Naturalism: The Light and Dark Side Of The Force

Is the Natural the Good? What is "good" in the first place?

According to Kant, the good can only be known through intent, which is to say a good “will.”

Plenty of good intentions end disastrously, which leads humanity to find alignment with nature as a new sort of good.

The Natural-Good

There are alignments with nature which can be synthesized with Kant’s notion of the good will. One can have good intentions when aligning with what seems to be reflected in a primal, animal reality. Things such as accounting for the needs of others are visible in the animal worlds, and can be reflected by humans with things such as environmentalism, taking care of pets, taking care of your own family, and taking care of the community in various manners.

The Natural-Evil

There are natural relations which relate to darker human inclinations: violence, hatred, anger, revenge.

The Good Cause: A Natural Good and Evil

A synthesis of good and evil comes when one’s aggressive inclinations, one’s hatreds come together to produce a result which can be said to be a Good Cause. Politics contains within it both Natural-Evil and Natural-Good impulses in the services of a good cause.

Alignment with the Natural-Good?

Why were the stoics advised by each other to avoid the political? To be in alignment with the political would mean to be switching between malicious inclinations as well as good will towards others. To be a politician is to wish ill will on your opponent at times in order to promote The Good Cause.

Should we align with the Natural-Good? It can be something to be kept in mind, something that we can focus on. It would be an interesting experiment. I am going to try it out and see if it is something I can do personally and I will report back, feel free to join me.