Good and Evil..?

Question

Are you the ultimate judge of what is good and evil or do you believe there is an outside set of standards that you base your views on?
What is supreme good, and supreme evil within yourself?

Answer 1

My supreme good, is that i like to help people. I do get upset if there is no justice. I am not ultimate judge, i do have my own standards what is good and evil. It is not as the same as some people understanding of good or evil. I can kill, and I would if there is was need, that is my evil.

Answer 2

It depends upon your perspective on morality. Some people would say the ultimate and best morality is one which uses an objective often rigid code by which to make moral decisions. This code ought to be followed no matter what the circumstances. This is principled ethics or an ethics of justice and it is the most prevalent in western thought (eg judeo-christian ethics). Another perspective which is brought forth in the study of feminist ethics (Ethics of Care) says that true moral judgment must take into account the relationships involved. It says that an ethics of justice fails to view people as individuals and thus fails to truly see the reality of any moral action.

I think the reality is much closer to a combination of the two. We have the principals on which we were raised these consist of both familial and cultural norms, as well as personal moral stance we have accumulated through our lives. We also have the reality of our relationships and the way in which certain circumstances can mitigate certain actions. So if our mother commits a crime we are at a moral impasse between whether to follow the ultimate good in ourselves and save our mother or follow the ultimate good that society holds and turn her in. It is a moral gestalt we can look at it one way or the other but never both at the same time.

Simply put the answer is ultimate good and evil is both in ourselves and based on and outside set of standards. This of course creates a very complicated relationship with morality.

Answer 3

My view, is that there are no standards, partially in due to nothing to set and interpret the standards. Good and Evil are unstable morals relative to the viewer.

I quite like the theory of the evolution of morals though, the Moral Zeitgeist. It's basic statement is that general morals are set by society, and evolve over time to match the environment.

Say back long ago, when there were small primitive tribes, those that had some sort of morals, which would still be considered "good" today, would survive and pass them on. A tribe without morals where everyone stole and killed each other would not survive.

Answer 4

When you are young you use an outside set of standards. It starts out: If I take this, I will get in trouble, and that is bad. As you grow older good/evil becomes blurred, shades of gray develop, and those that mature emotionally hold themselves to their own moral code: not one based on what others believe, but what is "right" and "wrong." I can't say that I believe in the idea of "good and evil," but if I had to define evil I would say lack of conscience (however you define that), whereas good would be the opposite.

Answer 5

The good and evil that you see don't even exist in reality, at least not outside of the mind that believes in them. They are only judgments passed by the individual from their own unique perspective. What one person sees as bad or evil may seem to be the only logical thing to do from some other perspective. The ideas of both good and evil are point of view specific. This is why people like bush and bin laden are either loved or hated. Bush is seen as good by people who share his fear based thought system. Those who have a compassionate concern for all of mankind often see him as evil.

Bin laden is much the same. He is a villain in much of the western world, but he is somewhat of a celebrated pop star on the Middle East. There are T-shirt shops that sell items with his picture as though he was Jesus. It all depends on your point of view or perspective.

To sum it all up good is the name we give to people who do things that we think we like.

Evil is the name we give to people who do the things that we don’t like.

This is of course based solely on our particular point of view.

Love and blessings

Don

Answer 6

I do not feel that there is supreme good or supreme evil within a person. There is a bit of both which depends a lot on upbringing, environment and attitude toward your fellow man.. If the head is on straight, you are primarily thinking of good.This is exemplified on how you respect yourself, how you respect others, how you assist others, how you indoctrinate your children and how you live your life.

Answer 7

Since human minds are not linked, it makes sense to me that each person would create their own version of good and evil as well as the levels of each.

For example, I had a person in my life, growing up, that I thought was VERY evil because that person always beat me down mentally. Now that I am older, I know of many people that had things much worse than I did. Those people would have probably been happy to move into my shoes.

Answer 8

I don't think the standards of good and evil for me are set by anything else............ and i think it's too hard to see supreme good and evil inside a person, because good and evil are never black and white........... what may seem moral to you can be a complete abomination to others.

Answer 9

Try "Climb the Highest Mountain," Mark Prophet, "Men in White Apparel," Ann Ree Colton, and "Expecting Adam," Martha Beck, Ph.D.

cordially,

j.

Answer 10

Good and evil is an egocentric concept. So yes, as far as you're concerned, you judge good and evil, but ONLY as it relates to yourself. Beyond that, you do have ethical responsibilities.