Epistemology and Ethics: How do we know what's good and evil?

(reply to my atheist friend)

Fair enough here. …

Two concepts I think I disagree with you on:
1. “there’s nothing more subjective then concepts like ‘good’ and ‘bad’”
2. “I can easily break them all in a single evening and feel no remorse, guilt or regret”

On #1.

I think ‘good’ and ‘evil’ are in fact fairly universal throughout all mankind. Its pretty obvious. Good is anything that promotes life. (especially for me and those extentions of me like my kids, parents, friends, etc.)

Things like food, health, clothing, warmth, love, comradery, exercise of the mind and body, wealth (generally and to an extent). These are all categorically ‘good’ for basically any human (and living creature). ‘evil’ or bad is the “taking of away of that life” ….. death, pain, poverty, general ignorance and stupidity, etc.

Even a worm knows to squirm and try to get away when death and pain await him on the end of a fishing hook.

Good and evil are universal “knowns” and are only subjectively defined by whether we’re talking about you or me. 


On #2.

I’d hesitate to claim that you or anyone could quit so easily kill, maim, steal, lie, cheat, etc. (10 commandments) with or without God.

You say you could, but don’t, not because of God but because (I assume) society would punish you if you got caught. (?) and so to avoid punishment we don’t kill, injure, steal from others? There’s some truth to this but there’s another side also. And Lord help us if its just the governmental laws and enforcements that prevent us all from going ape-shit on each other.

I’d have to suggest that we proceed doing good to others (and not doing evil – 10 commandments) because man has an ability to see outside our selves and even look back upon ourselves from outside. This allows us to visualize being treated by others in good and bad ways. It allows us to visualize and feel the placement of ourselves into “the shoes of others”. We have the unique trait (evolved or not) called EMPATHY.

We can feel for others because we can imagine ourselves in that position.

Do you not feel for the frozen widow, abused child, hit-over-the-head-and-robbed neighbor? Of course you do. And you do because you know intuitively that it is best to “do to others, what you would have them do to you” because you can picture that pain happening to YOU.

That’s what being human is.

Now, where’s evil come from?

I do know that all acts of evil require only one thing first – the cancelation of empathy.

You can generally only steal, hurt, kill, etc. when you see in your mind that other person, not as another “you” and not as a “you, me, person” at all. They become an “it”. A person Unlike me. Not a person at all in fact. But a thing. An it. Someone outside of that realm of ‘me’.

So, empathy (conscious ?) can be overcome. Especially if the need for me is for MY good. But the payment of EVIL to YOU is never evil in my mind. Because you are not a “you”… you are an “it”… something not me or like me.

I would even propose that in the mind of any actor of evil, it is never evil in their mind, because evil can only be applied to myself (or someone like myself). So even when I do evil, when I turn off my empathy capacity, in my mind I am doing good.

Fair enough?

I’ll reply to other emails as I read them… do you care if I publish these conversations?