  Neutron spectroscopy was applied to study the magnetic interactions of
orbitally degenerate Co$^{2+}$ on a host MgO rocksalt lattice where no long
range spin or orbital order exists. The paramagnetic nature of the substituted
monoxide Co$_{0.03}$Mg$_{0.97}$O allows for the disentanglement of
spin-exchange and spin-orbit interactions. By considering the prevalent
excitations from Co$^{2+}$ spin pairs, we extract 7 exchange constants out to
the fourth coordination shell. An antiferromagnetic next nearest neighbor
180$^{\circ}$ exchange interaction is dominant, however dual ferromagnetic and
antiferromagnetic interactions are observed for pairings with other pathways.
These interactions can be understood in terms of a combination of orbital
degeneracy in the $t_{2g}$ channel and the Goodenough-Kanamori-Anderson (GKA)
rules. Our work suggests that such a hierarchy of exchange interactions exists
in transition metal-based oxides with a $t_{2g}$ orbital degeneracy.
