Good characters [β¦] try to be honest, charitable, and forthright. People are not perfect, however, so few are good all the time. There are always occasional failings and weaknesses. A good person, however, worries about his errors and normally tries to correct any damage done. Remember, however, that goodness has no absolute values. Although many things are commonly accepted as good helping those in need, protecting the weak , different cultures impose their own interpretations on what is good and what is evil.
Those with a neutral moral stance often refrain from passing judgment on anything. They do not classify people, things, or events as good or evil; what is, is.
In some cases, this is because the creature lacks the capacity to make a moral judgment animals fall into this category. Few normal creatures do anything for good or evil reasons. They kill because they are hungry or threatened. They sleep where they find shelter. They do not worry about the moral consequences of their actionsβtheir actions are instinctive. Moral relativists empty ethical propositions of absolute meaning, relegating goodness and evilness to a matter of historical or cultural circumstances.
Only a few people of evil nature actively seek to cause harm or destruction. Most simply do not recognize that what they do is destructive or disruptive. If someone is harmed in the process. Remember that evil, like good, is interpreted differently in different societies. So evil, according to this definition, is reserved mostly for sociopaths and unwitting criminals. Evil simply means nastiness, and is open for interpretation.
The solution to this problem is twofold. First, we have to dispense with the labels entirely. Your character thinks it is good to have a genuine concern for the welfare of others. Ayn Rand certainly would think so. On the contrary, an egalitarian point of view might insist that Altruism is good and the selfishness entailed by Egotism is evil.
