Whoever said that animals don't have the ability to be evil, has obviously never considered the ferret.

I just witnessed the mutilation of two of my very old guinea pigs while they were grazing on the lawn. I had to shoot the little bastard with an air rifle, along with my guinea pigs too. The ferret had obviously escaped from somewhere and had attacked one of the guinea pig's eyes (well, one of them was hanging out) and scalped the other one as it took its ear off. The garden was filled with the sound of painful squealing.

What got me was the fact that the ferret's only intention was to satisfy its lust for the kill, rather than actually eat the guinea pigs. Maybe it's because ferrets are trained to do this, but I'm not sure. Even when I hit it with a spade it still was desperate to inflict as much harm as possible on those two twitching masses of fur.

So, I'm obviously still a little shaken, because I loved those little things. My point however is to ask whether evil is a possible trait in animals, and whether evil is necessarily a by-product of intelligence. After all, do animals have morals?

Evil can't apply to something that is a predator in nature. Evil is a term used to describe an entity with the mental acuity to understand the difference between good and evil. Killer Whales and cats all play with their pray. Both toss their pray around for joy, both stalk and slowly mutilate them (cats and orcas in particular like biting off the appendages). This isn't evil. While it is, indeed, highly complex, it is nonetheless the evolution of the predatory nature of both animals who, themselves, are incapable of understanding the pain they are inflicting. Ferrets have smaller brains than cats, and far smaller brains than orcas, they cannot even comprehend the smallest concept of what they are doing beyond their instinct to kill lesser creatures.

~String

Humans are predators who think they have the mental acuity to understand the difference between good & evil.

http://static.sky.com/images/pictures/1623947.jpg

Animals do what comes natural and instinctive to them. Killing other smaller animals for food is only normal.

Same for humans (a species of animal). I see dogs fight over food tho there is plenty for all right there easily accessible & I think : Why, they're almost human.
I see a cat who usually seems quite peaceful suddenly sprint several yards to attack another cat & I think : That's mighty human of you.

I think we can take the whole 'killing for food is instinct' thing as read. In fact, my whole point was the ferret's apparent pleasure in the act of killing itself, not hunger for fresh meat - a cold, calculated trait that in a human many of us would consider 'evil'.

I still feel that no-one has provided a satisfactory explanation for why lower intelligence excuses some animals from being morally wrong. In a less complex way mammals tend to have some form of morals - they usually won't attack their own kind unless they feel their life or standing is threatened. The 'Ultimate Book of Useless Information' states that only two species wage large-scale war on their own kind - ants and humans. Evolutionary speaking, if you are a species lower down the food chain, it would not be wise to add your 'peers' to the list of your enemies. This is the same for humans, and we consider those who pervert these genetically ingrained morals 'evil'.

Conclusion - ferrets are scum, or at least, have the ability to be.

I like ferrets.

That is one cool badass ferret man!!!

Mustelids are just inherently vicious lil creatures.

Whoever said that animals don't have the ability to be evil, has obviously never considered the ferret.

I just witnessed the mutilation of two of my very old guinea pigs while they were grazing on the lawn. I had to shoot the little bastard with an air rifle, along with my guinea pigs too. The ferret had obviously escaped from somewhere and had attacked one of the guinea pig's eyes (well, one of them was hanging out) and scalped the other one as it took its ear off. The garden was filled with the sound of painful squealing.

What got me was the fact that the ferret's only intention was to satisfy its lust for the kill, rather than actually eat the guinea pigs. Maybe it's because ferrets are trained to do this, but I'm not sure. Even when I hit it with a spade it still was desperate to inflict as much harm as possible on those two twitching masses of fur.

So, I'm obviously still a little shaken, because I loved those little things. My point however is to ask whether evil is a possible trait in animals, and whether evil is necessarily a by-product of intelligence. After all, do animals have morals?

Evil doesn't exist outside the mind of humans. All predatory animals (humans included) derive pleasure from killing. If predatory brains weren't wired that way then they wouldn't have the motivation to hunt.

What you call 'morals' are partially learned behaviors genetically rooted in evaluation questions humans use to judge each other:

1) Are you mean?
2) Are you valuable?

The first question is of course the primary one and the most powerful in influencing human behavior. Part of the reason for this is because humans have mirror neurons which cause us to feel pain when we witness other life-forms experiencing pain.

For example, take a look at this (WARNING: extreme violence and suffering):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_agt7Yd6ipQ

When you're done watching that video, what you are feeling is the result of your mirror nuerons and genetic behavior prompting you to answer question 1) with a definite "yes".

Whoever said that animals don't have the ability to be evil, has obviously never considered the ferret.

I just witnessed the mutilation of two of my very old guinea pigs while they were grazing on the lawn. I had to shoot the little bastard with an air rifle, along with my guinea pigs too. The ferret had obviously escaped from somewhere and had attacked one of the guinea pig's eyes (well, one of them was hanging out) and scalped the other one as it took its ear off. The garden was filled with the sound of painful squealing.

What got me was the fact that the ferret's only intention was to satisfy its lust for the kill, rather than actually eat the guinea pigs. Maybe it's because ferrets are trained to do this, but I'm not sure. Even when I hit it with a spade it still was desperate to inflict as much harm as possible on those two twitching masses of fur.

So, I'm obviously still a little shaken, because I loved those little things. My point however is to ask whether evil is a possible trait in animals, and whether evil is necessarily a by-product of intelligence. After all, do animals have morals?

So what's wrong with that? How is this evil at all?

http://www.picturesforsadchildren.com/comics/00000173.gif (http://www.picturesforsadchildren.com/index.php?comicID=173)

:bravo:

Evil doesn't exist outside the mind of humans. All predatory animals (humans included) derive pleasure from killing. If predatory brains weren't wired that way then they wouldn't have the motivation to hunt.
So what's wrong with that? How is this evil at all?

Are humans not predators? Do we not also share that basic instinct? However, if a human did that to say... an ape, it would be considered morally wrong. Pleasure in the kill itself is something we find a little distasteful.

awesome cartoon.

what are ferrets? Aren't they just weasels? Why are they called ferrets?

I had a ferret once. It was an albino ferret with red/pink eyes. Meanest little bugger ever. Smelled like crap all the time too...probably because they are related to skunks. They are probably the funniest things to watch in action too.

They are mean, just see what they do to rabbits!, little fuckers.

Are humans not predators?

A human is an omnivorous predator / scavenger combo.


Do we not also share that basic instinct?

We derive pleasure from killing, but the instinct isn't as strong for humans as we are omnivorous. If we strictly ate live animals then we would have stronger pleasure-killing motivation.


However, if a human did that to say... an ape, it would be considered morally wrong.

Only in the minds of some humans.


Pleasure in the kill itself is something we find a little distasteful.

A planet full of adult humans paying money to hunt wild game and little kids fragging ants with magnifying glasses disagree.

what are ferrets?

Domesticated weasels. Specifically domesticated European Polecat or Steppe Polecat.


Aren't they just weasels?

There's many types of weasels.


Why are they called ferrets?

Ferreting is another word for hunting and ferrets were used as hunting aides.

what are ferrets? Aren't they just weasels? Why are they called ferrets?
Ferrets are a semi-domesticated member of the weasle family (at least the ones people keep as pets). They were originally bred to control the rat population. They can go down into rat burrows so the rats can't escape. Selective breeding has given them the instinct to 'kill for fun'. This is very useful for their original purpose, you could turn a ferret lose and it will enter any burrow it finds and kill all the rats without stopping to eat any. Unfortunately for the op, ferrets don't know the difference between rats and guinea pigs.

Nice informative post there Kevin...I didn't know that.

Whoever said that animals don't have the ability to be evil, has obviously never considered the ferret.

I just witnessed the mutilation of two of my very old guinea pigs while they were grazing on the lawn. I had to shoot the little bastard with an air rifle, along with my guinea pigs too. The ferret had obviously escaped from somewhere and had attacked one of the guinea pig's eyes (well, one of them was hanging out) and scalped the other one as it took its ear off. The garden was filled with the sound of painful squealing.

What got me was the fact that the ferret's only intention was to satisfy its lust for the kill, rather than actually eat the guinea pigs. Maybe it's because ferrets are trained to do this, but I'm not sure. Even when I hit it with a spade it still was desperate to inflict as much harm as possible on those two twitching masses of fur.

So, I'm obviously still a little shaken, because I loved those little things. My point however is to ask whether evil is a possible trait in animals, and whether evil is necessarily a by-product of intelligence. After all, do animals have morals?


Animals, including some particular human attributes (but let us keep human behaviour out of this due to the complexity of human psychology), act on impulse.

This impulse cannot be evil. Evil is something that can only be attributed to choice.

Think about it.

Maybe i was not clear.

The way of evil, is to ''go out your way to be opposite to be good.''

This offers to choice, and therefore, choice alone choses evil.

So evil is not a choice of an animal, if it has not the capability of intellectual choice itself.

True, but impulsive human instincts - like passion for example - are considered evil in some circumstances. It's all subjective I know, but it's still interesting to think about.

Meh, maybe that was a rogue ferret; maybe the rest are completely innocent.