplatonist privation, are there actually any good arguments at all in favor of neoplatonist privation?
The argument for dualism seems obvious. It is known that some ...
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3answers
867 views
Are there any philosophies that view the whole of everything as evil?
I have noticed a pattern in philosophies where the successful ones I find all believe that everything, when viewed as one whole, is "good." This may be reached by assuming everything in the universe ...
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2answers
1k views
Is good the absence of evil or is it the other way round?
Is good the absence of evil or is evil the absence of good?What do religions tell us?
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3answers
83 views
What view thinks that good and bad mean satisfy and dissatisfy?
I believed that there is no way to explain some actions as "Good" or "Bad" and there are just our perception of an action, in fact if an action is for us we call it "Good" and if it dissatisfies us we ...
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12answers
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Why do we assume good and evil exist?
I've noticed that a lot of arguments for or against a God (especially the Christian God) assume that good and evil exist. Why is this?
I had always assumed there was a good and evil while I was a ...
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4answers
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What would Nietzsche have said about moral relativism in leftwing politics?
The concept of superman or übermensch is someone that overcomes nihilism and learns to see above what's considered right or wrong.
The latter is a leftist's trait, because right-wing mentality has ...
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2answers
411 views
Is it possible to determine good and evil in a vacuum?
Without any context of time, situation, or people involved, or any other situational variable is it possible to tell right or wrong, good or evil? Why/ why not?
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1answer
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Death and Epictetus
In the Enchiridion, Epictetus seems suggest that goodness and badness are not “in” the world. They are “in” our reactions.
For example he says that, “Death, for instance, is not terrible, else it ...
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1answer
225 views
Is it possible for it to be good to do evil? Evil to do good?
Take for instance you are able to go back in time and have one of the worst leaders in history killed him/ her before they came into power, thus eliminating the atrocities they committed. Or see ...
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1answer
137 views
According to Kant, If we're all evil is change for the better possible without religion (God)?
Or is the only change possible one of ever-increasing depravity? If so, why can't we "get better?"
According to the IEP's article on radical evil Kant says:
The failure of human moral agents to ...
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1answer
251 views
Levinas' good/evil compared to Kantian good/evil
In "transcendence and evil", Levinas gives an account of how good and evil are not merely opposites, and would be better fit for description in a venn diagram (as a synopsis for those that haven't ...
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0answers
51 views
Can there be a unidirectional value system?
I tried to make a point about language on another SE site and it flopped. So I realized that I was focusing on an idea of having two-valued assessment: good and bad. What if we did away with this ...
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5answers
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is God good, or God is the good?
When I was a Muslim I believed God is the source of goodness.
When I quit, one of the most frequent questions that I think about and I couldn't find an answer for is
If we say God is good, that ...
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2answers
328 views
How can we respond to evil with love? [closed]
Any ideas on how we can (or can't) respond to evil with love?
It's clear how a Christian or Buddhist (or any person of religion) may respond to such a question but I cannot seem to grasp how others ...
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2answers
189 views
Are there philosophical arguments for moral risk avoidance?
It is observed that often, people tend to dislike risk (economists say that people tend to be "risk-averse"). For example, consider two Gambles X and Y. Gamble X involves a prize of $1 with ...
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1answer
847 views
Is Work the Root of All Evil? [closed]
Assume that money cannot be printed arbitrarily and is anchored to gold, like it once was, and such gold currency was not debased by cheaper metals, like it frequently was throughout history, then ...
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1answer
225 views
Laws are made for humans, but does everyone classify as a human? [closed]
By law, even the worst criminals may be pardoned on grounds of mercy etc. But if an animal attacks or even kills a human, it can be put down. My question is: Shouldn't there be 'rules' to determine ...
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3answers
147 views
Does evil cause evolution and a revolution reverses it? [closed]
The definition of evil from thefreedictionary.com:
Causing ruin, injury, or pain
According to this: Every activity which causes pain to you or anyone else is an evil.
Let me explain this concept ...
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2answers
77 views
Is there a useful, nominally calculable, secular description of good?
I'm looking for something like a generally applicable algorithm for determining which of several possible choices is 'most good'.
Some qualifications for that algorithm should be that:
(a) it is ...
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3answers
208 views
Is it ethical to clear and clean the home of an extreme hoarder against his will?
Is it ethical to clear and clean the home of an extreme hoarder against his will?
He's an old man, ill in hospital, and badly injured by the part-collapse of his home. He has also been neglecting ...
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3answers
494 views
How can the concept good and evil be defined in the context of decision awareness?
If we are unaware of the vast majority of decisions that we're making (because they are made at a quantum level), how can we define the concept of good and evil? (saying that we made a good / bad ...
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6answers
4k views
Is God either immoral or not omnipotent?
The usual (Christian) justification for suffering/evil in the world created by a benevolent God is freedom of the will. However, the more interesting question is not about the source of evil (which ...
