Thread: Innately Evil

I chose no for a few reasons. I think evil is, in itself, a human label. I don't think that there is anything that is objectively evil, and we are simply what we are. The things that we do that can be labelled as "evil" are only "evil" because of how we've come to define the word.

Also, humans are simply byproducts of their environments. A person that is born into a (subjectively) "good" environment is most likely to be a "good" person - to the point were even the thought of doing anything evil is so far beyond the person's scope of reasoning as to render the act itself impossible, without the proper motivation (which is, again, a factor of his/her environment).

I don't think we are born either way.

Originally Posted by Oneironaut

I chose no for a few reasons. I think evil is, in itself, a human label. I don't think that there is anything that is objectively evil, and we are simply what we are. The things that we do that can be labelled as "evil" are only "evil" because of how we've come to define the word.

My thoughts exactly. Evil is what you make of it.

Humans aren't innately evil -
they're innately misguided.

It's interesting how close the poll is so far. Still not sure who I agree with, but I think i'm leaning towards a "No" note. I think Alban summed it up well.

The idea of humans being innately evil is incredibly misguided.

You are combining two of the biggest philosophical problems here:

1. What is human nature?
2. What is right and wrong?

So it's really no wonder that you get extremely mixed views. My view in short is that human nature is inherently nice, compassionate and cooperative (result of evolution) and things such as selfishness are NOT evil but good (also the result of evolution). Since I believe that evolution is not inherently evil, but inherently awesome, I also conclude that humans are inherently awesome, since they're the best evolution has come up with so far.

P.S. Nice Guys Finish First (doesn't hold true for dating though)

If you define evil as "willing to hurt innocent others for selfish reasons", then I would say that all people have evil in them on some level, some more than others. I also think we are probably all born evil and that it is up to upbringing and other environmental factors to steer us away from our natural evil tendencies. If you drop a baby off in the deep wilderness and do absolutely nothing to raise him/her except to give the baby food and water until the baby is able to get food and water on its own, the baby is going to grow up to be one evil menace. If a human is not taught to be good, he/she will be evil. However, a person does not have to be taught to be evil. A person's initial nature that will remain unless molded away from it is, "I want that! I must get it! Me me me!"

Originally Posted by Korittke

2. What is right and wrong?

Originally Posted by Grod

I think that humans are innately evil, in the rational sense of the word.

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Originally Posted by Oneironaut

I chose no for a few reasons. I think evil is, in itself, a human label. I don't think that there is anything that is objectively evil, and we are simply what we are. The things that we do that can be labelled as "evil" are only "evil" because of how we've come to define the word.

Also, humans are simply byproducts of their environments. A person that is born into a (subjectively) "good" environment is most likely to be a "good" person - to the point were even the thought of doing anything evil is so far beyond the person's scope of reasoning as to render the act itself impossible, without the proper motivation (which is, again, a factor of his/her environment).

I don't think we are born either way.

Very good points. My view is similar.

There are no inherantly good or bad people. We judge a person's goodness and wickedness by their actions, which are decided on by our mental states which are in turn decided by our situations (and some wider infulences). The situations we are in create our actions, which will be the best actions to do in that situation.

Everyone, every single one of us has done and will do good and bad things in their lives. In any situation, we are affected by different levels of desperation (brought on by duress and necessity) and clearness of mind (as well as many, more minor, other factors), and other wider factors such as moral code, upbringing etc. In some situations, the best way to deal with things would be to act in a way that is deemed good. In others, the best or only way to deal with a situation is in a way that is deemed bad.

We don't do bad things because we are inherantly bad - "bad" actions are simply drawn out from us, sometimes willingly and sometmes unwillingly by the situation we're in. Good and bad are labels we've created to build up a happy little naive world of good guys and bad guys and disgiuse the fact that, no matter how "evil" an action is, under extreme circumstances anyone would do it.