Aren't there SOME things that we can all agree are bad or good?

Question

Someone on my last question said everyone's idea of bad and good are different; but under what circumstances? I'm going to make a list and I would like for you to tell me whether, in your opinion, each is bad or good, and the reason for your belief in that.

- Lying?
- Questioning the legalities?
- Slander/Libel?
- Abortion?
- Having an affair (emotional or physical, you pick)?
- Censorship?

There are a few, if you would like to share something that is not on the list, feel free!

So if a beneficiary kills the policy holder for payoff, is that a good thing? It's a due cause for one of those people, is it not?

Oh man you guys have made this rather difficult; I'm going to let you vote! Thank you all for sharing!

Answer 1

Everyone will agree - poison is bad.

The substance.

Answer 2

Values are situational and largely governed by your culture of origin.

Lying-What if telling the truth would cause great harm? Hurting someones feelings, maybe driving them to suicide, for no benefit. Or, while negotiating with a mentally ill person holding hostages. Do you tell him the strict truth, or what will get those hostages to safety?

I'd say questioning the law is usually good, but still not an absolute. How about in situations where it will cause instability and chaos. Or questioning military rules in a combat situation, where the loss of time and attention can get people killed.

Slander and libel are not good things, but they can be used for good. Imagine a young hitler, rising to political power. His opponents can't find any real dirt on him, so they make up some slanderous charges. The public reaction is the same as if the slander was fact, and Hitler never rules Germany. Good results from bad tactics.

Abortion is obviously somethign people can't agree on the morality of. Hence the feirce debate.

In a huge number of cultures, historical and modern, it is -expected- that people will have affairs. In some cases, it is considered scandalous to not have someone on the side.

I abhor censhorship, but I will concede that sometimes it is called for. Some things should not be generally distributed, plans for nuclear weapons, troop deployment plans, and the like. There is also the issue of child pornography.

Answer 3

The ones you listed would have ambiguous results, since depending on the situation, it could be good or bad.

Lying: Sometimes lying is good, I mean like, if someone is dying and you can make their last moments happy then it's worth it.

Questioning the legalities: Good. Sometimes, policies are just unfair.

Slander: Good/Bad. Stuff like that can help us see the true face of a person but it can also ruin someone's career.

Abortion: Good. Even people in jail deserve a second chance, why not these women who have made a wrong decision?

Having an affair: Emotional or Physical, it will harm your loved ones.

Censorship: Good, somethings need to be hidden.


Things that I think are bad for sure are:
-not appreciating life
-rape
-bullying

Answer 4

Lying: Depends. All lies are not created equal.

Questioning the legalities?: You need to be more clear. I am not even sure what the heck you mean by this.

Slander/libel: Definitely bad. This is a great example of BAD lying. Slander and libel destroy the moral fabric of society, bog down the legal system, and destroy lives. That is not how you create a safe and stable society.

Abortion: This is not a black and white subject. Is it wrong? Probably depends on the circumstances. It is not as simple as the Pro-Choice and Pro-Life people make it out to be. Right or wrong, eliminate the circumstances under which women think they need abortions, and you'll eliminate abortion.

Having an Affair: Definitely wrong. Affairs break trust, and trust is the key to a successful relationship. Science has proven that successful relationships reduce stress, improve health, and help children develop faster and more effectively.

Censorship: Wrong. If you want freedom and happiness in society, it starts with letting people express their views. Rather than censoring people, if everyone just ignored the people that are full of hate, immorality, and intolerence, tehy would go away. They feed off of the reaction to them, and censorship is the best way to INCREASE the power of those who write harmful things.

Answer 5

I think so. There have got to be things humans without clinical abnormal psychosis call agree are "bad" and "good."

Bad:

Child Molestation
Infanticide
Child Neglect

Good:

Caring for someone who isn't able to take care of themselves
Taking care of yourself
Being kind to others.

Lying: Generally bad. Sometimes a small lie as to not hurt someone's feelings is ok.

Questioning what legalities???

Slander/Libel?? Bad if it truly is slander and not whistleblowing.

Abortion: Wrong. Killing a human life. Hey, you asked my opinion.

Having an affair? Wrong. Against God's Commandments. Are they're justifications? Perhaps. Never a good idea though.

Censorship? Ok in some cases, violence on TV for instance. Can't go too far as to censor what we can and can't say in public.

Answer 6

You should read books about the philosophy of morals and get more acquainted with the philosophies of Bentham and Kant. The Value ethics of Aristotle may also help. There is no way to discuss these in such a short space but some items on your list can be controversial. Abortion of a child issued from a rape may be good. Lying (giving false information) to someone with evil plans can be good.

Read "A modest proposal" for an example of something that is unarguably bad.

Answer 7

Just sweet nothings that nobody thinks about is something I consider to be good. The simple things in life, the actions people make out of the goodness of their heart. For example, remember a time when you dropped money on the ground, completely unaware of it? Well, maybe there was a stranger that picked it up and returned it to you with a comforting smile. That's what's good, all of the genuinely kind hearted souls that are out there, watching over you when you don't even realize it.

And I'd go into the bad... but the positive is just so much more refreshing to think about! Good question.

Answer 8

I'm presuming to limit this question to human behavior. Based on that I would say bad or good things can be fairly judged on whether or not they are transgressions committed by one to the detriment of others.

- Lying - Bad if it is to bring harm to someone, or shirk your responsibilities.

Questioning the legalities - Probably good but then the busy-body that wants to enforce unimportant technical matters to spoil things for others is bad.

Slander/Libel - bad

Abortion - Depends entirely on whether you see a fetus as a human being. Bad if you do. if you don't then good to have the freedom to choose.

Having an affair - bad

Censorship - bad only when imposed by government or authority.

Answer 9

We all have a natural sense of good vs. bad. We all know the difference, and it doesn't change. What might lead people to think that something is bad to one person and good to another is someone's worldview.

If a person is brought up in such a way that they question legalities, that does not change how good or bad the act is, it simply means that the person doesn't view it as punishable.

What I'm trying to say is, a person always knows what's good or bad, it's just that sometimes, even though they know that it is bad, they do it anyways because they think rebelling is good, if that makes any sense whatsoever.

Answer 10

The botom line is that, while it may be a nice notion, It is at least currently impossible for everyone to agree on any given point. You must remember that your concept of things is that of an American and in the grand scheme of things there are many different societal philosophies that embrace ideals that American philosophy doens't. It is easy to make judgements about things that we concieve of as 'right and wrong' and think that we are correct. But you are obligated to keep in mind that there are other people, cultures, sub-cultures, and religions that follow a different set of social and personal beliefs.

I believe your original question is an attempt, to a degree, to establish a clear cut understanding of right and wrong. I hate to be the one to tell you, but Life doesn't work on those terms. The philosophy of Good/Bad, Black/White does not exist. There are a myriad of colors and an almost infinite number of possibilities, and I believe that it is the very essence of life to figure out where you wish to position yourself in the rainbow of philosophy.

Answer 11

there is actually quite a large set of values which anthropologists have discovered are common to all human societies (one place you can find a list is as the appendix to stephen pinker's 'the blank slate').

murder is bad when the person murdered is part of the group (most societies agree that murdering 'enemies' is ok; though the definition of 'enemy' can vary).

incest is always viewed as bad (people may do it, but they always accept that it is wrong).

teasing people who are close to you is good (this was a surprising one; but it does seem to be a human universal).

....

the usual friction point is what precisely is meant by a given term. most people would agree that 'slander' is wrong, but different people might have different notions of 'slander'.

until very recently in britain we had blasphemy laws which made many criticisms of christianity illegal, but did nothing to protect moslem, hindu or jewish religious beliefs. i thought those were unjust laws; but because i thought they were unfair, not because i have a bloc objection to 'censorship'.