Innocent - A definition

Would any care to comment on my definition for INNOCENT?

Thanks.

INNOCENT is a moral condition whereby the individual has not made an error with regard to virtue.

Post 1

Friday, January 23, 2009 - 12:35pm

Hi Tim,

I'm not sure you're reference to virtue works. Why not just say innocence is the state of being free of wrongdoing.

People can be virtuous but not innocent, like when someone is completely virtuous but nevertheless causes a car collision.

People can also be immoral but innocent, like when someone is driving very drunk but *doesn't* get into a car crash.

Jordan

Post 2

Friday, January 23, 2009 - 12:44pm

Good thoughts Jordan - thanks.

The context for Innocence would be within the moral sphere however would it not?

You know though, isn't "free of wrongdoing" the same as a negation of an attribute - in this case guilt. Shouldn't a definition say something about what it IS instead of what it is not?

(Edited by Tim Scobey on 1/23, 1:25pm)

Post 3

Friday, January 23, 2009 - 2:34pm

Hi Tim,

Innocence can encompass both moral and legal spheres. One could be morally innocent but legally culpable (civil disobedience) or morally culpable but legally innocent (cheating on a romantic partner). "Wrongdoing" implies at least one of those spheres but not necessarily one or the other. So it's best just to leave reference to moral/legal spheres out of the definition.

Also, sometimes concepts are negative in nature, e.g., dark is the absence of light; a bachelor is an unmarried man. Such negative concepts are useful. They often work with their positive counterpart to jointly exhaust the options for species of a particular genus. For instance, men are either married or unmarried; luminescence is either light or dark.

Jordan

Post 4

Friday, January 23, 2009 - 5:57pm

OK, I was under the impression that in the formulation of a definition the species to which a concept belonged had to explain things in positive terms.

Thanks for clearing it up.

Post 5

Friday, January 23, 2009 - 6:23pm

Some are so negative that there is no word for the concept, only a negative of the opposing concept - 'non-violence' is one...

Post 6

Friday, January 23, 2009 - 8:41pm

Innocent can have a moral, legal, experiential, or psychological meaning - depending upon the context.

"They said what I had done was a sin," he said, "but I was innocent. They put me on trial saying it was also illegal, but I plead innocent. In my ignorance, I was an innocent to think fairness was assured. But real innocence is spiritual - it is the presence of a child's benevolent, cheerful outlook on life, even after seeing the world around us with a knowing adult's eyes."

In each context but the last, innocence appears to be the absence of something. Babies start out innocent of sins, crimes, and experiences. If one has the essence of that state at maturity, it might be called the absence of a stain on our character. If there is redemption, it's value is in erasing such stains. To be innocent and wise in old age must surely be one of life's greatest achievements.

Post 7

Friday, January 23, 2009 - 9:13pm