Is evil a product of free will? Where does it come from?

Discussion in 'Philosophy' started by what_ever, Sep 28, 2004.

  1. If no one was shown an example of evilness to build off of, would we have a world full og naturally good people. Or is evil, because of free will, hardwired into humanity? (i.e. Adam & Eve.)

    Is it unavoidable? It seems so weird that people wouldnt instantly know guilt, and by using that guilt be able to distnguish what is bad and good. What if the lines weren't as clear?
     
  2. Umm...I think you should specify "evil". There are many forms of evil. Kids can be quite cruel but I would call it ignorance and lack of moral standards.

    I don't think if a group grew up with no information on evil, they could still develop into evil people due to factors as power, ignorance, envy, creativity, selfishness, etc.

    As for the guilt thing...well...look at yourself. If you did something wrong...why do you feel guilty? Because you have learned from experience that you might hurt another person, just the way someone might have hurt you. Guilt is learned, it is not a natural feeling. A kid doesn't feel guilty for doing wrong until it's been told what's wrong and right.
     
  3. Yes, i think 'evil' is a product of will power. I think it comes from humans either wanting, power over people, power in general and money.

    Let's take someone being hateful towards someone else.. if they fight them.. they want to show that person that they're better and have power over them, it can be a physical fight or an emotinal one with words. So almost all 'evil' conflicts between people is for that reason.

    Wars are because a nation wants more power.

    And finally money... people will do evil things for money, stealing, killing etc. And when we talk about abuse.. thats just a person wanting control and power over that other person imo.

    But one thing is that whenever someone does something.. they think its right. But the subconscience might kick in and thats when people feel guilt.
     

  4. Do you think the subconscience is responsible for guilt? I don't. I think it's conscience. Although guilt is an emotion and those are usually found in our subconscience. But still...you must have had some conscious experiences or thoughts to be able to feel guilt at all.
     
  5. "whenever someone does something.. they think it's right"

    NO WAY.

    say when you cross a redlight because you can clearly see there are no cars comming either way, do you think what you're doing is right?
    I don't think so.
    I think people think in this case they have the necessary authority to give themselves the right to cross.. whether it's right or wrong is another issue.

    ++

    Every society has a definition of evil. may it be plane out or deeply rooted in rituals, way of life, or whatever, So I would'nt maybe say it's hardwired, but it /is/ there.
     

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