Saturday, November 17, 2012
What is "Good"
In response to Becca's post, if one can go about different ways in defining evil, then one can also do the same with good. In terms of the general notion of good, Lady Macduff is the epitome of a good mother and wife. She cares for her husband and son. She isn't the murderer in the play, but rather the victim. In other cases such as Lady Macbeth, there isn't an easy answer. She is the mastermind behind Duncan's death, but she shows remorse in her sleep. For ones that are harder to identify as good or evil, is it better to find what true "good" is or to determine a person's nature by one sole definition of "good" that society agrees upon?
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ReplyDeleteThe dictionary has two defenitions for good
ReplyDeleteAdjective:
To be desired or approved of.
Noun:
That which is morally right; righteousness.
I think that it is very interesting that good is defined both as what is desired/approved of and a morally right as the two rarely go hand and hand. I think that this contradiction resonates with the ambiguity of the term "good" as it is nearly impossible to be considered good in all respects as this nature is highly paradoxical. For example, Lady Macduff is a "good" mother, but not necessarily a "good" woman as she is too subordinate and falls to deep into gender stereotypes like female debility
I think the adjectival description is especially interesting because, like we talked about in class, it shows good being more a matter of perspective than anything. Desiring and approving of people or things is definitely more of a point-of-view thing than good is normally thought of as. So if good is a matter of perspective, then whatever side you are on you will define as "good" even if it is not "morally righteous" as the noun definition suggests.
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