Evil

[bbwSwish]

In class last week, we had a discussion about whether or not man is naturally evil. What are your views on this topic?

Here is what I think. There are many evil people in the world. Terrorists, murders, rapists, and pedophiles are all people who I consider to be evil. The question is how do they become evil? I don?t think people can be born naturally evil and it all goes back to one thing; nature versus nurture. I believe that how you are raised and the people you surround yourself with contribute to someone turning evil. It seems strange to think that a person would be created and put on this world with the sole purpose of being evil and causing problems. How you are raised is one of the biggest things that contribute to someone turning evil in my opinion. If you are abused or neglected as a child, you?re going to have a lot of pent up anger inside of you that is eventually released. Also, if you parents aren?t good role models and do bad things, you are going to think its okay and do these same things when you are older. Your parents control many things in your life such as your morals, your faith, and your ability to handle certain situations. If you are raised badly, all of these things could lead to someone becoming evil. Also, the people you surround yourself with are very important. If you hang around people who are bad influences, it could encourage you to do bad things. Your friends have just as much impact on your life as your parents because they are always by your side and can either be good friends or bad friends. If you spend your entire childhood hanging around bad influences, you?re going to develop habits that stick with you forever. Basically, I think evil isn?t something that is natural. I think different things contribute to someone turning evil and most of those things take place during a person?s childhood.

 

[Chutney]

I don't believe in the terms good or evil. They really have no meaning, because it varies with culture, religion, status, etc. Everyone's perspective is different, which is why I think its impossible to categorize actions into these type of absolutes. I do believe that man is naturally selfish, though. In that respect, what is harmful to a person is considered "evil" and what benefits them is considered "good."

 

[Really Lost One]

You can't be born evil. You pretty much took the words out of my mouth. It has to do with your upbringing, and what you go through daily that impacts the person you are. If you look at guys like Hitler, he wasn't born evil. It was just his horrible childhood that made him the person he was.

 

[M Two One]

Every living creature on this planet kills to stay alive or kills or be the dominant one. That's just how every living organism will be so we're not actually evil, just selfish of our domination in my honest opinion.

 

[deception]

i like what swami vivekananda said about this subject- he believed there was only good and deviations from the good. moreover, similiar to plato, GOD and GOOD are interchangeable. he went on postulate that deviations from the good was similar to seeing the sun at different vantage points. people are still seeing the same sun (good) but experiencing and seeing it at different perspectives.

 

[AznxBaller]

To be philosophical, what exactly is good anyway? Fanatics out there like the Al Queda are killing people for what they believe in and in their minds, are doing "good". People can have different perspectives of what "good" really is, thus, different meanings of "evil" apply as well since they're opposites.

 

[Karma]

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AznxBaller:</div><div class="quote_post">To be philosophical, what exactly is good anyway? Fanatics out there like the Al Queda are killing people for what they believe in and in their minds, are doing "good". People can have different perspectives of what "good" really is, thus, different meanings of "evil" apply as well since they're opposites.</div>

Agree with that. Like many things in life (religion, morals, etc), it depends on one's perspective. What I may consider as "good" may not be the same to you.

 

[deception]

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AznxBaller:</div><div class="quote_post">To be philosophical, what exactly is good anyway? Fanatics out there like the Al Queda are killing people for what they believe in and in their minds, are doing "good". People can have different perspectives of what "good" really is, thus, different meanings of "evil" apply as well since they're opposites.</div>

your notions of "good" and "evil" are incongruous. what u find is that extreme opposites have many points of agreement than middle points, e.g. stalin and hitler in spite of being at war had very similar outlooks. simple designations of "good" and "evil" are more a reflection on those doing the designating rather than those designated.

 

[AznxBaller]

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">
your notions of "good" and "evil" are incongruous. what u find is that extreme opposites have many points of agreement than middle points, e.g. stalin and hitler in spite of being at war had very similar outlooks. simple designations of "good" and "evil" are more a reflection on those doing the designating rather than those designated.</div>
Well of course they're incongruous, they're opposites. Its like you telling me I said black and white are incongruous. Good and Evil really have little to do with Stalin and Hitler. They weren't really opposites in the way that you can compare stuff like ideas, colors, emotions, etc. Things that I mentioned don't really have anything in common while the people at war thing at many times do. And yeah, that last part, is pretty much what I said.

 

[deception]

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AznxBaller:</div><div class="quote_post">Well of course they're incongruous, they're opposites. Its like you telling me I said black and white are incongruous. Good and Evil really have little to do with Stalin and Hitler. They weren't really opposites in the way that you can compare stuff like ideas, colors, emotions, etc. Things that I mentioned don't really have anything in common while the people at war thing at many times do. And yeah, that last part, is pretty much what I said.</div>


no, the way u presented good and evil are incongruous, not the notions itself in isolation. u argued u believed in opposites, hence good and evil, while i countered by arguing that polar opposites (good and evil) in they way u presented them are similiar or better darn close. therefore, good and evil as presented by u are illogical.

 

[KS1]

My views on whether men is naturally evil or not are between the philosophies of Locke and Rousseau. Locke believed that when man is borned, he is a Tabula Rasa, a "blank slate." Man is shaped by his enviroment, which leads to the next point, Rousseau states that man, in a natural enviroment, is calm, caring, and intelligent. But because of posession, the thought of "this is mine" corrupted man. Like power, money, material things, that has corrupted man. Everyone is out for themselves, not caring what other people has or have. I believe man is naturally good and even quite a bit naive(when we were kids, we had all the innocence in the world, belief that no one would possibly take advantage of us...that all changed when someone did something that hurted us, our feelings, trust, etc...) but in today's society, if a man is decently good, nobody cares, not as much as the guilt, the dirt, the "evil".

 

[I-Miss-MJ]

Man created evil.

Evil is only a perception by many.

Murdering is evil. But murder is a man creation.Raping is evil but man created rape and so forth.

The same of good. It was created by man and defined by man. Donating to charity is 'good', but that is only the perception of many people.