tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697041069822813301.post5936369045471553522..comments2023-04-07T04:36:21.582-05:00Comments on Musing Aloud: "Good" vs. EvilAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02343632915029739024noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697041069822813301.post-64215925647974338882010-03-29T10:07:20.034-05:002010-03-29T10:07:20.034-05:00The proper antonym to "evil" is the word...The proper antonym to "evil" is the word "good". It's the lack of concern with ideas and the attempt to bypass the entire field of morality in today's culture that has degenerated the term "good" to mean something it doesn't. The culture has reached such a non-philosophical non-conceptual stage where the dominant moral trend is not even altruism (which most merely pay lip service to), but rather a rejection of morality as such. Avoiding immediate physical pain is a more accurate description of what most Americans are living for.<br /><br />[On a side note, Americans at large do experience some joy and do want to live for more than the avoidance of pain, but simply do not have the freedom and philosophical tools necessary to live for their own rational values.]<br /><br />America is at an ugly cultural transition point where people are attempting to live without ideas. There is presently an intellectual and moral vacuum.<br /><br />So, if one takes the avoidance of immediate physical pain as one's purpose in life (as an approximation of a moral code), good simply means any action that does not involve inflicting direct physical violence on oneself or another (or derivatives such as directly destroying or stealing property, such as smashing a vase or stealing someone's purse). <br /><br />A proper view of morality is that fundamental questions are either-or. So if one accepts rational egoism, then any actions not guided by or supporting one's long-range productiveness (within one's hierarchy of values) are evil. So it's not only evil to murder, but also to live "range of the moment" or to live for others. Passivity and conformity are evil.<br /><br />To be good is to pursue long range productive work as one's central value, to be rationally selfish over the course of one's life. An isolated action by a person, out of context, does not indicate the person's moral code. One must be morally judged by the extent to which they use their mind over the course of their life. "Good" requires a constant commitment to reason, productive achievement, and one's own happiness.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com