Define a good person, Who is a good person

If we go by the theory of good people go to heaven, and that god made us. that means he made us have strong will power to not sin and the rest are destined to fail. so does that mean we follow our brain chemistry, do what we think is right. as god intended us to do. What about those that dont believe in heaven, who is a good person. no one decides what they will be like. its all the chemicals in thier brain giving them good or bad signals. some people get a good feeling from giving a poor person their last dollar while others get a good feeling from killing someone. so what makes a good person? what the majority think is good, cos at many stages in world history killing others was acceptable. e.g. romans with thier coloseum, aztecs and their human sacrifices and the countless wars. so what do you people think makes a good person and how should we act to be considered good?

Ashes, we need a concise and absolute definition of morality here, hurry hurry!



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Nothing beats those old fashioned characteristics of compassion and understanding. Many people argue that humans have an intrinsic (in-built) sense of right and wrong, whether people follow it, bury it deep down in a dark place, or otherwise, is up to them.

I think a good person, when put in a crunch situation involving others, will think about the other people as well as themselves.

There's no real yard stick, people's consciences can be warped extremely in accordance with conditioning and their environment... I don't think we can rely
on human nature as an indication of "goodness".

But it's still warped by life experience and circumstances.

I don't think we can rely on it, definitely not. Imagine that...."he's not the wallet inspector..."

I was just saying that we all have choices and decisions to make. Assuming we can "define a good person", i'm saying they would be the people who make positive decisions, thinking of others before themselves in times of crisis etc etc.

Someone can be a nice person, good to talk to etc, but then the boat hits an iceberg and they jump straight into the life raft and sail away. I wouldn't say they were a 'good person' then.

That's to say I'm not advocating putting people in boats and crashing them into icebergs to find out if they're 'good' or not.

Though that would make a funny cartoon.

Hmm.

hahaha an iceberg cartoon... awesome. Powerpoint anyone?

It's a nature vs. nurture argument... are we created from birth to be good or are we raised in circumstances which make us "good"? From a young age, children might have a very different idea of "good", depending on their home environment. For example, "good" may be obeying the authority figure in the household, or doing what's best for the family, being protective of younger siblings, helping with chores... standing up for yourself and your beliefs, being well organised...

I like your definition of a "good" person. We should run a simulation!