Recently I pointed out that “doing good to others” cannot be the definition of good. Today I will ask:
1) What is the good for others?
2) Does an action need to be good for someone else in order to be good?
First, what is the good for others? The two best candidates are “whatever pleases them” and “whatever leads to their flourishing.”
Today I continue to look at the answers various friends gave when I asked, “What does good mean?”
Answer #2. Good means being loving and considerate toward other people.
Here is Part 2 of my informal survey, asking “what does good mean?”
Answer #3. Good means “pleasing.”
I informally surveyed my friends and asked:
What does good mean? How do we determine if something is good? What is “goodness” in your own words? What is the standard?
Left in the rain! A favorite book—ruined.
It was a growing-up experience for many book lovers, accidentally ruining a prized book. And how does it feel? The feeling is sadness, but also moral guilt.
I’ve been writing about the concept of “goodness,” and today I would like to look at a special aspect of goodness: morality.