|
Goodness: an Introduction
|
|
There are two directly relevant pieces linked on this page, and two related pieces on
the side buttons. I suggest you read this first, read both pieces below, then return to the pieces on the left, which are longer and harder to read. When you click on the first picture--the Otters--you will get an essay on how one gets around to speaking coherently about Goodness in our current philosophical environment. For those who find it easy enough to tell the difference between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort, I add concrete ideas which enable us to distinguish between them a bit more formally, particularly in rooms where not everyone is signalling their color with their hat or other fashion accessory. These are my own ideas, which are not quite like those I have seen elsewhere, although if I had to pick an intellectual father, it would likely be William James, with Baruch Spinoza as a grandfather. The second piece is a glossary of terms. I have invented a lot of new words. Some people build model trains; some make and fly kites; I make up new words. Quite often, to think a thought, you need some symbol to "hold" it. Words are the most obvious form for such a symbol to take. Yet, if they are not defined clearly, then their value is lost. This seemed the best place to put it. Morever, what I am trying to say may be made more clear most quickly in looking at the problems the words solve. Since I am using the word, though, let me first offer a definition of Goodness. It is "A volitional character disposition in which you take pleasure in the happiness of others, and are capable of living happily on your own." Evil, then, is "A volitional character disposition in which you take pleasure from the pain of others, and are incapable of living happily on your own." The Goodness paper is on the first one, and the glossary the one below it. Just click on the pictures. I hate embedded links, and you will see none on this website. I find them distracting. Please just read one thing all the way through, then move on to the next, according to your inclination. I do like happy pictures. It is up to you to determine if I am simple minded. Vanity does compel me to add that I am never fully happy with anything I write, but "the perfect is the enemy of the good", as they say. Everything here will evolve. |