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Are humans inherently evil?

kameiya
I don't believe we are born evil. Evil is a choice we choose as we grow older. Unfortunately even children can choose such evil things. I'm not a doctor, but it seems like there are special cases where there are chemical imbalances in the brain that effects us, but I don't think it's common at all. We are all born pure as babies till our humanity and free of choice sets in. That's what I believe.
laffantion
Children are the ones who show evilness the most openly. As you get older your evilness becomes more subtle.
yaasshat
Sociopaths have no real emotion, are they evil? Good and evil are social constructs and for a reason. They allow us to be civil. Nature, by default does not care. Nature is ALL about survival and propagation by whatever means. Yes, there's a balance and yes the ideas of good/evil play a roll. However, good/evil are not a default setting. Grow up in a society where you eat your adversaries and that will be your normal. We hopefully learn to be kind and helpful for the sake of society at large, but good/evil are just concepts of what works best. Morality is what's best for a particular society and it's goals. Do I believe in good/evil? In a sense, but not not in an ultimate, universal sort of way. There are those who are not fit for society and those who are.
jacobl89
Nov 17, 21 at 9:01am
I think for something to qualify as evil you have to know it's wrong and do it anyways. For example evil can also be relative. I can see someone's else's actions as evil and I can even deem them evil that doesn't make them evil Even if everyone agreed that they were. I think a truly evil person is someone who knows what they're doing is wrong and choose is to do it anyways at the expense of others and one way or another. Now what I'm about to say maybe controversial because I think personally Hitler was one of the most evil people on the planet, however if he didn't understand his actions were evil that implies that if he was ever made to understand that he was doing wrong he may choose to do something else. Now maybe he would have done it anyways I don't know. I don't know Hitler. All I'm saying is if he did learn that his actions were wrong would he have changed them? I don't know if there's any literature out there that would prove one way or another. I'm not here to have a debate on if Hitler was actually evil. His actions were absolutely atrocious and some of the worst in human history. So I can call something evil and accordance with my own perspective. What I can also state objectively if I know someone knew something was wrong and they chose to do it anyways that they are objectively evil. Of course all of this is my opinion on what actually is evil so take it with a grain of salt. TLDR; If you know your actions are wrong and you do them anyways you're evil. Other people can still perceive your actions as evil and that is an opinion. Not necessarily a wrong opinion, But until you know your actions are wrong in my opinion it remains an opinion. Since children do not know the difference between good and evil, I do not think humans are inherently evil.
reisenpai66
I dont belive in objective evil. I feel everyone feels their actions are just according to their own moral compass. Whether their own understanding of the world is right or wrong is another discussion, lol.. Things like cultural relativism gives us this illusion that we all have objective morality and people that dont follow the same set of morals are bad.. We see this between different cultures even. You could argue things like murder and genocide are objectively evil since most if not all cultures find murder to be bad, but i feel morals and ethics are more complex since you're not obligated to share the same morals as other groups. When people like hitler for example form a false dichotomy that a small group of people are the problem, and removing them would help the majority, you're faced with essentially the trolly problem. So from their perspective its for the greater good, but everyone else thinks its bad.
jacobl89
Nov 17, 21 at 9:38am
But what about when you know something is wrong even to your own standards and you do it anyways?
reisenpai66
What does "wrong" mean tho? Legality isn't morality. And I've never done something I found to be morally wrong per se. And if I did then there would have been a greater gain involved. Selfless acts don't exist.
jacobl89
Nov 17, 21 at 10:13am
Wrong is relative to your own perspective. If from your own perspective it is wrong then that is damning. The reason why people argue that there's no point in arguing what's wrong or right or moral is because everyone can have a different standard. If your own standard is violated then that is wrong. If I know it's wrong to just walk out of my house and shoot someone for no reason and I do it anyways then that is evil. Even people who don't have feelings can still have a general idea of right and wrong.
reisenpai66
I've never done anything against my morals without there being a greater good involved. Full stop.
jacobl89
Nov 17, 21 at 10:21am
Then I wouldn't accuse you of being objectively evil, regardless of you past actions. You may be evil from another's perspective but not objectively from the definition I provided.
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