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I know that things aren't quite so black and white, and that we've all got a fair amount of good and evil within us. However, I'm wondering if you think the average person has more good or evil in them. Personally, I think the average person has more good within them. I know I do.
| Evil | 68 | |
| Good | 61 |
Good and evil does not exist. At a fundamental level, there is really no good and evil in the universe. Everything just is. It is perception that frames reality. Good and evil is based on perception. Therefore the perception of good and evil depends on the one perceiving it. If you perceive something as good, then to you it is good. If you perceive something as evil, then to you it is evil
All you've basically said is that good and evil are subjective. Well, duh, of course they are. Doesn't mean they don't exist though.
Besides, the vast majority of people would certainly agree on CERTAIN things to be wrong, making it virtually objective.
I believe that it only us that make something bad. Think about this in our society it is evil to kill and eat someone but then think of the cultures in the past they did this and it was normal and accepted as a good thing for the people. Now lets think of something good now that would be horrible in the past gay marriage for example (I have nothing against gay people this is just a example) back in the day you would be tortured and killed for this now it is not "evil" or "bad".
Nothing is evil nothing is good it is we that have invented these concepts.
Certain moral values may indeed be fluid alright, but aren't certain things INHERENTLY right or wrong?
I mean, can you tell me when or where it was ever OK to, say, brutally torture a baby to death for fun? I don't think such a timeframe/culture ever existed and even if it did, I still think they were blatantly in the wrong.
I totally agree. Good&evil are mostly religious constructs. Other than that people act in their self-interest.
People have too many wide-ranging experiences to be summed up with one absolute.
But if it's human nature, my answer would be that most people are motivated by self-interest alone.
I think most people are inherently good and have empathy and compassion for their fellow man. However, there are definitely a number of people out there due to a combination of nature and nurture who are just plain evil and psychotic. Thankfully, only like 1% of the population is this twisted and sick.
Woah!! 50/50 spilt as of right now! How interesting...
From my experience i think people generally ¤ want ¤ to be good...and that's good enough for me.
I can't think of one person I could heartedly consider evil. Except maybe Ne'er do Well, but i think that's just for show. We all know you have love in your heart!
No such thing as good/evil. People act, others judge, so it's all made up by people to control people.
Do you think a lion goes "oh I better not kill that animal because that's evil", no it doesn't.
Like "god", both "evil" and "good" are man made concepts used to maintain order and control.
So the idea that either of these things exist within people is retarded, if you disagree, you are also retarded.
"No such thing as good/evil. People act, others judge, so it's all made up by people to control people."
If you deny the existence of good and evil, you have no recourse if someone were to harm you.
"Do you think a lion goes "oh I better not kill that animal because that's evil", no it doesn't."
No, of course not, but I'd like to think that humans are a bit more advanced than lions.
"Like "god", both "evil" and "good" are man made concepts used to maintain order and control."
Maybe good and evil are indeed man-made concepts, but that doesn't automatically make them worthless. They were made for a reason then. Besides, shouldn't there be order and control? Most people (myself included) would think that's desirable.
"So the idea that either of these things exist within people is retarded, if you disagree, you are also retarded."
Very mature of you.
"If you deny the existence of good and evil, you have no recourse if someone were to harm you."
That's so dumb, you can do anything; it's called free will.
"Maybe good and evil are indeed man-made concepts, but that doesn't automatically make them worthless. They were made for a reason then. Besides, shouldn't there be order and control?"
I never said they were worthless, I said what they were used for and that they were made up. You agree with me but think you're making a seperate point lol.
So what's the point you're trying to make foolish one?
"That's so dumb, you can do anything; it's called free will."
Sorry. What I actually meant to say was: If you deny the existence of good and evil, you have no JUSTIFIED recourse if someone were to harm you.
"So what's the point you're trying to make foolish one?"
You didn't address two of my other statements. Perhaps there were points in those. One of them was BTW that it's pretty immature to categorize those who disagree with you as "retarded". This time you call me "foolish one". Again, very mature of you. I also don't understand why you're being so disrespectful. I've only said it was "very mature" of you, after you STARTED by calling me retarded.
Yes you have no justification, but most will act upon instinct without subjective thought towards "how evil" the anyway. So it's not important, I do bad things for no reason to good people all the time. You only need justification IF you believe in "evil" in the first place.
The lion statement only proves further my point. If people consider themselves more advanced it shows the concept of "good and evil" to be even more isolated, more "made up", more irrelevant in the world and in living life. It shows it to be a human invention that has no real importance to anything besides the people who believe in it. It's also subjective, like morals, so little truth lies under it.
Again, as I often do, I'm drifting into a kind of moral relativism. Because I think along "relativist" lines, it's unlikely we would ever see eye to eye on this. It's often met with anger and confusion by the "straight laced" mentality.
"Because I think along "relativist" lines, it's unlikely we would ever see eye to eye on this."
Yes, I think that is the very core of our little discussion. I believe certain moral values to be absolute. Why? After all, most moral values ARE indeed relative. Well, because there are ends to the spectrum of good and evil too. There ARE thus absolute values. A statement like "I do bad things for no reason to good people all the time" is therefore revolting to me.
Also, I cannot think of a time or a culture in which it was NOT wrong to brutally torture your own baby to death for sheer fun, for example. Can you? To my knowledge, that was and is wrong ALWAYS.
I do admit you have confused me sometimes. You are absolutely a very bright individual (or is that relative too, LOL?) Anyway, I suspect the confusion you no doubt instill in others too, is what triggers their anger. I won't get angry with you over that though, because being confused by someone is a silly reason to be angry with them I think. I dislike confusion VERY, VERY much, but I don't think certain topics should therefore be avoided. I also think EVERYONE (even you) is confused from time to time. It's unavoidable.
I think you'd do well to remember English isn't my first language (hell, it's not even my second), so don't blame me if I'm a bit unclear sometimes.
PS: You've said that we are ALL equally worthless in another thread. I vehemently disagree. A baby, for instance, is certainly NOT worthless (I can't believe this is ACTUALLY unclear). If you disagree, you're just plain evil. It's just THAT simple.
Can you, for example, name a time or a culture in which is was NOT wrong to brutally torture your own baby to death for sheer fun? I certainly can't. That's was and is wrong ALWAYS. I think SOME (perhaps not all) moral values are absolute.
Anyway, I don't believe that you honestly believe all you've said.
Moral relativism, we've been over this in that other thread. You either believe it, or it seems crazy.
I can't help you to understand it any further, some think that way and others don't.
You can't see a "moral relativist" point of view, because you aren't one. It's not simple, it's not easy, and it's rare as far as systems of perception go.
On a funny note about my kind.
http://philosophy.tamucc.edu/story/friday-funny-theres-moral-relativist-under-my-bed
Almost everyone is evil. There is only a very small minority of good people (like about 0.5%)
What is evil, and what is good? What qualifies can vary from culture to culture. If evil is caring only about yourself and good is caring for others as well as yourself, I think people are born evil and learn to be good. Some are naturally more inclined towards learning how to be good, and how the person is raised plays a large part as well. Right now, I think most adults lean towards being good.
My friend and I had a very interesting talk, I said evil, while she said neutral. After the conversation, I'd like to say that humans are neutral.
it is equal on both sides, what side you choose to follow is your choice, and yours alone
I think people are more evil than good. However you hardly hear of anything good unless it is something big. I blame the media.
I think we're a mix of it. Where you guys see black & white I see one hundred shades of gray... (no jokes about that ridiculous book, please)
I think good comes within and the evil is learnt throughout life. I know I never used lie when I was little. :3