I agree that not everything in particular that people value is good for them. I say that everything that they value in a fundamental way is good for them. If you disagree, and think that some people value things that are bad for them in a fundamental way, how are they supposed to find out that those things are bad for them?
You are currently saying that the good is what people fundamentally value, and what people fundamentally value is good....for them. To escape vacuity, the second phrase would need to be cashed out as something like “side survival”.
But whose survival? If I fight for my tribe, I endanger my own survival, if I dodge the draft, I endanger my tribes’.
Real world ethics has a pretty clear answer: the group wins every time. Bravery beats cowardice, generosity beats meanness...these are human universals. if you reverse engineer that observation back into a theoretical understanding, you get the idea that morality is something programned into individuals by communities to promote the survival and thriving of communities.
But that is a rather different claim to The Good is the Good.
Clarification please. How do you avoid this supposed vacuity applying to basically all definitions? Taking a quick definition from a Google Search:
A: “I define a cat as a small domesticated carnivorous mammal with soft fur, a short snout, and retractile claws.”
B: “Yes, but is that a cat?”
Which could eventually lead back to A saying that:
A: “Yes you’ve said all these things, but it basically comes back to the claim a cat is a cat.”
Definitions are at best a record of usage. Usage can be broadened to include social practices such as reward and punishment. And the jails are full of people who commit theft (selfishness) , rape (ditto), etc. And the medals and plaudits go to the brave (altruism), the generous (ditto), etc.
I’m not sure how you’re addressing what I said. What do you mean by escaping vacuity? I used “good for them” in that comment because you did, when you said that not everything people value is good for them. I agree with that, if you mean the particular values that people have, but not in regard to their fundamental values.
Saying that something is morally good means “doing this thing, after considering all the factors, is good for me,” and saying that it is morally bad means “doing this thing, after considering all the factors, is bad for me.” Of course something might be somewhat good, without being morally good, because it is good according to some factors, but not after considering all of them. And of course whether or not it will benefit your communities is one of the factors.
But not everything people value is actually good for them. You are retaining the problem of equating morality with values.
I agree that not everything in particular that people value is good for them. I say that everything that they value in a fundamental way is good for them. If you disagree, and think that some people value things that are bad for them in a fundamental way, how are they supposed to find out that those things are bad for them?
You are currently saying that the good is what people fundamentally value, and what people fundamentally value is good....for them. To escape vacuity, the second phrase would need to be cashed out as something like “side survival”.
But whose survival? If I fight for my tribe, I endanger my own survival, if I dodge the draft, I endanger my tribes’.
Real world ethics has a pretty clear answer: the group wins every time. Bravery beats cowardice, generosity beats meanness...these are human universals. if you reverse engineer that observation back into a theoretical understanding, you get the idea that morality is something programned into individuals by communities to promote the survival and thriving of communities.
But that is a rather different claim to The Good is the Good.
Clarification please. How do you avoid this supposed vacuity applying to basically all definitions? Taking a quick definition from a Google Search: A: “I define a cat as a small domesticated carnivorous mammal with soft fur, a short snout, and retractile claws.” B: “Yes, but is that a cat?”
Which could eventually lead back to A saying that:
A: “Yes you’ve said all these things, but it basically comes back to the claim a cat is a cat.”
Definitions are at best a record of usage. Usage can be broadened to include social practices such as reward and punishment. And the jails are full of people who commit theft (selfishness) , rape (ditto), etc. And the medals and plaudits go to the brave (altruism), the generous (ditto), etc.
I’m not sure how you’re addressing what I said. What do you mean by escaping vacuity? I used “good for them” in that comment because you did, when you said that not everything people value is good for them. I agree with that, if you mean the particular values that people have, but not in regard to their fundamental values.
Saying that something is morally good means “doing this thing, after considering all the factors, is good for me,” and saying that it is morally bad means “doing this thing, after considering all the factors, is bad for me.” Of course something might be somewhat good, without being morally good, because it is good according to some factors, but not after considering all of them. And of course whether or not it will benefit your communities is one of the factors.