A philosophical question

How can anyone be happy, knowing that even a single bad person's black heart still beats in their chest?

Truly "evil" people - for lack of a better term - are both pretty rare and very predictable. It's the so called "good" ones you should be careful around.

Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.

Ignorance is bliss, and/or dealing with evil is Somebody Else's Problem.

At least, that's the way happy people probably see it. Personally, I wouldn't know...

This Space Intentionally Left Blank.

Evil is a myth. I know what you're thinking, and I'm not delusional.

edited 1st May '16 10:23:27 AM by war877

Well, it's a label. A pretty subjective one at that. Personally, I wouldn't call anyone "evil" unless they were both incapable of empathy or remorse, and sadistic. Even then, I'd tolerate them as long they were prevented from causing harm.

Trying to completely eradicate all "bad people" is usually not a good idea, imo.

Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.

Let me ask you before anything.

What is evil?

"Did you expect somebody else?"

I can answer that. Intentionally doing wrong.

In order for evil to exist, the evil one must first believe in morality, then willfully go against it.

But what is doing wrong to one is to another doing right.

A thief who steals bread to eat, are they doing evil?

edited 1st May '16 12:29:35 PM by RatherRandomRachel

"Did you expect somebody else?"

But in this case it is simple. The one for which it is wrong must be the doer. The evil one.

Not many questions in ethics are as simple as what evil is.

Actually, 'What is evil' as a question is something which is still struggled with now, because we can ask if something is evil for so long and not arrive at a concrete answer.

We cannot deal with moral absolutes in this way, there is a relative answer in what is and isn't evil, but no concrete definition is ever going to satisfy every person in this.

Trying to simply state what evil is helps nobody, and will forever be something we can never do.

"Did you expect somebody else?"

Evil is not a myth, there were some truly twisted and horrific people who existed in real life. Sociopathic serial killers like Ted Bundy come to mind. Don't try to convince me that he was just a poor, misunderstood guy who didn't get enough attention as a child. Even his defense counsel agreed, he was pure evil.

This Space Intentionally Left Blank.

Which is more troubling? Someone who does the right thing for the wrong reasons, or someone who does the wrong thing for the right reasons? Under which circumstance is a person wrong?

The standard way to deal with this is to break the problem of morality in two. We have the idea or right acts, wrong acts, right persons, and wrong persons.

The question of what a right or wrong act is is the harder question.

Which of the four is evil? Neither right acts or right persons can be said to be evil. Is a wrong act evil? No. For all natural disasters are wrong acts. Is a wrong person evil? Yes.

What makes a person right or wrong? A right person is a person who believes they are doing good. A wrong person is a person who believes they are doing evil. This returns to the definition I made above. The only conditions under which a person believes they are doing evil is if they believe something is evil, then intentionally do it.

Is there room for this theory to be wrong? Not without defining evil to be something that is not really evil if you think about it.

edited 2nd May '16 10:54:37 AM by war877

Outcome is what actually matters, regardless of the original intention. After all, Hitler, Mao and those Daesh nutters all set out to do 'good' according to their own, insane standards.

edited 2nd May '16 8:52:28 AM by InverurieJones

'All he needs is for somebody to throw handgrenades at him for the rest of his life...'

All perceptions of good and evil is a result of applied ethics and morals, and are thus malleable and not definite. And while we've become very good at making sets of morals and ethics, we have yet to find one universal standard that truly decides what is good and what is evil. Because moral and ethics spring from within human society, not from absolute laws of nature. And just as humans change, so do ethics, and so does good and evil.

But to answer the first question: because I have trust in the systems of law and justice that we have set in place to pick up on undesirable behaviour, punishing it accordingly and reform whenever possible. Sure, you can think of those that are not caught or those who manage to escape the justice they are due. But I think about all the ones that are caught, and how much better we are getting hold of them. And for those parts of the world that there are no proper systems of justice, I have faith that such will be restored. Just as peace can be disrupted, so can disorder be calmed with enough effort.

Join us in our quest to play all RPG video games! Moving on to disc 2 of Grandia!

Alternate hypothesis: We have yet to find one universal standard that truly decides what is good and what is evil. Because morality is infinitely complex, and we are really bad at figuring stuff out.

You have way more faith in the correctness of our existing systems than I do.

edited 2nd May '16 11:05:32 AM by war877

An enticing idea. However, in that case there's certainly no reason to worry about the evil people. Because we don't know who they are yet.

Join us in our quest to play all RPG video games! Moving on to disc 2 of Grandia!

It's already been discussed in the Philosophy thread, but let's say we just happen to stumble upon such a standard tomorrow. We learn that some things are good and others are evil, and there's no doubt whatsoever about which is which.

What will you do if you disagree with it? Let's say that being left handed is evil, and throwing eggs at people is good, to pick a random example. So what?

Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.

I find less troubling people who commit acts that others may find atrocious and more troubling people who refuse to even attempt to see things from the perspective of those people. That's how mob mentality forms, from a lack of consideration of another's mindset. I don't care how terrible their actions were in your mind. You're just as bad as you say they are if you don't at least try to look at it through their eyes. Even crimes that no one in their right mind would try to justify have a root mental cause that can be traced back to a number of converging influences.

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.