Plato: What is good?
When we talk about identifying something there are two interesting ways to do that. The first being with definitions. Where we take a sort of Ideal Form of a thing and go
"If it has 4 wheels, designed to travel at speeds close to 100 miles an hour, has at least 50 horsepower, and can transport at least 2 people then it is a car"
However, these always have a "Diogenes Chicken Threat" in that now someone can strap two electric scooters together and duct tape a jet engine to those and
"Behold! A Car!"
Which is why I think a prototyping understanding of a thing is often better. With the prototyping example we see the more natural way in which humans recognize things. We have a massive brain built for pattern recognition for a reason. So we see a car and we know it's a car. It may be a car that's non functional or maybe it's in a weird context. But we know by some innate thing that it is a car.
Within philosophy, I think we spend a lot of time with the definition approach because it provides something we can do more philosophy with or even the act itself of asking "what is [thing]?" is a core component of philosophy itself.
That said, I think for the type of philosophy that Plato wants to do, it's important to look at something we've prototyped and ask "what is [thing] to me?" Because then we can know our own values in either what we notice or what we find important in our own personal definition, but we're maintaining that this may not be universal. So now we can explore the question of what a thing is with others better.
So with this in mind. I want to explore the question
"What is good?"
This can only be understood in my eyes as an innate feeling. We will look at something and know stereotypically whether or not if it is good.
But the question I want to know is what is the quality good? what does it mean to be good?
And asking this question knowing there is an individual understanding of good for sure and potentially there is a more basic and universal understanding of goodness. Or at the very least there is a actionable definition of good that we can use as a philosophical first principle.
Or maybe there isn't. Maybe good can only be understood as an individual idea and we can share some aspects of it with others. I'm not sure.
So what is good?
2 replies
To crush your corporations, see their stock driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their ceos.
Using your “it’s a car because it’s a car” approach and not trying to define it, good by my gut feelings seems to be either alleviating discomfort (more so this one), or increasing happiness for another being. Can be as simple as getting a thoughtful gift for someone just cuz, but my impression of “goodness” is inverse to the showiness of the act and the amount of expectation for it (this one is weird to me). Gut-feeling-wise at least, a random person diving into the water to save someone from drowning feels more “good” than a surgeon who’s dedicated their life to the practice giving someone a new heart. On the conscious level I think that’s pretty bullshit, but if I’m understanding your question right the gut feeling is what you’re trying to get at?