[RJ Powell]

Hey i like your style^

watch the video i posted, it will fill your heart with even more hate.

Kthxbai

[David Koresh]

Originally Posted by Revolution

Well, I don't have a "theory." That's why I started this thread. I would say those with severe head trauma may -- may -- be incapable of "evil." I just don't know.
But that's why I'm asking if "evil" really exists at all. I tend to think it does, but I'm not sure.

The point is that it is impossible to divorce the physical brain from "honest cognition."

[Revolution]

Originally Posted by David Koresh

The point is that it is impossible to divorce the physical brain from "honest cognition."

That's what I'm asking.

[David Koresh]

Originally Posted by Revolution

That's what I'm asking.

It is not possible to separate them. There does not exist an immaterial "morality node" in your head.

[Revolution]

Originally Posted by David Koresh

It is not possible to separate them. There does not exist an immaterial "morality node" in your head.

You may be right, but speculate on this: humans, for whatever reason, seem "hard-wired" to have religious beliefs. (See Patrick Glynny's "God: The Evidence for support for the hard-wiring argument.) I am NOT using this fact to argue for the existence of God; rather, I am using it to theorize that if humans can be hard-wired to believe (rightly or wrongly) in a deity, can they not similarly be hard-wired to follow some sort of internal moral compass?
Just wondering.

[Jerome_1]

I didn't read through all ten pages.

The definition of evil, we are all inately imputed with a sense of morality called a conscience. It is what our criminal justice system is built upon, that it why most laws are prety much universal the World over.

When a person does something wrong they know they are doing something wrong, this isn't true for every moral dilemma and it can have exceptions like the mentally ill, the age of reason etc etc....

If you agree that a person(For the most part) knows the difference between what is right and what is wrong, then evil is a suppression of ones conscience or the good imputed in them.

The best analogy i can think of is that coldness is defined as a lack of heat, evil is defined as a lack of good.

[Jay Pan ROKK]

Yes, we need a consciousness to judge if evil exist or not.

However, if a consciousness is there, evil also is.

[Mithra]

Originally Posted by Jerome_1

I didn't read through all ten pages.

The definition of evil, we are all inately imputed with a sense of morality called a conscience. It is what our criminal justice system is built upon, that it why most laws are prety much universal the World over.

When a person does something wrong they know they are doing something wrong, this isn't true for every moral dilemma and it can have exceptions like the mentally ill, the age of reason etc etc....

If you agree that a person(For the most part) knows the difference between what is right and what is wrong, then evil is a suppression of ones conscience or the good imputed in them.

The best analogy i can think of is that coldness is defined as a lack of heat, evil is defined as a lack of good.

I'd suggest there is a difference between "understanding" something is evil and truly "knowing" it.

Someone who you see as "suppressing their conscience" may "understand" that "X is bad, Y is good" but they wouldn't "know it"...I'd say that those who commit evil acts despite their conscience stopping them do so because they, the individual committing the acts doesn't define the act as evil they simply understand society would deem it evil.

Ultimately good and evil relies on the individual, if you truly deem an act evil you won't commit it whether you are a sociopath or a normal mentally healthy person

Originally Posted by RJ Powell

you guys want evil? watch this and tell me this doesn't constitute evil. This is bad, even for war time.

The Rape of Nanking - Nanjing Massacre -English Language Edition

Now that i think of it, the japanese were fucking brutal in the 20th century. I can see why there is still some lingering tension between Japanese and other asians even to this day.

I sometimes wonder what drives a whole nation of people to be so depraved. Is it nature or nurture?

The fact that good and evil are subjective is evidence that they are simply human constructs.

If you are raised to never kill, no matter what, then the act of swatting a mosquito would be evil

If you are raised to think that there is nothing wrong with swatting an insect, then it would not be evil.

[Jerome_1]

Originally Posted by Mithra

Someone who you see as "suppressing their conscience" may "understand" that "X is bad, Y is good" but they wouldn't "know it"...I'd say that those who commit evil acts despite their conscience stopping them do so because they, the individual committing the acts doesn't define the act as evil they simply understand society would deem it evil.

Ultimately good and evil relies on the individual, if you truly deem an act evil you won't commit it whether you are a sociopath or a normal mentally healthy person

Whether they define it as evil or not is irrelevant, they know it is wrong that is my argument.

The question is who instilled a sense of conscience in each of us? Did we evolve a sense of morality that benefits our chances for survival, or did a creator imput a sense of morality in each of us?

[Mithra]

Originally Posted by Jerome_1

Whether they define it as evil or not is irrelevant, they know it is wrong that is my argument.

The question is who instilled a sense of conscience in each of us? Did we evolve a sense of morality that benefits our chances for survival, or did a creator imput a sense of morality in each of us?

That is my point, they realize that you and I would deem it evil but they don't believe it is wrong themselves.

Thus they don't know it is wrong, they just know society deems it wrong.

I'd suggest morality evolved as a survival tool, that or God just forgot to instill a conscience in sociopaths, psychopaths etc..