Good and evil

[Avatar4321]

How do we define good and evil if there is no higher power? Been thinking about this today.

What is good if there is nothing absolute? One would need to accept at least some form of natural law in the universe for their to be even and idea of good or evil. And if they don't exist, then how can we claim any action is good or evil?

 

[Auld Phart]

Who decides what is good or evil?

 

[JakeStarkey]

This may offer some insight.

Martin Buber: Good and Evil, existentialism and Martin Buber, the Realm of Existentialism at DividingLine.com

and this: Existentialism Philosophy: Discussion of Existentialist Quotes, Jean Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus

 

[Arianrhod]

How do we define good and evil if there is no higher power?

"If it harm no one, do what you will."

Not complicated, really. But it does require thought, not rote.

 

[Pete7469]

Who decides what is good or evil?

If you have a soul, no one needs to define it for you.

 

[The Great Goose]

 

[Auld Phart]

Who decides what is good or evil?

If you have a soul, no one needs to define it for you.

what one society says is good, another considers evil.

Which is right?

 

[Flopper]

How do we define good and evil if there is no higher power? Been thinking about this today.

What is good if there is nothing absolute? One would need to accept at least some form of natural law in the universe for their to be even and idea of good or evil. And if they don't exist, then how can we claim any action is good or evil?

Good and evil are subjective. What may have been good centuries ago may well be evil today and vice versa. What is good in one culture maybe evil in another. Morality which is a distinction between right and wrong can exist independent of belief in a higher power.

 

[TheOldSchool]

If you need the fear of eternal damnation to teach that it's wrong to harm the innocent then I applaud you for resisting your urges and participating in organized religion.

 

[Pete7469]

what one society says is good, another considers evil.

Which is right?

The one who doesn't kill those who question the dogma.

 

[Pete7469]

Good and evil are subjective. What may have been good centuries ago may well be evil today and vice versa. What is good in one culture maybe evil in another. Morality which is a distinction between right and wrong can exist independent of belief in a higher power.

Bullshit.

Since the dawn of recorded history it has been considered evil to steal, to murder, to blaspheme God, even in polytheistic cultures that had no concept of God. Adultry, telling lies, butt piracy and causing harm to people who don't deserve it are not "subjective" they are acts of evil. Avoiding those behaviors are virtues, and the ability to be cognizant of the fact that they're virtues is what separates humans from animals and liberals.

People who reject the fact that humanity was created by God, and that their soul is who they are like to pretend that "good vs. evil" is subject to popular opinion, and they rarely lead virtuous lives.

 

[BreezeWood]

How do we define good and evil if there is no higher power? Been thinking about this today.

What is good if there is nothing absolute? One would need to accept at least some form of natural law in the universe for their to be even and idea of good or evil. And if they don't exist, then how can we claim any action is good or evil?

Good and evil are subjective. What may have been good centuries ago may well be evil today and vice versa. What is good in one culture maybe evil in another. Morality which is a distinction between right and wrong can exist independent of belief in a higher power.

.

OP: What is good if there is nothing absolute ... Flopper: Good and evil are subjective.

and of course only to reason, nothing including the elements of the periodic table are absolute or definable - and the same for H2o's impurity ...

.

 

[sealybobo]

How do we define good and evil if there is no higher power? Been thinking about this today.

What is good if there is nothing absolute? One would need to accept at least some form of natural law in the universe for their to be even and idea of good or evil. And if they don't exist, then how can we claim any action is good or evil?

As humans we have defined what is good and evil. Is it evil to abort a fetus? If you believe any of the organized religions that have claimed to have talked to God, the answer would be yes. But a secular says no.

Do you think all the women who have gotten abortions are evil murderers?

 

[Flopper]

Good and evil are subjective. What may have been good centuries ago may well be evil today and vice versa. What is good in one culture maybe evil in another. Morality which is a distinction between right and wrong can exist independent of belief in a higher power.

Bullshit.

Since the dawn of recorded history it has been considered evil to steal, to murder, to blaspheme God, even in polytheistic cultures that had no concept of God. Adultry, telling lies, butt piracy and causing harm to people who don't deserve it are not "subjective" they are acts of evil. Avoiding those behaviors are virtues, and the ability to be cognizant of the fact that they're virtues is what separates humans from animals and liberals.

People who reject the fact that humanity was created by God, and that their soul is who they are like to pretend that "good vs. evil" is subject to popular opinion, and they rarely lead virtuous lives.

Killing for food, to avenge a perceived wrong or to prevent harm of others are usually consider good and not evil. However, even this will depend on the culture. Although laws against killing, stealing, and adultery seem to be universal the exceptions are not. In some cultures killing one's wife who commits adultery is acceptable and not considered evil. In other cultures sacrificing a child on an alter to a deity is quite acceptable. In our culture it's considered murder. There was nothing evil about abandoning the elderly to die in the wildness 500 years ago in North America. What is considered evil is relative to the culture.

 

[skye]

I am no expert in the subject

but I read somewhere that good and evil are different sides of the same coin

that we have to transcend good and evil.....be above it

is that too much to ask of us human beings? or not.... what is it? will we ever know?

 

[HaShev]

How do we define good and evil if there is no higher power? Been thinking about this today.

What is good if there is nothing absolute? One would need to accept at least some form of natural law in the universe for their to be even and idea of good or evil. And if they don't exist, then how can we claim any action is good or evil?

I've been discussing this many times over and even told you the answer is even in the name of the holy city of YeruShalem.
You partially answered your own question when you said; "One would need to accept at least some form of natural law in the universe for their to be even and idea of good or evil."
This is why it's essential to define that power & source of Life (God) in order to know our purpose, place, path, and thus know if we are in line (doing good) or going against the grain (doing evil).
The Torah tells us God's Essence is in the city's name, Shalem means completeness -wholeness.
Knowing/describing that essence in life helps discern from subjective opinions on what is in line or against the grain (right or wrong, good or bad).
So ask yourself is that Shalem or opposition to Shalem to know good from evil without it being mere subjective opinion.
Like I said many times, the holy name is like cliff notes which is why the city is our focus and Iris of the Eye of God.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

How do we define good and evil if there is no higher power? Been thinking about this today.

What is good if there is nothing absolute? One would need to accept at least some form of natural law in the universe for their to be even and idea of good or evil. And if they don't exist, then how can we claim any action is good or evil?

What's a higher power have to do with whether good and evil exist? By all accounts, God is the personification of evil and hypocrisy. Orders people to do his dirtywork throughout the Tanach, things which by modern standards would have you on trial at the Hague. Kill every inhabitant of a city if just 1 person in it worships any but God? That's not a 'good' deity.

 

[HaShev]

How do we define good and evil if there is no higher power? Been thinking about this today.

What is good if there is nothing absolute? One would need to accept at least some form of natural law in the universe for their to be even and idea of good or evil. And if they don't exist, then how can we claim any action is good or evil?

What's a higher power have to do with whether good and evil exist? By all accounts, God is the personification of evil and hypocrisy. Orders people to do his dirtywork throughout the Tanach, things which by modern standards would have you on trial at the Hague. Kill every inhabitant of a city if just 1 person in it worships any but God? That's not a 'good' deity.

How would you know which is better, life not taking advice to wipe out an enemy or future enemy or life removing the threat? How would you know just how much better, safer, changed all future events became from one mere event?
I tend to trust that which is at the end of our history that already knows our history to guide us through our chaos in order to bring order rather then people who keep repeating their errors & poor choices cause they can't even read the simple patterns of the past.

 

[Mudda]

How do we define good and evil if there is no higher power? Been thinking about this today.

What is good if there is nothing absolute? One would need to accept at least some form of natural law in the universe for their to be even and idea of good or evil. And if they don't exist, then how can we claim any action is good or evil?

By human consensus. That's how "evil" has been defined.

"natural law in the universe" is called science and mathematics.

 

[Bonzi]

It would be all relative.

Without a higher power .... everything is self-defined.

Realistically, evil is simply the absence of good..... just as dark is the absence of light.....