"Good" is a word commonly used in life. However, when come to the question "what is Good", I still cannot give a exact and holistic answer with certainty. I can only start by eliminating what is evil.
During the presentation of everyone's Utopia, I notice that freedom to express individuality without doing harm to others is often included in the ideology. I think this Good in a large sense. A lot of existing crimes and evilness are founded on external motivations - money, power, claiming ownership, sense of being better than others - in which people are too caught up in these extraneous factors that they ultimately neglect and forget about themselves. The realization of these goals can not lead to anything beyond, and people often feel lost after such accomplishments. That is why "Money cannot buy happiness".
What's more, in pursuing external worth, people unavoidably inflict their own ideology upon others. As the existences of good and bad are dependent upon each other, the controversial ethical issues all have two sides to their arguments. Evil occurs when crossing over the line of fairness and moderation. Hunting itself is a natural step in the food chain just like any predators hunt preys. However, when people started to hunt out of pleasure and trade instead of basic needs, the balance is broken and hunted species become in danger. The same goes for designer babies. This technology can be of significant merit if it is conducted only to eliminate disease carried in genes; however, it will inevitably be used to satisfy the expectation of parents once it is developed.
Therefore, on the opposite side of all that, Goodness is when people focus on the wellbeing and intrinsic worth of themselves, while not placing their own interests over that of others. It is the balance point between extremes. But this balance is ultimately impossible to maintain. As in the movie Traitor, even though Cheadle intends to carry out the objective of peace, once done, the consequences of the actions are not within his control and he still gets blood in his hand.
To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school…it is to solve some of the problems of life, not only theoretically, but practically. – Henry David Thoreau
I really like your point about a person's intended action of bringing good and the unexpected consequences of it. Sometimes we always think we need to do a specific things for the good of others. However, sometimes the results turns out to be bad or not as good as we thought. What is good is still a question we need to ask ourselves constantly.
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