What is evil?

Yes, but you're talking about their apathy and their dehumanization as "the greater evils." I pointed out that there are plenty of apathetic, dehumanizing people who don't do any harm and therefore couldn't be considered evil, much less a greater evil.

Yes, it does, but that's not the same as doing evil and certainly not a greater evil than the conscious doing of harm. Apathy can be manipulated for good or evil purposes in largely equal measure. All that means is that you have a malleable population who can be driven by the will of the instigator.

It depends on the circumstances. A mother who stays silent about her husband abusing his daughter would certainly be evil, but a woman who sees a guy being mugged at gunpoint isn't doing evil if she's too scared to intervene. Certainly the German people under Hitler were doing evil things, but few think they would have done so without him. They have responsibility for their actions, but at the same time, the evil originated from one man's conscious decision to do harm and his enjoyment of that action.


As I said, I think it's a nice idea that apathy and selfishness are terribly wrong, it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense when you actually bother to think about it.

 

There was a book I read back in college, I think it was called "Order Police 101" or something like that. Anyhow, it talked about a group of men organized to gather-up the Jews in Poland, and then kill them (later it became killing some and shipping others off to the camps). The catch was that these men were from Hamburgh, one of the most anti-Nazi areas of Germany. Further, all the blood thirsty men in the city had already enlisted for the front lines. These were older men who were professionals and intellectuals. The book tells the story how under the logic of "we must follow orders" these men became cold blooded killers. The book shows the shocking power of pressure to conform and also the tendecy to past moral responsibility on to others whenever given the chance.

 

It depends upon your ethical/religious context. I suspect a large section of the American population would agree with your assertion above. However if you were to reframe that question (are they evil because of their apathy and selfishness) within the ethical context of the Christian New Testament, then the answer would be yes they are evil. For example, Jesus speaks of the greatest two comandments as love of God and love of neighbor (Luke 22:34-40). Of course the counter may be, "well I don't hate my neighbor, so I'm not that bad." But there is the statement in Matthew 25:31-46, where persons are condemned not because of acts they did towards others (specifically the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, and prisoner) but what they failed to do towards others. Because they did not engage in acts of compassion towards 'the least of these' then they are condemned to eternal punishment.

This can be a valid definition. But I see no indication that it is much more 'logical' than or less 'emotional' than BigVito's definition of evil.

 

Japanese soldiers during WWII


Now theres evil

 

That was AWESOME. I am going to steal that one (would THAT be evil?)

 

What is Evil? How about a Deluxe DVD Edition of BEST DEFENSE !!!!!!

 

I think most people know the answer to the question what is evil. The debate is when you start trying to define where the borders of evil lie. The nazi holocaust was evil, cutting off someone's head slowly and then sending a video for their family to see is evil, intentionally harming an innocent person without reason or provocation is certainly evil.

The problem comes in when you are on the edges. Is it evil to torture a terrorist if it will save lives? Is it evil to kill a baby two days before it would have been born or is it not evil until after the baby leaves the womb?

I think most often those who do not want to admit to the existence or evil or who do not want to define it in any way are mostly fearful of someone condemning them for some behaviour they engage in or someone forcing moral absolutes upon them. Kind of "throwing the baby out with the bath water" in my opinion.

 

I firmly believe that "evil" exists. I see some form of it every day, including on TBR as a whole.

 

what is evil?

running queens to a made 2 pair Kings over 4's.

bloody evil.

Oops, wrong forum. Carry on.