Justification of knowledge and morality/ethics

Author: Shed12

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secularmerlin
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@Shed12
What makes a thing "good" what attributes does a "good thing" possess?
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@secularmerlin
A good thing would be goodness itself, and other things just have the appearance of being good. There isn't anything that makes a thing good. If there was, if there must be some qualification for goodness, then the thing isn't really good. At least, as far as I see it. Which prompted me to ask in the first post, "Does inquiry into why something is good (or bad) undermine goodness?"

Over the course of this thread, if I thought there were good things other than goodness, I don't think so anymore. At least I think it's more complicated than that. I don't want to agree that humans assign goodness to things because goodness itself isn't an assignment. As in, though there is disagreement about which things are good and which isn't, there is the commonality of "good" that doesn't depend on human preference. But I can't make sense of the difference, and I guess saying that goodness is assigned resolves that. An alternative is that there is good in things and the ability to perceive that good (rather than assign it) depends one's knowledge of what good is. But again when two people disagree, there must be a reason (which either undermines goodness or how good a thing is). Anyway, I concede that it is assigned even though I think it is a deficient explanation because I don't have anything better in mind right now.

What makes a thing "good" what attributes does a "good thing" possess?
It doesn't possess any attribute, except those that are good anyway, like justice. Which doesn't answer you question that well, I don't think. I don't think it's answerable because it implies that there is something other than goodness that makes something good. And if that were the case, the thing isn't actually good.
Shed12
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I just realized I contradicted myself in the last post. I said,
if I thought there were good things other than goodness, I don't think so anymore.
And then went on to say,

It [a good thing] doesn't possess any attribute, except those that are good anyway, like justice.

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"Is justice good?"
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@Shed12
I don't know by what standard are we making determinations about justice? Justice would also seem to be subjective quanta.

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@secularmerlin
Is there a possible standard where justice is not good? Does it matter that it is whatever you just said? And what is subjective about justice except that people disagree about which decisions are just or unjust? Who would say they don't want or like justice and know also know what they are saying?
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@Shed12
Before I can answer that we would have to know exactly what justice is and how we arrived at it. What makes something just?

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Never mind.
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@Shed12
If we can agree on a standard or a stated goal we can make objective statements about morality and justice. Without such a standard we cannot even discuss the concepts. My preferred standard is human wellbeing followed by wellbeing in general. This is a subjective standard to apply to morality but harm and wellbeing can be objectively noted (In a purely physical sense if in no other). We can use that standard or another one of your choice but any standard would be only our opinion.
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@secularmerlin
What makes something just?

What makes something just what?

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@Shed12
Is there a possible standard where justice is not good?
Street justice.

Also justice seems to change quite a bit over time.  At one point it was considered justice to boil people in hot oil.  Justice also seems to vary significantly based on geography.  People are still publicly beheaded for the crime of witchcraft and other charges that probably seem ludicrous to people who live in other places (2011, 2012, 2016).

Justice is not and never has been universal or simple or "good".


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@3RU7AL
Wouldn't justice that isn't good instead be injustice?

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No instance or example of justice is perfect, that's for sure, but they all have justice in common. Whatever the punishment is, there is wrongdoing and the penalty for wrongdoing. Even when not all parties agree that wrong has been done, or if they do, that the penalty is just or proportionate.

Is it possible for injustice to ever be good, if justice can ever be bad?

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@Shed12
Imagine a trolly problem that has two options, one option results in one death; the other option leads to two deaths.  Most people would say that the first option was better, but many assert capital punishment - which means two die instead of one - is morally justified
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In my view the execution of a murderer is neither just nor moral - it is done to maintain the credibility of the deterrent.



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@keithprosser
Imagine a trolly problem that has two options, one option results in one death; the other option leads to two deaths.  Most people would say that the first option was better, but many assert capital punishment - which means two die instead of one - is morally justified
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In my view the execution of a murderer is neither just nor moral - it is done to maintain the credibility of the deterrent.
Best. trolley. analysis. EVAR.

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@Shed12
There is social justice (law, tradition) and individual justice (batman, punisher, crow).

Social justice is sensitive to geographic and temporal context.

Individual justice is sensitive to the whim of the individual.

What one person or group of people call "injustice", another person or group of people call "justice".

This is why I used the example of modern beheading.  In proper context, it is indisputably pure justice.
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@Shed12
No instance or example of justice is perfect, that's for sure, but they all have justice in common. Whatever the punishment is, there is wrongdoing and the penalty for wrongdoing
Like sorcery? Good luck with that.