Is Dr. House a good person?

[ComingWinter]

He's a good doctor, but he's a downright cynical bastard...

Yeah, that's why we love him though.

 

[gamerwiz09]

And then there's other times when he's just being childish or a jerk... I suppose he's had bad experiences in life and doesn't respect other people as much...
He's a good doctor, but he's a downright cynical bastard...

You say it like it's a bad thing.

 

[Dudro]

On the outside, he's a sarcastic prick, on this inside, he's a good guy. But he saves lives, and regardless of why he does save them, he's a good guy for doing it.

Say there was a super hero. This super hero saves people from muggings. That's all he does.

He stops all the muggings in the city for a month. His motivation, however, is not the good of the people or the purge of the muggers but booty. When he tells girls that he's this amazing super-hero that stops muggings, he is often granted entrance to the pum. He treats the girls nice and everything. They're always left perfectly happy and sexually satisfied.

Is he a good person, though? He's done a good thing, by stopping the muggings but he had absolutely no interest in the prevention of these crimes. He just wanted to get his end away.

I would argue no. That doesn't make him a good person.

But he is making the worlds a better place.
I think on the inside, he's a nice guy.

 

[gamerwiz09]

I believe that as long as the outcome is good, than it doesn't matter how you get there or what your motivation is. Morally, one might find someone's methods questionable, but it doesn't change the fact that everything ended up OK.