A question inspired by another post:

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

If we presume that a social good and a social evil can be defined enough that violence v. non-violence is a valid question, I'd like to propose a simple question:

Who is the arbiter of good and evil? Is it religion, ethics, utilitarianism, ideology, might makes right or what?

Effectively....given the amount of diversity in opinion in this community, which includes paranoid conspiracy theorists like Sophia_Sadek and Hunterkirk, communists like Gillen, ultra-reactionaries like yours truly, and a bevy of more "regular" political Left-Right viewpoints, who among Men is best-qualified to judge all? Or is Hobbes right?

How can one be objective enough to decide this on the scale of a modern-day state, even the anarchistic messes that are most of Africa, let alone the Second or First Worlds?

Post referenced linked here: http://community.livejournal.com/talk_politics/182264.html

Comments

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

Define "works". Define "good" and "evil". You can't arbitrate what isn't defined. And how do you pick who decides what good and evil is? So, the short answer is, there isn't an arbiter. The temporal world doesn't really care about good and evil, it cares about results. You have to control whether you do good or evil yourself, that's it.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

People throw these terms around in the modern political world. Sean Hannity's books could have a drinking game to judge how many times and ways he spins that concept to refer to people whose only sin is to disagree with his brand of politics.

Works is here defined as causing a consistency in society bereft of reactionary stagnation or Soviet-style massive upheaval.

Good and evil are terms that have even more subjective definitions than what works for society.

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

Works is here defined as causing a consistency in society bereft of reactionary stagnation or Soviet-style massive upheaval.

Ah, so utopia. Never gonna happen.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Right. Which is why good and evil need to be quietly shut up in a tomb alive and their distant relatives pragmatism and realpolitik resurrected in Shiny New BodiesTM.