Quote:
Originally Posted by RoundGuy
Epistemology is a fascinating study: [it] distinguishes justified belief from opinion.
So let's go back to "evil", again. Is one's concept of evil a justified belief, or just an opinion?
One could postulate that the hoarding of toilet paper, when others are in need, is evil. But is it? In reality? Is it justified to believe hoarding toilet paper is evil? Definitely depends on one's circumstances, doesn't it?
Perhaps one is simply protecting themselves, and their family, from the unknown. How does one decide what is real, unknown, or just plain stupid?
Btw, Mrs. RoundGuy and I are running out of toilet paper. so I've given this a bit of thought.
I recommend a book called "Evil," by Lance Morrow. It is a bunch of essays on evil that each come at it indirectly, which I at first didn't like, but it has a lot good to say. I generally prefer much more just straight definitions instead of rambling subjective discourse.
My take on evil is along these lines: it's kind of a misnomer, with other terms being more useful and descriptive and insightful. If evil doesn't mean "from the devil" or "from a demon" ... exactly what does it mean? See it has a religious basis. If one defines it as "extremely immoral," okay, that is meaningful in reality, very meaningful, but there are still terms that are way more illuminating.
For instance, ultimate example probably: Hitler. To understand and describe his behavior, which is important, the terms "dehumanized" and "destructive" and even "hateful," are much more accurate and meaningful and illuminative than "evil." The man is dehumanized, how did that happen?, he is destructive as hell (opposite of constructive, obv), he is full of hatred and vengeance (opposite of love and caring and empathy). These are very important distinctions being drawn as opposed to labeling it "evil" and stopping there.
I once showed a homicide detective my paper on this. She kept saying the sociopathic murderers were just pure evil. Well, true if evil means "extremely immoral," which it does. But stopping there actually describes nothing about the behavior psychologically. And that matters.
Of course hoarding toilet paper isn't evil and there is a fuzzy line between stocking and hoarding. Still it doesn't rise to "extremely immoral," or my terms destructive, dehumanized, hateful. More like selfish. Not evil. And of course there are gray areas of selfishness. The guy with 17,000 bottles of sanitizer, that's hoarding and immoral and predatory maybe even.