Questions tagged [good-and-evil]
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68
questions
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0answers
66 views
How did it become righteous and accepted to sacrifice the majority to save the minority? [closed]
Examples of minorities include immigrants, disabled and incurables, non heterosexuals, jews, women in some cases.
I think that prior to the 20th century it was the opposite which was commonly ...
3
votes
7answers
489 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 ...
-1
votes
3answers
72 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?
6
votes
6answers
499 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 ...
0
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2answers
147 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 ...
1
vote
2answers
248 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
...
0
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5answers
241 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 ...
0
votes
1answer
159 views
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, ...
2
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0answers
5k 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 ...
1
vote
1answer
105 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 ...
4
votes
5answers
373 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 ...
2
votes
1answer
76 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 ...
2
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0answers
56 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 ...
1
vote
1answer
236 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 ...
5
votes
2answers
10k 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: Prelude to a ...
4
votes
3answers
257 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 ...
5
votes
5answers
1k 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 ...
2
votes
2answers
361 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 ...
2
votes
2answers
677 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
votes
1answer
178 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? ...
21
votes
7answers
6k views
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 ...
2
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4answers
167 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 ...
0
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0answers
179 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 ...
3
votes
5answers
358 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 ...
5
votes
3answers
827 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 ...
0
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2answers
936 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?
0
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3answers
81 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 ...
4
votes
12answers
2k views
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 ...
2
votes
4answers
966 views
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
352 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?
3
votes
1answer
1k views
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 ...
0
votes
1answer
221 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 ...
2
votes
1answer
132 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 ...
2
votes
1answer
239 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 ...
0
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0answers
46 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 ...
4
votes
5answers
2k views
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 ...
0
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2answers
307 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 ...
1
vote
2answers
164 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 ...
-2
votes
1answer
775 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 ...
2
votes
1answer
208 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 ...
0
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3answers
144 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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votes
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 ...
3
votes
3answers
205 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 ...
0
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3answers
369 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 ...
18
votes
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 ...
3
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4answers
905 views
Does a covert reward destroy the moral value of a moral action?
Should a moral action be evaluated directly as it is with rewards - real or possible - being put aside? In other words - is a consideration of covert rewards that the actor is gaining or those selfish ...
8
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8answers
3k views
Would it be good if everyone was good?
When people meet somebody who hurts us or just behaves in an inappropriate way, we usually think that the world would be so wonderful if all people were good.
I know that one can have his own ...
2
votes
2answers
156 views
Using embryos in stem cell medicine
To what age of embryo (if at all) it would be considered socially/morally acceptable to use embryo as stem cell source to potentially save someone's live?
EDIT: I would like an answer to give ...
1
vote
3answers
2k views
Theories on the origin(s) of evil [closed]
People sometimes do bad things. It seems natural to ask what are the fundamental reasons for this.
Here are some possible "sources of evil":
Human nature - humans innately contain qualities that ...
1
vote
2answers
945 views
Aristotle's Wording Is Either Wrong Or Confusing
In Rhetoric, Book I, Part 6, Aristotle states:
We may define a good thing as that which ought to be chosen for its
own sake; or as that for the sake of which we choose something else;
or as ...
