Is something good because it is inherently good or is good because the gods say it is?

Question

I'm told Plato asked this. I find it thought provoking.

Answer 1

Just admitting evil will never go away, will NEver make it go away, there has to be belief.

yet as long as there is good there will be evil, and it has to be accepted, its a reality check.

Original sin comes to mind, yet i think humans dont need something to tell us wrong from right, we have a voice in the back of our heads for that, and anything can be good until introduced to evil or until it acts out as evil..

Answer 2

Well which god? The Abrahamic god allows murder, so is murder good? I would think not.

Ethics assist us with important questions such as altruism, and victimless crimes, religions just muddy the water and ask people not to think.

As they say, philosophy has questions that may never be answered and religion has answers that may never be questioned.

Answer 3

What is good but what is Godly, Godward. We are good because society determines a code of conduct we abide by. The fortunate are instilled and find it to their nature to be so. The less fortuned bred upon hostility, hypocrisy and adversity find good difficult, oppressive, arduous.

It is the responsibility of each parent to inculcate good manners and breeding into their little prodigy. Failure to do so enables society to take up law against the already maladjusted and disturbed child.

Good is to be ingratiated to all about you, find favour with ones elders, peers and associates alike. Fear of God and his retribution precedes a mature understanding of societal mores and understanding. Until humanity understands it needs to fear to deter from the erroneous path of unrighteousness.

Answer 4

The idea of what is ‘good’ was invented by human beings and not god. Humans were born before god came into their consciousness. God was a necessity because it has always been in our nature to have an ordered life. God was the thing that helped maintain that order.

Why does the word ‘god’ instill fear in the heart of believers? Or why do laws, rules and regulations exist along with penalty and punishment? Because fear is necessary for order. Fear makes sure we do not cross the innumerable lines drawn by ethics, morality, etiquettes and tradition.

God, law, rules- from the small ones that regulate schools to the stringent ones that dictate the army- they are all metaphors for order.

Coming to your question- good is inherent. But how was ‘good’ born? Who decided right and wrong? I have no idea. The only thing I know is now we are born into all these ideas. They precede us and we grow up with them, into them, around them so that we don’t remember how the h**l they got into our mind in the first place. We do not question them because we are certain that if they were questioned, if they were defied, we will fall into anarchy and order will cease. And so we stick to what is good, we give it a name- a powerful name-‘god’- in order to ensure we do not go astray. In order to ensure that life, and this world, go on.

Answer 5

An action, a thing is good ( positive, balanced ) if it's good in intention, practice and outcome. All things are neutral until we subjectively apply our perspective to them. The Gods are myths representing energies, concepts, and dynamics. M.

Answer 6

In this statement there is an implication that God and "what is good" are separate  entities.  But good and God are the same, in fact, the word "God" is derived from the word "good".  The prescribed order of the universe is the inherent character of God.

Answer 7

There are inherent goods, I believe, and there are socially constructed goods.  Laws are morals with precision, therefore laws also provide a model for the 'good'.  Much of what our perception of 'good' is is based on our religious upbringing.  Socially constructed 'good' can be a 'good' and can also serve as social regulation.  Some goods, such as loving and being good to your children and spouse, are inherent goods.  Each good has to be individually evaluated in context.

Answer 8

Plato said it, but his opposite, Aristotle, said nothing in inherently good but what is good for the species in question. The standard for each species he defined as "species qua species," for example "Man qua Man."

So the good for Man is what advances his species and the individuals within it. But somethings that are good for one species will kill another, no nothing is "inherent."

To be "inherent" would require that "good" be a reified "thing" that could possibly be extracted someday by science and put in a bottle. Instead, the good is only the nature of a thing IN CONTEXT of what it is used for. Quills are good for porcupines, but bad for the creature that gets next to those quills.

This explanation takes care of the 'god' part, too, if you didn't notice!

Answer 9

William Shakespeare has Hamlet say, "there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."  This questions both the notion that there is something inherently good or that good can be defined by some external authority.  Interestingly, if you look at both points of view you will soon realise that they are essentially the same, relying on something or someone other than one's self.

Now it is easy to fall into the trap of moral relativism here, but one thing we can say is that what is good is what most thinking people would agree constituted the good and while that may change to some degree, it is still pretty solid.

Answer 10

God is the source of all good. Anything which participates in God, participates in good. Evil is not the opposite of good, it is the absence of it. So, God created everything, but not evil, because evil is only a lack of good.

Answer 11

good

Answer 12

there is no good or bad in God's eye

it is we humans who have made the idea of good and bad

killing someone purposely is considered a sin by humans

but killing someone for self defence is not such an offensive sin

but whats the difference!!? you are killing someone

so it is we who are making the"goods" and the "bads" of the society

Answer 13

Something is good because it is inherently good.It isnot that the gods say it is?

Answer 14

What we believe God has like love, justice, kindness etc the same deeds by ourselves are inherently good.The Vedas are full of verses on this.Please read them.