Someone Asked “What’s A Subtle Sign That Someone Is A Good Person But Doesn’t Want To Show It?” And 30 Folks Delivered

To sin or not to sin, you ask yourself at the crosswalk as you wait for the light to turn green, but there’s not a car in sight, so are you gonna run for it? To be honest, this type of situation doesn’t reflect much on whether someone’s a good person or not, but it is interesting to consider the amount of thought we go through when making decisions. 

However, there are some things that can universally be agreed upon to be signs of goodness within a person. Although subtle and requiring a bit of notice, they’re there, and they make living all the more pleasant. A Reddit user decided to ask the community of r/AskReddit for their opinions on ‘green flags’ that show one to be a good human being. Or human beans if you’re into cute things. 

So what actually makes a person good? Is it the combination of all these little actions that are being discussed in this list? Well, this is quite an interesting philosophical conundrum as goodness can be understood in many different ways, but is there a universal consensus on it all? Let’s delve a little into it all. 

We begin with the views on moral character. Most of the Greek moralists think that if we are rational, we aim at living well (eu zên) or happiness (eudaimonia). So the Stoics identify happiness with “living coherently,” and Aristotle says that happiness is “perfect” or “complete” and something distinctively human. When we are living well, our life is worthy of imitation and praise. 

However, one doesn’t need to be a philosopher to understand the fact that happiness comes in many forms, differing from person to person. Yet, whatever happiness is, according to Greek moralists, it must give a prominent place to the exercise of virtue, for virtuous traits of character are stable and enduring and are not products of fortune, but of learning or cultivation. 

In Plato’s Protagoras, Socrates seems to identify happiness with pleasure, with various virtues being an instrumental means to pleasure. Yet, it’s not necessarily a selfish kind of pleasure, as we know that virtuous acts require some sacrifice. 

Thus, according to Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics, people who have the proper attitude toward external goods (material possessions) will be ready to sacrifice such goods if by doing so they achieve a higher goal. They recognize that when everyone concentrates on doing good, their actions promote a betterment in society. 

Because an individual’s good is included in the good of the community, it makes it much easier to take the virtuous path when you’re not alone in doing so. According to Immanuel Kant, we are always fighting against the impulses and dispositions that oppose the moral law. We need strength of will and self-mastery to fulfill our imperfect duties, and this self-mastery Kant calls courage.

And surrounding oneself with people who are equally as courageous makes it more likely one will take a path of benevolence. Although Kant thinks that feelings cannot be required of anyone, some feelings are nevertheless associated with the moral ends we adopt. If we adopt others’ happiness as an end, we will not take malicious pleasure in their downfall. 

However, life is a complex entity and not everything is as easy as pursuing a moral state of happiness. It may seem obvious that one cannot respond to all appeals for help. This suggests that being a helpful person requires some thinking about what is most important in one’s life. So we should not expect helping behavior to be wholly consistent, given the complex situations in which persons find themselves. 

Albert Camus wrote in The Plague: “On the whole, men are more good than bad; that, however, isn’t the real point. But they are more or less ignorant, and it is this that we call vice or virtue; the most incorrigible vice being that of an ignorance that fancies it knows everything and therefore claims for itself the right to kill. The soul of the murderer is blind; and there can be no true goodness nor true love without the utmost clear-sightedness.” 

So what does this all mean? One thing is that a good moral character is not something that we can achieve on our own. Both other people and public institutions must lead with similar values in order for us to have the best chance at a virtuous life. But it shouldn’t be misconstrued with obedience. 

Rachana Kamtekar, a professor of philosophy at Cornell University, states that “Goodness is expressed through loving, kindness, generosity of spirit and deed, and the thoughtful consideration of others. It can be as simple as offering to let someone ahead of you in line and as complicated as making yearlong sacrifices of your freedom because someone you love needs your help. Over the course of a lifetime, most of us do both.”

As you continue scrolling through this list, make sure you’re upvoting your favorites, leaving comments along the way, and sharing your own thoughts on what makes one a good person. See you all in the next one!