What would we know if we didn't know what was good or evil?

Question

To Fireball: I think most humans would agree 'happiness' is a 'good' thing. Think, girl!

To Jennifer G: Without the interpretation that illness/disease is a 'bad' thing, there are a lot of vaccine's and cure's humans never would have thought of. There are somethings we don't agree on, but progress is made according to what an individual (sometimes group) thinks is good vs. evil.

Answer 1

Mad, this question is interesting in the manner that its actually about duality. If we did not know what was good or evil, then we could do no good or evil because opposite polarities or paradoxes are defined by each other. You can't truly know what a MAN is if there is no female - opposites invoke one another, they initiate one another. If we could not differentiate between good and evil by not knowing them, then we would not be able to have experiential knowledge. We would inevitable know nothing and be nothing, as progress occurs through the movement of polarities, like male and female which is resolved in the child, or offspring which share of the reality of the two.

We would know nothing.

Answer 2

Here's a better question: Do you need to be told from a book what is good and what is evil? If you do, good luck. The major "revealed" texts available (the bible and the koran) are not much of a guide because they lead down convoluted, criss-crossing paths. And they're also not entirely relevant.

We can have a moral compass, but it doesn't need to come from a specific book. You can check your own heart, your own thoughts and find moral compass. Just keep in mind that it may not always agree with fundamentalists who may insist that "their way" is the only way.

Answer 3

"I can take any action that you might say is evil, and give you a scenario which would make it the "right" thing to do"
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a 17 year old gets pregnant and doesnt want a baby but goes ahead and has it anyway. As soon as it is born, the mother slowly bleeds the baby to death in a violent manner.

defend

Answer 4

good and evil isn't absolute. It is a product of social evolution.

I can take any action that you might say is evil, and give you a scenario which would make it the "right" thing to do.

From murder, to lying, stealing, to cheating.

Answer 5

I think considering the fact that people can't seem to agree on what constitutes good or evil, that we'd know about as much as we do now: "I think I know what I think, and I think that I know that what you think is wrong."

Answer 6

Confusion!!! Coz what someone else knows as good maybe evil to another.

Answer 7

Good and evil don't exist.

Answer 8

Interesting question. I have no idea.

Answer 9

happiness.