themadkat Posted November 27, 2009 Report Share Posted November 27, 2009 One thing that continues to amaze me, and was borne out recently in some books I was reading for research, is how many contradictions the average person holds without giving it a second thought and how their replies to a question can be changed just by asking it differently. Most people just don't have a cohesive philosophy of any kind, period. I for one am not sure what to do about that. What good is it to point out to people that they're holding a contradiction if they just don't care? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Wolf Posted November 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2009 (edited) Not sure who these "simple minded" people are. Do you mean people who are not very strongly in favor of one philosophy or another? It is one thing to think thoughts in a dorm room, and quite another thing to actually take the long series of steps to come to power as a Marxist rules. People like Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Chavez or Castro cannot be called "simple minded" by any non-political measure of their intelligence and wit. Do you consider such people to be evil? Or do they too get excused? A lot of the people that you mentioned were insane, IIRC, which further complicates "evil" Edited November 27, 2009 by Black Wolf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softwareNerd Posted November 27, 2009 Report Share Posted November 27, 2009 A lot of the people that you mentioned were insane, IIRC, which further complicates "evil"Wow! I wonder if there is anyone you would call evil. That's why I asked (in a previous post) whether you think evil is a valid concept. Even though you answered with reference to intent to harm others, you're finding it hard to categorize some of the worst murderers of modern times as being evil, retreating instead into an insanity defense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Wolf Posted November 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2009 Wow! I wonder if there is anyone you would call evil. That's why I asked (in a previous post) whether you think evil is a valid concept. Even though you answered with reference to intent to harm others, you're finding it hard to categorize some of the worst murderers of modern times as being evil, retreating instead into an insanity defense. What they did was evil, and there's no excuse for it. It's hard for me to say that they're evil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zip Posted November 27, 2009 Report Share Posted November 27, 2009 What they did was evil, and there's no excuse for it. It's hard for me to say that they're evil. Can you back up your insanity claims? I'm unaware of megalomania being categorized as insanity, and not one of the articles on any of those men in Wikipedia even mentions the words insane or insanity. You are evading. Judge and be prepared to be judged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake_Ellison Posted November 27, 2009 Report Share Posted November 27, 2009 What they did was evil, and there's no excuse for it. It's hard for me to say that they're evil. You said evil was the desire to harm someone. You don't think Hitler and Stalin consciously decided to harm others? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SapereAude Posted November 27, 2009 Report Share Posted November 27, 2009 What they did was evil, and there's no excuse for it. It's hard for me to say that they're evil. I am not trying to be snide or glib here Black Wolf, but may I ask if this thinking may be part of some residual Judeo-Christian religiousness on your part? It seems very "love the sinner, hate the sin". We are the sum of the products of our thoughts and actions. Evil thoughts produce an evil philosophy, an evil philosophy produces evil deeds. If a man's thoughts, words, and deeds are evil how can it be said that the man himself is not evil? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ex_banana-eater Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 The wealthier and knowledgeable the people around you, the better off you will be. Our lives are sustained by values, not negatives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dollardoctrinaire Posted December 2, 2009 Report Share Posted December 2, 2009 One of my favorite comics on this topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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