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The Good.
"Every art and every inquiry, and likewise every action and choice, is thought to aim at some good; and for this reason, the good has rightly been declared to be that at which all things aim."
— Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics
What is good?
Good can be defined in various ways: as the opposite of evil, as an ethical value, or as a human quality manifested in good deeds, or even as material possessions (material goods). Let us explore how experts define this concept.
In Dictionary of Philosophy, edited by Jan Hartman, it states:
"Good—in the metaphysical sense, a transcendental (see transcendentals) property of every being, a principle underlying everything that exists. According to Plato, the idea of good is the highest idea—every idea partakes in the idea of good, and through it, all knowledge is possible. Plato’s student Aristotle views good as the goal and cause of all pursuits, distinguishing between good as a means and good as an end. All beings strive to achieve their good, which is the form proper to their species.
What leads them to this is good as a means. The goal of nature as a whole is to achieve the Supreme Good—the first and most perfect substance. Scholasticism describes good as a property of every being, being desirable for the will and actually desired by God, who created it. In modern philosophy, with the critique of metaphysics, good loses its significance as the basis of being and begins to be understood only in utilitarian and moral terms. As such, the term 'good' is ambiguous, appearing in various contexts (e.g., 'good wine,' 'good health,' 'good law,' 'good chess player,' 'good person'). This raises the question of what 'good' means, and whether these diverse uses can be reduced to a single, fundamental one. Such issues are addressed in metaethics. Among the many functions of the word 'good,' moral contexts are particularly significant (see ethics). Here, there are two main positions—deontological, asserting that moral good is inseparably tied to the intention behind an action and moral law (I. Kant), and teleological (from the Greek telos, meaning 'end'), positing that good is simply that which constitutes the goal of human striving. This goal can, in turn, be understood in many ways, such as happiness, utility (utilitarianism), realization of values, or pleasure (hedonism)." (J.J.)
In contrast, the PWN Encyclopedia defines good as follows:
"Good (agathón in Greek, bonum in Latin): a term referring to an abstract being, state, property of things, or the object possessing this property, positive value (instrumental or intrinsic), behavior, attitudes, or goals that are desirable, worthy of effort and choice for some reason or simply because they are valuable in themselves.
Good is the opposite of evil; moral good is a fundamental concept in ethics, signifying all that fulfills an accepted ideal of morality or constitutes the highest aim of moral conduct (e.g., pleasure, happiness, virtue, etc., have been regarded as the highest good, summum bonum). In the history of philosophy, many classifications of goods have been made; notable ones include distinctions between material and spiritual goods; hedonic goods (pleasures), vital goods (life, health, etc.), and cultural goods, among which aesthetic goods are further distinguished; goods as ends in themselves and instrumental goods, which serve as means to achieving other goods; and distinctions between economic goods and so-called free goods."
Clearly, there are various definitions of good, but they are not mutually exclusive. Good encompasses many different aspects and definitions. A significant concept of good is represented by Socrates, who espoused ethical intellectualism, stating that good is a kind of knowledge leading to virtue, which is happiness. In my view, Socrates erred in conflating the ethical and epistemic orders because good is independent of our knowledge of it, as evidenced by the fact that people often commit evil despite knowing what good is. Therefore, knowledge of good does not automatically mean we will do good.
Plato also misinterpreted good, equating it with being, but not every being must be good. Aristotle was much closer to the truth, claiming that good is the goal of our striving because doing good makes us happy. The Stoics, on the other hand, believed that good lies in acting in harmony with the nature of the world. Christianity equates good with God’s will, while evil is merely the absence of good. Furthermore, it holds that the source of evil is original sin, which expelled humanity from paradise when they partook of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil.
In modern philosophy, significant positions include those of Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Nietzsche, and George Edward Moore. Kant asserted that good is a value associated with decision-making, i.e., free will. As Kant famously said, “Two things fill the mind with ever-new and increasing admiration and awe, the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me. These are for me evidence that there is a God above me and a God within me.”
Eastern philosophy, particularly Buddhism, links good with human actions that are in accordance with Dharma, improving an individual’s karma (Dharma is a very broad concept akin to the Greek Logos, encompassing moral order, a fundamental element of reality, virtue, law, and even science or religion).
Nietzsche, representing moral relativism, argued that “everything we consider as values is relative and subjective. Particularly moral values. There is no objective, universally binding morality; everyone has what they need for their life goals and what corresponds to their feelings.”
In my opinion, Nietzsche’s stance is too extreme because social order requires adherence to certain customs and moral norms; otherwise, a state of anomie will prevail. Contrary to Nietzsche’s view, universal values like good, truth, and beauty should be recognized as ends in themselves and significant cultural ideals.
It is a fact that when supreme values, particularly moral ones, are relativized, social order and culture face crises. Another example of an ethical system based on moral relativism is Marxism, which regarded morality as social rather than individual.
Finally, George Edward Moore, the founder of an axiological ethical system, considered good and evil to be primitive, indefinable concepts with tautological character.
When delving into the topic of good, it is also worth considering its opposite, evil. In my opinion, evil is not merely the absence of good; it is its negation. For example, murder negates good as the value of life. Dostoevsky writes about the psychological and moral aspects of murder in his most significant work, Crime and Punishment. Dostoevsky does not write a moral treatise but a psychological novel that resonates with contemporary crime novel readers. Equally important is Shakespeare’s Macbeth, which deals with murder and its moral and psychological consequences.
As Nietzsche said, “He who fights with monsters should see to it that he does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.”