The Absolute Good: An Open Question Het absolute Goed: een open vraag

Abstract

In this article it is argued that the idea of the ‘Good’ presupposes that it is taken in an absolute, contentless sense. In line with G.E. Moore’s open question argument, a position is adopted that envisages ‘good’ as transcending any description or intuition. The idea of the Good, it is further argued, manifests itself phenomenologically in the experience of the question of the Good. This question cannot be matched with any definite answers. As an example, the tragedy of Hitlerism and its outcome (shoah) are referred to. Any imaginable response to the question of the good always comes too late. It is suggested that philosophical attempts at answering this question should render themselves to the destruction of the prevailing moral traditions. It is also suggested that readiness to self destruction in confrontation with the question of the good, is a criterion for the viability of those traditions.