Are Humans Innately Evil?

[manbearpigg]

Are Humans Inherently Evil?

To answer this question please answer the following four questions bellow:

1) is greed considered evil? (can greed or the attribute of greediness be classified as an evil thing? (bad. wrong, harmful to others)

2) Are humans naturally greedy?

3) Are humans evil then?

4) if so, why do we deserve to speak on morality? why must we be moral to "evil" beings?

[manbearpigg]

1) is greed considered evil? (can greed or the attribute of greediness be classified as an evil thing? (bad. wrong, harmful to others)

i believe that "greed" in its purest form is evil since it justifies oneself to cause harm or take from another.

2) Are humans naturally greedy?

yes, i have no doubt about this

3) Are humans evil then?

by the transitive property yes?

4) if so, why do we deserve to speak on morality? why must we be moral to "evil" beings?

i guess we don't, and the whole arbitrary concept of morality is man made and bull****.

if i rid of an evil thing it should be considered good, yet i can't rid of an evil person because they have rights.

[Drayno]

Are Humans Inherently Evil?

To answer this question please answer the following four questions bellow:

1) is greed considered evil? (can greed or the attribute of greediness be classified as an evil thing? (bad. wrong, harmful to others)

2) Are humans naturally greedy?

3) Are humans evil then?

4) if so, why do we deserve to speak on morality? why must we be moral to "evil" beings?

1) The wanting of things is natural. Greed is to want things in excess; and not just somethings, all things.

2) Humans have survived for thousands of years because we are resourceful. We survived with barely anything other than imagination and crude tools - including surviving through an Ice Age. Even when society had developed beyond the Bronze Age, past the Hellenic civilizations - beyond Classical Greece into the beginning of the dark ages - even when the Plague ravaged Europe humans still survived. I think humans want to have enough to be comfortable; I don't think humans are all extremely greedy. I believe greed is a natural apart of the human condition - it appears alongside jealousy and many other aspects of the human condition. It's to be expected with sentient beings capable of self-awareness.

3) It depends on your definition of 'evil'. Some could be called evil for not believing in God, and instead of believing basic Judeo-Christian values, replacing these tenets with belief systems they themselves cultivate. If you deny God and create your own values, I do not believe that makes you inherently 'evil' in any way. If you were to negate those values and murder or rape without empathy - I would describe that as something closer to true 'evil'.

4) Again, morality is a very loose concept. Like most things we assign value to morality. Like currency, if we didn't believe in morality it would be a null concept. The purpose morals serve is to keep social groups intact; society is just one large caste system based around various interacting social groups with their own belief systems rooted in differing cultures. The main purpose of morality, in my opinion, is to counter-balance the philosophical concept of Nihilism. Like I stated above, if you negate all values and decide to act without empathy, you wouldn't be necessarily 'evil', because like morality, it is a man-made term and a man-made concept. However, humans define 'evil' as following a certain path of logic, or a certain rationale - or a lack thereof. It all really depends on perspective.

Edited August 29, 2013 by Hatake Kakashi

[lightly]

I think we are afraid and Greed is a symptom of our egos. We can't help it, being self aware and all. We are like children starved for attention .. we crave Love and adoration and respect/fear/envy to reinforce our self images?

We are comforted by possessions and wealth/power for the ego boost and we get a sense of security by possessing things .. they are of a more tangible and comfortingly permanent nature than our hopes and fears and imaginings ?

Evil or insane?.. judging by some of the desperate and ruthless measures some are willing to undertake to achieve an outwardly or inwardly perceived state of superiority

[MacsMom]

Even taking greed out of the equation, which I don't think is "evil", I do think humans ARE inherently evil. I think it is our natural instinct to do what is right for the individual and we will do whatever is necessary for our preservation and pleasure. We know right from wrong but are too selfish and narcissistic to care, for the most part.

Edited August 30, 2013 by MacsMom