What is Goodness?

What is Goodness?

In the ancient world, belief in a transcendent metaphysical or spiritual realm was what infused the material world with meaning, value and purpose. This was the realm where truth, beauty and goodness originated and human beings live suspended between the spiritual and the material world. Scholars and laymen alike searched for meaning, not in philosophy or science, but in religion. Academics investigated this invisible world, tested and debated it because it was thought that ultimately, only our lives could be meaningful if such a reality was true. 

While people can recognize good and evil in the world, these categories only really matter if objective moral laws are woven into the material universe. Historically, debates ensued about the nature of ethics and continue to this day.  Our current situation finds humanity wanting to “deconstruct” and eliminate moral knowledge. Throughout the last 300 years the status of these moral truths were questioned which led up to today’s cultural acceptance of postmodernism. One central tenant of postmodernism is that all moral categories like good and evil are social constructs. That is, human actions are only good or evil because we live in a society that has educated us to have these standards. Were we to live in a different society, our moral values would be different.

It’s is important to note that though we may want to deny moral categories as objectively real, it’s very clear we’re uncomfortable living consistently with this view. For example, acts of kindness are still considered objectively good while acts of rape and torture are objectively evil. Moreover, we have new moral categories that are presented as objectively true. Equity, equality, inclusion and diversity are regularly imposed on us as indisputable. 

The debate on so-called moral relativism continues to this day. While I think it has been adequately refuted in philosophical realms, I meet a good number of people who still hold this view. In this article, I’m not going to rehash arguments against moral relativism (though for anyone interested, I’d point you first to the Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis as a starting point). I think it’s more important to lay out a clear case for moral foundations, starting with the concept of goodness. If goodness is an objective category, how do we talk about it? How do we ultimately apply it so that we can be good people, be good husbands and wives and good parents?

Three Basic Features of Goodness: Telos, Function and Wholeness

Goodness in terms of Nature

The first thing we must address when discussing goodness is “What sort of thing are we talking about?” Or in philosophy we ask “What is the nature of goodness?” Something’s nature will inform us what it’s meant to do. We call this a telos. A thing’s telos is its aim or ultimate purpose. If we’re talking about a knife, for example, its telos is to cut. The intention behind creating a knife is to create a tool that can cut things. It’s that intention that determines the telos.

We all know that a good knife will fulfill that telos to cut well. Likewise a bad knife is one that’s dull because a dull knife won’t cut well. It’s important that we 1) Know what we’re talking about and 2) What the telos of that thing is as determined by the intention for creating it.

If we’re talking about a piece of cake, because it has a different nature than a knife, it will have a different telos. The telos of a piece of cake is to taste good. That’s what it was designed to do. A good piece of cake will taste good and a bad piece of cake will taste bad. We must first know the kind of thing we’re talking about and determine if it fulfills its telos.

Goodness in terms of Function

Closely related to telos, something is good to the extent it can function toward its intended purpose. A knife that can actually cut or a piece of cake that tastes good is a necessary component in favor of its goodness. Functionality happens on a gradient of value. We can have a knife that cuts, but a really good knife will cut better. We’ve all had a good piece of cake but every once in a while we have a piece of cake that is exceptional and we recognize it as exceptional and value it more than the standard piece of cake. Similarly, we may have a very dull knife that, while still a knife, it’s just can’t do much and so we don’t value it as much as our sharp knives.

Goodness in terms of Wholeness

This is perhaps the easiest aspect of goodness to understand. Wholeness pertains to a thing having all its appropriate parts. We could have sharp knife but if the handle is brittle and weak, that will effect how well it cuts because we can’t control it appropriately. Or maybe the knife is sharp but the tip is missing so it can’t pierce food as well as a whole knife. A piece of cake missing an ingredient or two won’t taste as good as cake that has been properly made. Some things goodness always involves a discussion of its wholeness.

Wholeness will effect a things function. Without it, function and therefore goodness will be degraded. But why is all this technical philosophical staging necessary?

We Value What is Good

As people, one of the first things we want to know is: what should I value in life? Should I value material possessions? Should I value relationships? If so, what kinds of relationships are valuable? Should I value pleasure? Should I value truth? These are all deeply philosophical questions that hit at the center of human life. Simply put, we should learn to value good things.

You might think this is obvious but sadly so many people get this wrong. Instead of goodness being our standard for value, many people unknowingly value comfort, money, and pleasure. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with appreciating these things, if they are set up as the standard for ultimate good in human life, they can become destructive.

For example, if I so value comfort that I’m unwilling to exercise I know that my chances of entering into poor health dramatically increase. Why? Because our bodies are meant to move. Exercise is that’s part of the body’s telos. Through science and experimentation we discovered that it’s good to exercise. I don’t have to recount what a terrible idea it is to value money as an avenue toward happiness. We hear stories of lottery winners who blow through their cash reserves living lavishly only to end up where they started.

Starvation

It is said that in the ancient world, the opposite of goodness wasn’t evil but starvation. A starving person doesn’t care if you have food. At that point in their lives, they’re only able to focus on their own needs, their own desires and their own life. They don’t have the ability to care for others. I think we’ve probably all met people like this who, while not starving physically, have been led to a state of starvation emotionally. How did that happen? It happens because their value system is bent and needs to be corrected.

Conclusion

Goodness is a real moral category. As a moral law it stands above the material universe and informs our nearly everything we interact with on a daily basis. In my next post, we’re going to apply this concept to people. We know what a good knife is and what a good piece of cake is, but what is a good person? And more importantly, how do we become a good person?

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