What makes a 'good' person?

So i was having a conversation with my brother the other night about being a good person.

And the more i thought about it... the more i questioned just WHAT it is that justifies someone as a 'good' person?
i realized it's not that im a good person; im just not bad. I guess im a minimally good person; as in i dont do bad but i'm not an angel here on earth either.

I mean.. i live my life how i want; help others if needed.

What am i doing for the world that can change something or someone? Who am i reaching out to? What cause do i have an interest in?

Say.. Mother Theresa. Now in my opinion, she was a good person.


Anyway, enough babbling. I want to know what YOU think makes a good person.

I think a good person isn't about what you do or don't do but rather the intentions you have.

I think that you are a good person, just for asking the question. It means it's important to you, to be a good person.

I always believed that what seperates a good person from a bad person is for example, A bad person will lie, know they lied, not care and contiue to lie. A good person will lie, know they lied, and feel kinda sorry for it and try not to lie again. Nobody can follow the 10 commandments, we can only try to.

reply to post by tac109


My thoughts exactly.. but when i compare a general 'someone' to someone that is raising money for the homeles..well, there is a gap there.

Sometimes its a matter of realizing the people around you and how much they depend on you. Just by being alive and succeding you are changing someone elses world.

Some times you dont realize the points where you can change somones understanding untill much later. To see that some of the smallest things at just the right time could have saved so much suffering.

Originally posted by tac109
I always believed that what seperates a good person from a bad person is for example, A bad person will lie, know they lied, not care and contiue to lie.

Well, that makes a whole lot of folks instantly bad (i.e. all them folks that tell little kids there is a Santa Claus for example). So yeah, I agree, liars are NOT very nice.

Good might simply mean nobody can claim that they have been victimized or abused by you. Bad, evil, seems to always leave a trail of victims behind them.

clearly this whole conversation is about the OP's ego.

what "good" is, is nothing more than a matter of perspective, and therefor, anything could be seen as good. Whether it's feeding the homeless and curing the sick or flying planes into buildings. And if anything could be "good" then anything could also be "bad" basically meaning none of it really exists and the whole idea of good and bad are made up by ones ego.

Sorry to spoil the party, but what do you hope to get out of this thread?



-Liquid

Honestly, who cares? If you feel you're a good person, good! If you feel your a bad, person, that sucks figure it out and fix it!

What bothers me is pedophiles, rapeists, pointless murderers / sick minded serial killers / texas chainsaw massacre, drug dealers (outside of your average day stoner), and the damn government/s.

I am not the greatest person, but I'm good. I've gave money to homeless whom I saw deserved it and we're not planning to buy another bottle of jack. I value my family and friends. I give and do not expect to recieve.

Hell, I've done my share of bad stuff to.

It's all in your mind.

No one can really answer this question and have it be deemed right by everybody.

What a person decides is good is based on personal opinion, their beliefs and more; nothing else so really there is no right or wrong answer since "what makes a good person" could be anything.

High morale and strong ethic and social understanding is what it takes to be a good person in my world.

السلام عليكم

Loke.

Originally posted by lovelyn
So i was having a conversation with my brother the other night about being a good person.

And the more i thought about it... the more i questioned just WHAT it is that justifies someone as a 'good' person?

May I? To my mind, there are but two different kinds of people on Earth...those who Serve Others, and those who Serve Themselves. You either serve your own self interests, or you serve other people's interests. There is no "gray area," you are one or the other. So, taking that into account, lovelyn, if you serve others, then by definition you ARE a good person.

There is no such thing as a good person. Behind every 'good' action, is a egocentric action. Every person is selfish, regardless of how they and other people think of them. Lets take some examples from this thread.

- Feed the homeless? Host a fund raiser to raise money for them? If you're religious, 9/10, you're doing it to look better in the eyes of your lord. For the 1/10, and the rest of the populous, you're doing it to improve your general image, (and what the general public thinks of you), or to make yourself feel good. Though you may care about the homeless man sleeping in an alley, or on a sidewalk, your motivation to help was selfish and egocentric.

- Tell a lie and feel bad about it? Tell someone you lied, and start telling the truth? You didn't tell the truth because it was nice. You told the truth to get the guilt off your chest, because it was tearing you up inside. On the opposite side of the coin, you tell the truth 100% of the time, not because it's nice, but because others will have a higher opinion of you, boosting your happiness.

But, I guess if we are looking at it as a definite 'Right' or 'Wrong', you'll never get a straight answer. From my point of view; You steal something for fun. That's wrong. You steal a loaf of bread to feed your family. That's right. You kill someone out of cold blood. That's wrong. You kill someone who has killed, and will kill again. That's right. In my opinion, because you had to ask, you're not a good person. You were questioning yourself because of something immoral you may have done, and came here seeking justification.

Sorry if I disappointed you.

[edit on (1/15/0909 by Hexidecimal]

There is no definitive answer, because everything is a moral blur. Good and bad are states which don't really exist. Even actions aren't good or bad- its the context which give them a certain character.

Eg... murder someone for no reason and its bad right? What about in a war- if you kill an enemy solider? Is that bad? Some would say yes, some say no.

Each person's moral standard is unique; and ultimately being judged good or bad is inconsequential. What matters are the effects of your actions.

reply to post by liquidsmoke206


As i said, i started to question just what makes a good person.

I'm not questioning my own personal intentions or morals. This by all means is NOT an ego-booster for me and i simply opened this thread for mere discussion. I wanted to see everyone's point of view tat was willing to answer.

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For Kant, ethics come from rationality. People are supposed to be able to use reason to figure out the Categorical Imperative, which is his big all-encompassing moral law.

The Categorical Imperative says something like "Only do something if you would want everybody in your situation to do the same thing." It is a bit like the golden rule "do onto others as you would have them do to you."

He thinks that if you are a good person, you'd be really rational, and if you are really rational, then you would follow that law. Further, you would make what he calls "Maxims", which are just kind of like little rules that you figure out based on the catergorical imperative.

Compassion, honesty & integrity are good starting points.
2

In my short time on this earth I've come to believe and understand that the smallest of things as miniscule as they may be can tell you everything you would ever need to know about a person and who they are, It could be something as simple as them reaching over to unlock the door for you rather then letting you fumble around for your keys...

I believe that a truly good person is selfless, Now everyone is selfish to a degree but when you are selfish at the expense of others you could never be a selfless individual.

I believe that a persons word is the most important possession they will ever own, and one should do everything in their power to maintain the integrity of their word even if keeping ones word ends up hurting them it shows so much about their character and the person they are.

But in essence I believe its the smallest of things and determining what those things are all depends on the person that you yourself are.


Do unto others as you would have them do unto you is probably the best way of explaining this.

[edit on 15-1-2009 by C0le]

reply to post by lovelyn


I never said anything about an ego boost, reread my post if you don't believe me. I simply said this is about your ego.

The Ego comprises that organized part of the personality structure which includes defensive, perceptual, intellectual-cognitive, and executive functions. Conscious awareness resides in the ego, although not all of the operations of the ego are conscious. The ego separates what is real. It helps us to organize our thoughts and make sense of them and the world around us.

as you can see, the idea of good or bad comes directly from the ego. They exist for the purpose of making sense of the world around us, and for satisfying the id. Outside of ourselves and our egos, good and bad are simply not present. Inside ourselves they are only present in forms which we each individually deem useful. Therefor 2 completely opposite views could both be considered good depending on who you ask.

reply to post by Hexidecimal


That was a neat post.
And then you wonder why people look to God as a source of supreme judgment. Many times every situation has the paradoxical alternative perspective. saying that things like 'good' and 'bad' don't exist isn't entirely true, we know what they are and how to describe them to the best of our given knowledge, so in the question of what makes a good person - I would say, who's the judge?

people looking to god and worrying about His judgement sounds something like the old super ego of frueds.

reply to post by liquidsmoke206

Yes or they assume that God is the only one allowed to truly judge, in the sense that you are judged after death.