Philosophical question of the day...Are there EVIL people in the world?

[serryjw]

or desperate people responding to others greed and selfishness. I posted the latest edition of my RW rabid's cousins email, that few answered last night( go here)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2208699

BUT he made the statement we have to live in a real world filled with evil people bent on killing as many and whomever necessary to impose their will and achieve their goals

IF we really shared our natural and made made world wide resources, can we stop evil?, war?,famine? or is horror part of the human condition to impose will on others

[hyphenate]

1. There will always be someone

who will attempt and succeed in profiting off other peoples' misery. I would call that evil, but some, mainly pukes, would call that business.

[Berry Cool]

2. I do believe there is pure evil in the world

but not everything we call "evil" is pure evil. Sometimes it's ignorance. Sometimes it's just people terrified that they have no alternatives other than "kill or be killed." In that sense, there are things we can do to help reduce fear, anxiety and other things that cause people to act cruelly to others in order to get what they think they can get no other way.

But yes, I think there is pure evil. People who take actual pleasure in making others suffer, not because they feel that causing others pain is the only way they can survive, but because they actually take joy in having the power to hurt and to make others afraid. Not just because it is the only way they can feel powerful in their world, but because they just plain like it, and they lack all empathy with their victims. Oftentimes, there are plenty of other ways for them to get what they want or need in the world, but they deliberately choose the means that hurt others because they enjoy it. Or they create pain not to achieve an end, but just for something fun to do.

Of course, we have a name for them: sociopaths.

[acmavm]

8. I agree completely with you and poster #3. There is most definitely

evil, pure evil, in this world. And I do think those that qualify as pure evil do rise to the top of the heap, whatever their particular heap is. The Hitlers, the Amins, the Maos, the bush**es. I include the bush family because there is absolutely no evidence that they've ever done any good in this world and plenty of overwhelming evidence that they've done bad. But they're rank amatuers next to Cheney and Rumsfeld.

[Cleita]

3. Yes, but they are in the minority.

I think this is why they get to positions of power, because they are unscrupulous in their words and actions. Most people who aren't unscrupulous in their words and actions expect that others will be the same and usually that is the case. However, with crooks and liars any means justifies the ends. By the time the honest and just person realizes he's been had, it's often too late.

[ClassWarrior]

4. Yes. It's otherwise called authoritarianism. Read John Dean's...

..."Conservatives Without Conscience." Powerful.

NGU.

[benny05]

5. Yes there are bad people

and some more bad than others.

Our current president is more bad than others.

[Teaser]

6. not enough.

But I just had a kid so hopefully there's one more.

[Kip Humphrey]

7. Yup: Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, etc., etc., etc...

[GreenEyedLefty]

9. Maybe a few evil folks...

I think there are a few people that the majority of others would objectively say are evil. But just a few. Sometimes, it depends on who you ask. The suggestion that our world is "filled with evil people bent on killing..." is a bit paranoid, and is a rather dim world view. I'm not a Bible-y person by any means, but I do agree with the good book that the root of all evil is the love of money. And evil doesn't just take the form of killing. Since our government is more or less run by corporate special interests, it seems we can find no end to the justifications for war, the ruination of our climate and environment, the outsourcing of jobs, etc.

[serryjw]

10. Can we separate our evil actions from

evil people. I think Hitler was evil and doubt if there was anything that would have stopped him from his actions. I see Timothy McVeigh as evil action. ...don't think he was an evil person just chose to do an evil thing ( lets leave the CIA out of this conversation)to make a statement.

[Hosnon]

11. No. I do not believe absolute evil (or good) exists apart from the

Devil (or God)...if even they exist.

[LostInAnomie]

12. Nope, just people we perceive as evil.

"Evil" is a subjective word which reflects the viewpoint of the person that uses it. Usually this viewpoint is a reflection of the person's societal values. Since different societies have different values they also have different perceptions of evil. A fundamentalist christian perceives atheism as evil by the fact that, in their view, it leads people away from God. Are atheists evil? Of course not.

Taken to an extreme we can look at Hitler, Stalin, or Bin Laden. To most of us in the US we could not think of a more "evil" trio. But are they really evil? Nope. We view them as evil because they personify the antithesis of our societal values. To their followers though they were seen as people struggling for what is right. They were fighting against the evil jews, capitalists, Americans respectively.

[serryjw]

14. That is my OP point

I do see Hitler an Stalin as evil. I see no point to their aggressions except to conquest. Reagan say OBL as a freedom fighter, when it was convenient to our geopolitical objectives. NOW, because he wants something that we don't agree with, he is NOW the enemy.

[cynatnite]

13. Evil is a label

Some intentions are evil such as murder, stealing and so on. But the people who perform those acts I don't perceive as being evil. As with any human being on this planet, they are just as complex as anyone else with no two being the same.

To me, the word is a label applied to those who do acts of evil...but I don't consider people evil. Some are sick, greedy, lazy, bored and so on where what they do is evil...but they're not.

I'm not sure if I did a good job explaining my POV.

[DoYouEverWonder]

15. The gnostics have an interesting POV on this subject

They divide humanity into three types. Their description of the Hylic sounds just like today's Bushbots.

According to Valentinus, the Human Race is divided into three Races corresponding to the three sons of Adam: the Hylic, corresponding to Cain; the Psychic, corresponding to Abel; and the Pneumatic, corresponding to Seth. <…> The Pneumatic individual possesses the Sperma Pneumatikon, the Seed of Spirit , and the Knowledge of the Plêrôma. The Pneumatic is destined for salvation from the final destruction of the manifested Universe, regardless of his or her behavior. The Hylic dwells in the utter darkness of materialistic ignorance, and is destined for destruction. The Hylic is entirely composed of illusory, transitory matter, and will vanish along with all the other illusions at the restoration of the Plêrôma. The Psychic is situated half way between the Pneumatic and the Hylic, and possesses free will. Salvation for the Psychic is a matter of choice, of right aspiration, and of faith.

http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2005/04/27/the-gnostic-x-men/