we wer asked this question in philosophy, but everyone got confused as to whether it is self evident or if it would need to be proven by asking evryone, could such a broad statement as this be self evidently true?
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Re: is it true that everyone wants what is good?
No, it is not a true statement. Some people want evil and some people want good. Good and evil are in the eye of the beholder. One man's/woman's evil is another man's/woman's good. Take for example 9-11, was it good or evil? If you ask that question around the world, you will find that not everyone will say it was evil, some will say it was good.
If good is just one thing, and ppl wants what is good, then they should want the same thing what is strange. People want different things, and if all them want what is good, then we must conclude that there is more than one good. So I don´t think everyone wants what is good.
Yes, good is relative... I mean Hitler wanted what was good... for Him. Same with everybody. If Jimmy Smits, New York city wants what is good, and Sven Svensom in Prague wants what is good, and some guy in China, and some guy in Afghanistan all want what is good, the question is whether they all want the same thing. The hope then is that as many people as possible would want the same "good"... then of course there are criminals and those who can't distinguish between right and wrong.
So I would say that people generally want what is good, it's the good part that is tricky, one mans treasure is anothers trash, ones mans pleasure is anothers pain and so on.
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From even the greatest of horrors irony is seldom absent.
^ True true true...Maybe if people looked at what is good for "Others" first...then there would be more good....and less pain would be afflicted all the way around......Kinda removes ones self from the "me me me" attitude...selfish attitude..
You hv 2 define "good" 1st inordr not 2 get a million diffrnt answrs & opinions 2 that.
IF good = states of mind that are good as in pleasant, satisfying, not painful, you know, "happy"
THEN of course everyone want whats good. Those who act otherwise tend to die earlier and therefore not propagate their genes i.e. they become "extinct" in the narrow evolutionary sense of being "selected against" compared w/the general population. You know "bye bye, you're finished...".
On the other hand...
IF good = some moral attitude about behaviour, you know, being nicey nice, helpful etc. etc.
THEN it's not so clear because while that kind of behaviour is generally encouraged in a world such as ours, just because it's so crowded and so we can all get along more or less, there are many people who act counter to this. The more extreme of these are called "criminals" or "conservatives" or certainly "republicans" (j/k!). Aside from these subspecies (j/k again. . . well, sort of) I'd have to say YES, most everyone wants the same thing: a good life, clean water to drink, unpolluted local/global environment, stable world, a good and satisfying job w/a decent income in order to raise a nice little family w/your pretty little wifey, regular vacations to interesting places, kids in college, good health, long life, peace, no f'ing war!
Maybe an important side question is: If everyone wants whats good for themselves and thus whats good for the world in general, why oh why are there so many Americans who voted for and support a gang of selfish, greedy, smug & self-important, murderous, bloody hegemonous criminals to "lead" their country? That would be the following hell-bound individuals (and btw, idiocy, as in the f'ing idiot at the top of the list, is no excuse for high crimes against humanity):
bush/cheney/rumsfield/rice/wolfowicz/rove/libby/ et al
gd them.
gd them ALL, the murderous fk's!
So, in a word: yes.
MOST people want whats good BUT there are plenty still who would, by many diverse and devious means, slither into power only to take advantage of the many for the benefit of the tiny few. Unfortunately, about half of the US population are too dumb or blinded by religion or guns to know the truth. You can't erll me the republican party represents these poor ignorant people - not REALLY - when you see how all their jobs are being outsourced, their economy is totally f'ed, their kids are getting dumber and their future's are bleaker. It's almost funny and I'd laugh if I wasn't so embarrassed for my country.
To will the good for another is love. If you ask everyone if they want good, they will say yes. But ask if everyone loves one another and the answers will range. Ask someone what is good, and your answers will vary.
yeah this is, i think, wot was confusing us, whether good need be defined for the question to be answered or not. empiricists would say that it does need to be defined and therefore its a question of morality whereas rationalists would say that, as 'good' is not defined, it is simply a question of what everyone wants for themselves, which of course makes the statement that 'everyone wants what is good' true, because it allows for different interpretations of what good is.
__________________ Dont let anyone tell you that you're wrong. If u believe it it's true.
It's an image worth pondering for a moment. Maybe, when you cut past the instrumental and songwriting virtuosity, the funny voices and characters, what is left is a man alone in his recording studio for days at a time.
A syllogism is a formal deductive argument made up of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion. An example is “all beautiful woman are philosophical, Biscuit is a beautiful woman, therefore Biscuit is philosophical.”
In logic, a tautology is a proposition or statement that, in itself, is logically true, such as "I like encountering Biscuit's posts in any thread because she is attractive, intelligent, cute, interesting and fun."
I feel that most of us to a degree including myself must really look at our actions as to whether it will produce a positive or negative result..ie.looking outside what we want, to see if it would be a benefit to others...or not......and then learning from those choices.....some of the lessons are harder to take than others.
Last edited by debbiejo on Nov 5th, 2005 at 09:59 PM
'what is good' could make an interesting thread in itself.
For example, I think that MarsAttack chocolate cake from a certain cafe is good. Why? It is based on my senses. So does pleasing sensory data make something good? Or should I perhaps change my perspective and see it as bad as my heart and veins are perhaps saying, hey what about us? so is looking after my health good?
Or perhaps i think it is good, because a friend bought it for me and it pleases said friend that I eat it thus making them happy. Is pleasing others good?
And then enters the debate about whether one should please others at one's own expense. And what is one's own expense anyway.
Actually, I'm gonna stop now. Brain getting tired. And this is NOT good. Subjectively, of course
I don't believe you should please others at your own expense...you must always be aware of "Your" truth......The truth of who you are does go in conflict with what others want from you at times....You must be true to yourself first.
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Dont let anyone tell you that you're wrong. If u believe it it's true.
Nov 4th, 2005 08:30 PM
