Subject:
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Re: Worthlessness
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Thu, 16 Sep 2004 16:56:38 GMT
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Viewed:
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1601 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, John Neal wrote:
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, David Koudys wrote:
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I don’t go “I’m contributing to this charity *because* I’m a Christian!”
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If I contribute to a charitable cause, I do it because I have judged the
charitable cause to merit my contribution and because I have determined that I
am able to contribute. Honestly, that’s as much introspection as I give the
matter.
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You should, or else Dave! is correct.
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or “I’m
helping this little old lady across the street *because* of my Christian
values!”
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You should, or else Dave! is correct.
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I help the little old lady across the street if she needs help and if I am able
to provide it. Likewise, that’s as much introspection as I give the matter.
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Much like, I suppose, you don’t go around saying, “Look at all the good
works I’m doing and I’m doing it without the burden of that Christianity
stuff...”
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Not at all the same. I still don’t have a satisfactory answer from atheists
to the question “why do good?” (from a personal standpoint rather than some
overall societal efficiency explanation)
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That’s an easy one, once we establish what “good” is. But in the interest of
open discussion, here’s my answer:
I do “good” because ultimately it is my preference to do “good” in those cases.
When it’s relevant, I weigh the impact to society at large, and I generally try
not to inflict “evil” upon anybody.
As to why it’s my preference, I guess it’s a matter of behavioral psychology, in
a way. On some level, I’m satisfying a basic emotional desire to foster my
perception of equity and goodness. On another level, perhaps I’m fulfilling
what I perceive as my duty (for instance, if I work as a crossing guard, then
helping the little old lady will be fulfilling my duty, in addition to any
emotional effect it may or may not have upon me.) On yet another level, maybe
I’m just doing what I have come to perceive as “the right thing to do.”
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We try to contribute to the betterness of the world around us. I don’t
‘invoke God’ when I do it, nor I would imagine, you don’t invoke ‘non-God’
when you do it.
It just ‘is the right thing to do.’
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That is an Absolute Morality-type argument, which involves God...
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It can, but it doesn’t have to. My sense of the right thing to do is based on
the experiences of my life and the perceptions I have formed concerning the
effects that my actions have on other people. I certainly don’t think that my
actions are based on a truly “Absolute” standard of goodness
Dave!
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Worthlessness
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| (...) You should, or else Dave! is correct. (...) You should, or else Dave! is correct. (...) Not at all the same. I still don't have a satisfactory answer from atheists to the question "why do good?" (from a personal standpoint rather than some (...) (20 years ago, 16-Sep-04, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)
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