GOODNESS
Kant
The philosopher I used is Immanuel Kant. He was very practical in his thinking of
goodness. A quote of his was ?I ought, therefore I can?. His view was good anything is
under good will . He believed good will was the primary goodness, good in its purest
form, and that it couldn't be corrupted. Good feelings and good intentions and actions
can be interpreted in different ways; man can corrupt these things into evil...even
though it still might be good in that man's eyes. What he's really trying to say is that
good will is good in its objective form. Therefore, it defines goodness. A few examples
of forms of goodness that could be corrupt are intelligence, courage, and resolution.
These things can be very good, but can be used for evil as well.
The short story I would like to allude to in order to connect these themes and ideas is
?A Good Man is Hard to Find?. The title even has ?good? in it...and according to Kant,
goodness in its purest form is good will. The question now would be, does the Misfit
have good will? Is what he is doing good, objectively, and purely? He is purging and
purifying the world. He is Christ like in many senses. He is purifying the world by
purging it of its evil...relating to the Old Testament. God decided that the human race
was too evil to survive, so he flooded it. God killed, as well as the Misfit. This
isn't the same as Christ, though; it just adds to the religious element. Christ's
mission was to try and rid the world of evil, and sacrificed for it. The
Misfit sacrificed his freedom initially, was ?reborn? again by escaping from jail, and
become a Christ like figure again...he's now reborn, and his mission has an even stronger
exclamation point on it, just like Christ's after he was resurrected. The literal
differences are obvious; Christ never held anyone at gunpoint, let alone kill old ladies
(no matter HOW hateful). But the allusions above illustrate that the Misfit was indeed a
Christ-like figure with good intentions; good will . The Misfit was in a world of evil
where he felt it was his mission, as well as his intention and his will, to be the savior
of the good people.
When it really comes to good will, I believe that the Misfit did have good will and
that, in a world such as his, the South, he was not just playing God, but his will was
forcing him to be God to judge the ?infidels?.
I think the best poem I can relate to Kant's philosophy is ?Richard Cory?. Richard Cory
didn't have good will, that was his downfall. You can't tell a whole lot from his
personal life from the poem, but you can always assume that he didn't have good will, at
least in relation to Kant's philosophy. Assuming that, we look at his ?good? actions,
intentions, etc. from the poem. He was a pillar of society, looked at as the model of
goodness. This is exactly the people's mistake. I believe that the people killed
Richard Cory by not looking inward for goodness; by saying: ? Well, if Richard Cory does
that, if I do that, I'll be good like him?. This put him on a pedestal, like the hunger
artist. The people killed him by this method; he realized that the people did not have
good will because they were looking at him for goodness, and therefore, he could never
have good will. The people were looking for an identity, and it was too much for Richard
Cory.
An aspect of my life, or upcoming life, that I'd relate to Kant's philosophy is the fact
that someday, I'd like to be a parent. We say it's for ?selfish reasons?, but I think
most people who realize what they're doing when they want to become a parent , and not
just a biological mother/father, also realize how much responsibility, caring, and
planning parenting really takes. God knows that the fact this isn't happening often
enough is leading to problems like overpopulation and societal breakdown, but I would
want to be a role model to my child(ren) and teach them everything I know so that
eventually, they will be the best possible person I can raise them to be, and then be
able to go out on their own and do the same. I think that this is good will, because,
yes, reproduction is selfish in a way, but if you have the good will to be a good parent,
by teaching your children, and trying to make them model their lives after yours, if you
truly believe you can be a good mother/father, then you are acting on good will much more
than selfishness.
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