What's Good

Mental State theory says that good just depends on how you feel, so murderers and rapists are good so long as they’re happy. I’m not biting that bullet.

Narrative Flow theory is very interesting but comes to the same problem as Equality theory— what’s a good narrative flow? Who decides? If I have an experience machine and my wish is to get on an experience machine while on the experience machine ad infinitum to achieve an Inception-esque timeline where I live every life imaginable, but my loved ones still miss me and hate me, then did I have Good narrative flow? What’s Good?

            Equality theory states we should bring everyone to equal grounds. I’ve got a few problems with this one: first the only way we’re all equal is if we’re all dead, next there are people who like when everyone’s the same and others (me) who don’t (where’s the fun in being a computer?) and last where’s the good?  What the hell does equality mean? This theory doesn’t really seem to define good it just says we should be equal, so unless this theory stands on a different theory of intrinsic good what’s wrong with me saying we should all be dead? So let’s say that happiness is what’s Good (Mill all the way) but only in as much as everyone is equally happy. That’s nice, but some people are happy about other people’s pain. In fact pain is inevitable in this life so this theories perfect world would be made entirely of laugh-happy socio-paths. Finally for anyone who really believes in equality, I see revolutionaries or hypocrisy.

            Well-being theories just fall short for me. What’s well-being? It can’t be what’s good since that’s a circular argument. Well there are a lot of things we can say go into well-being like being healthy, educated and happy. I think the premise we’re all moving towards is that we’re good. We need something more to retain the good that’s talking right now so we need to stay healthy, happy and informed. How do we know though? I’m going to go the other way. We’re not good— or at least we’re not sure. That’s why we have to try so hard figuring out why one theory of good is better than another. And for that matter what good is. This is the moral relativism I’m attracted to. Every moral insight is worth looking at. Everyone who’s ever put oneself or another thing in the category of good is simply trying to balance their experience up until now. And we may be getting closer but we don’t know what Good is as long as we’re asking the question. The way I see it the only way we can be sure we know what’s good is if we know questions are good.

More light illuminates ambiguity.