"So we can’t say of any being that it is wholly and absolutely bad unless we can show for certain that what we are calling bad isn’t also good in some other system or in relation to some other order or economy."
In the passage above located in Book 1 of "An Inquiry Concerning Virtue and Merit;" Shaftesbury is suggesting that moral judgments of good or bad cannot be made in isolation from external factors. And that the context or system in which an action or a being exists in must be taken into consideration.
The purpose of this quote is to highlight the importance of perspective when evaluating an action or being as moral. For example, consider a predator who kills its prey for survival. While this act may seem ‘bad’ for the prey, it is necessary for the predator's survival and therefore can be seen as "good" in the larger system of the ecosystem. In such a case, what is ‘good' in one context may not be so in another. Shaftesbury argues that the only way to label a being as “wholly and absolutely bad” requires an understanding of its role within every system that it affects, and a demonstration that its actions are not 'good' in any context.
Shaftesbury's presents these ideas as the foundation to support his overarching argument in "An Inquiry Concerning Virtue and Merit." In this work, he posits that virtue and moral behavior are essential to the well-being of society and the individual. Every individual being possesses a natural “good” or desire; and acting purely in the pursuit of those individual desires is what he calls selfishness. Virtue, however, is acting beyond our self-interest in service of the larger society (or system) with which we belong. For Shaftesbury, it is only through the cultivation of virtue and moral behavior that individuals can achieve true happiness and fulfillment.
I found Shaftesbury's quote particularly relevant especially in relation to some of our recent discussions regarding the truckers and mask/vaccine mandates. The quote helps explain the conflicts that arise when different people and citizens all act in service of their self-interest or the interests of the specific systems they are concerned with. For instance, the purpose of the government is to make decisions in service of the whole of the country (of course this is not always the case). Something like a vaccine mandate provides an overall good towards the “system” of Canada. However, it can also have a negative impact on other private systems - such as the community of truckers - who are concerned with their individual rights or the safety of their loved ones. It is from this perspective that neither groups can be said to be “wholly” good or bad.
In conclusion, Shaftesbury's quote highlights the importance of understanding different systems and economies in making moral assessments. It is a reminder that what may be considered bad in one context may be seen as good in another. In the contemporary context, this quote serves as a call for individuals to consider the broader context in which actions take place before making moral judgments. This is particularly relevant in today's political climate, where the interests of different socio-economic classes often come into conflict.