What defines good? In secular humanism you say..?

Question

what's good for you is good for you.... If everyone is left to their own definition of good behavior, where does that land us? Are there absolutes that everyone agrees on?? Where do you get your standard for good and bad? Are there gray areas where it could go either way??

Answer 1

Actually, secular humanism is most often associated with altruism and striving to do no harm (or as little harm as possible), not the idea that "what's good for you is good for you." Altruism is the idea that we should treat others as we ourselves would like to be treated. Of course there are gray areas, the moral dilemmas that challenge us all the time, but in general altruism is usually the underlying basis of morality.

Answer 2

I don't think anyone says secular humanism is about 'whats good for you is good for you' that sounds more like Satanist aleister crowley's 'do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law'

No its just a morality based on sense. Atheists DON'T think homosexuals should be executed, we DON'T think children should be killed for insulting their parents - and witches if there are any shouldn't be burnt at the stake. It says that in the bible. Gray areas are good things - believing in absolutes leads to all kinds of evil. The kinds of evil that is in the hearts of those hiding behind religion while screaming for holy war.

You can read the bible and see things that are totally immoral - now you say where do you get your standards from - its society and culture as a whole - whereever else we get our morals we dont get them from the bible.

Answer 3

that's a deep problem, and a ubiquitous one. I think that problem parallels the problem of learning and using language. How do we know that we all have the same meanings of words up in our heads? Well.... we do it by building up a network of definitions. There aren't many absolutes to speak of, but there are some 'anchors' that are held more firmly in place than others.

To make matters worse, genetics and all kinds of confounding variables compound the already complex problem of understanding human behavior. Ethics is more of a craft than a science. Perhaps this is why our attempts at making a practical but logical system of law are so messy.

Answer 4

When people choose to judge what is good(and the evil of others), they are still being deceived by the first temptation.

Gen 3:1-7
3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'"

4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
(from New International Version)

Answer 5

There are definitely gray areas. I totally believe there are ways you could go either way and do the "right" thing or do the "wrong" thing. It depends on how you feel about it. People many times judge things good or bad based on their experiences. If two people have different experiences, they could very easily judge things two different ways.

(In a gray area) I believe if a person does what they think is wrong, it is wrong. Someone else might do the same, and think it is right. Therefore it is right. It is whatever you judge it to be.

Of course, it always helps to pray about it.

Answer 6

Many, many, many differences.

These days even the act of committing murder is debated.