What is your definition of evil?

Discussion in 'Ethics, Morality, & Justice' started by akoreamerican, Aug 26, 2018.

  1. akoreamerican Registered Senior Member

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    Last edited: Sep 7, 2018
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  3. river

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  5. akoreamerican Registered Senior Member

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    Well that's why we have laws and police. Psychopaths make mistakes like everyone else, and like everyone else, is doing evil if they knowingly ignore their mistake. Being a psychopath does not automatically make you Evil.
     
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  7. river

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    but being psychopathic is a dangerous mind set . To themselves and others .
     
  8. akoreamerican Registered Senior Member

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    Maybe you are right, perhaps we should hunt down all psychopaths

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  9. akoreamerican Registered Senior Member

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    Yes, Cowardice is a weakness, and Complicity for personal gain could be evil but only if you know it would cause harm to someone else. If I were to wake up late one morning because I want to sleep a little longer. That would be wrong but not evil, but in cases where complicity is evil, like not pressing the open door button in an elevator for someone, for who you know you could let in but don't bother to, it's cowardly evil.
     
  10. akoreamerican Registered Senior Member

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    But seriously, just because someone has psychopathic traits does not necessarily mean they are dangerous.
    It's a spectrum and not easily identified
     
  11. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    Er what? How is that wrong? It's your life; you can comport yourself as you see fit.

    (May be it was just a bad example?)
     
  12. akoreamerican Registered Senior Member

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    It's wrong because I know I have things to do. It would wrong me. It would be like lying to myself.
     
  13. Jeeves Valued Senior Member

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    That's what complicity means: helping someone accomplish a bad deed; being an accomplice.
    [ - the state of being involved with others in an illegal activity or wrongdoing. Syn: connivance, collusion, collaboration]
    Compliance just means following orders, with or without approving of them; with or without knowledge of the wrongness of one's action.
    Obviously, there are circumstances in which the true intent is kept secret from underlings, and circumstances in which the people who carry out the orders cannot help knowing the wrong they're involved in - thus the assessment of degrees of complicity; whether the underling is an accomplice or a mere patsy.
    That's not complicity, since no other wrongdoer is involved.
    It's not evil, since no harm comes to another person as a result of your inaction.
    It's not cowardly, since you have nothing to fear from pushing a button.
    That's just inconsiderate an rude.
     
    Last edited: Sep 8, 2018
  14. akoreamerican Registered Senior Member

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    I had the wrong definition for that word this entire time...

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  15. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    Life is a compromise between competing needs. Extra sleep is one.
    Guilt is a wasted emotion. If you felt the need to get a little extra rest, and you were willing to pay the price of putting those things off till later, there is no reason why you couldn't do that. Own it.
     
  16. akoreamerican Registered Senior Member

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    I'm not talking about people who just noticed you were walking up and failed to make the last minute button press to save the door close. I'm talking about someone who deliberately did not push the button, who knows you, and is looking right at you as the elevator closes. Is this not a little evil? Of course I would never know for sure if it was intentional or not, but in that persons mind, if that person had intentionally not pressed that button, it was evil.
    This is the most pervasive of evils because it is so well hidden. This is the same sort of cowardly evil that sits in the White House. It's the evil that hides in plain sight.
     
    Last edited: Sep 8, 2018
  17. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    Not evil; selfish.

    Selfishness is a tried and tested survival strategy. Likewise, excessive altruism can be detrimental.

    Game theory shows that, generally, the best strategy is a balance of cooperation and selfishness - albeit leaning more toward - but not all the way to - cooperation.
     
  18. Jeeves Valued Senior Member

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    Yes, that is, a little bit evil: there is intent to hurt your feelings.
    Again, you have motives, actions and results, and each one can be placed on a scale for case-by-case judgment.

    Not even eligible to compete in the same arena!
    What you were talking about above is childish spite that can cause one person a few minutes' emotional discomfort.
    World politics cause millions of people lifelong hardship and sorrow, grievous injury and death.
     
  19. akoreamerican Registered Senior Member

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    Same sort as in cowardly and hiding, not in quantity
     
  20. Jeeves Valued Senior Member

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    Neither is either.
    The elevator guy closed the door in your face, making no effort to pretend he didn't see you.
    The other one is aggressively out in the open, strutting on stages from Montana to Singapore.
     
  21. akoreamerican Registered Senior Member

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    Hiding, as in you cannot tell if it was intentional or not.

    We've all done something like this atleast once in our life, but when someone like trump hones this sort of behavior as their main MO, I can't help but say they are evil.
     
    Last edited: Sep 8, 2018
  22. akoreamerican Registered Senior Member

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    Im sorry, I might have gone a little overboard in calling trump evil. I would rather not say someone is evil, but rather say that they are doing evil.
     
  23. Jeeves Valued Senior Member

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    Okay.
    Everyone has some evil. Everyone does some evil.
    If you think someone is doing substantially more harm than good, on purpose, to serve their own ends at the expense of others, you may consider them evil.
    If you think someone is doing more harm than good because they don't know any better, you may consider them deluded.
    If you think someone is doing more harm than good because they're afraid to disobey an evil master, you may consider them cowardly.
    If you think someone is being forced to do more harm than good by another person, or by a brain disease, you may consider them unfortunate.
    You wouldn't be the first to call trump evil, but you may also consider the other options.
     

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