The gradients between horrific, forbidden, disallowed, discouraged, acceptable, preferable, commendable, heroic seem like something that should be discussed here. I suspect you’re mixing a few different kinds of judgement of self, judgement of others, and perceived judgement by others. I don’t find them to be the same thing or the same dimensions of judgement, but there’s definitely some overlap.
I reject “goodness” as an attribute of a person—it does not fit my intuitions nor reasoned beliefs. There are behaviors and attitudes which are better or worse (sometimes by large amounts), but these are contingent rather than identifying. There _are_ bad people, who consistently show harmful behavior and no sign of changing throughout their lives. There are a LOT of morally mediocre people who have a mix of good and bad behavior, often more context-driven than choice-driven. I don’t think I can distinguish among them, so I tend to assume that almost everyone is mediocre. Note that I can decide that someone is unpleasant or harmful TO ME, and avoid them, without having to condemn them as a bad person.
So, I don’t aspire to be a truly good person, as I don’t think that’s a thing. I aspire to do good things and make choices for the commons, which I partake of. I’m not perfect at it, but I reject judgement on any absolute scale, so I don’t think there’s a line I’m trying to find where I’m “good enough”, just fumbling my way around what I’m able/willing to do.
The gradients between horrific, forbidden, disallowed, discouraged, acceptable, preferable, commendable, heroic seem like something that should be discussed here. I suspect you’re mixing a few different kinds of judgement of self, judgement of others, and perceived judgement by others. I don’t find them to be the same thing or the same dimensions of judgement, but there’s definitely some overlap.
I reject “goodness” as an attribute of a person—it does not fit my intuitions nor reasoned beliefs. There are behaviors and attitudes which are better or worse (sometimes by large amounts), but these are contingent rather than identifying. There _are_ bad people, who consistently show harmful behavior and no sign of changing throughout their lives. There are a LOT of morally mediocre people who have a mix of good and bad behavior, often more context-driven than choice-driven. I don’t think I can distinguish among them, so I tend to assume that almost everyone is mediocre. Note that I can decide that someone is unpleasant or harmful TO ME, and avoid them, without having to condemn them as a bad person.
So, I don’t aspire to be a truly good person, as I don’t think that’s a thing. I aspire to do good things and make choices for the commons, which I partake of. I’m not perfect at it, but I reject judgement on any absolute scale, so I don’t think there’s a line I’m trying to find where I’m “good enough”, just fumbling my way around what I’m able/willing to do.