Quote:
Originally posted by dig420@May 4 2003, 05:51 AM
can you say that Nazi's are evil? Or would that be painting with too broad a brush for your taste?
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Just a few days ago and in this thread I said "I don't believe in evil". The construct "evil" doesn't help me to understand the world any better.
An American might think Osama bin Laden is evil while a wahhabist might think he is the embodiment of good. One person may think America is good and another may think it is "The Great Satan". If evil exists only in reference to one's personal belief system, it's relative. Some people in the world think I am evil because I'm a pornographer but I'd have to disagree with them. [Sykkboy would take the opposite approach but that's him].
Other than taking a rather solipstic view of the world there doesn't seem to me to be a way for the concept of evil to add to my understanding of the world. Since it doesn't mean anything to me, that is why I was asking you what YOU meant by it. I'm interested in what you have to say but I don't know what you mean when you say it. I'm just trying to understand what you are saying.
To one person the word "evil" means in a moral sense. It may clash with their religious beliefs for example. Maybe it clashes with their chosen ethical belief system. They might just mean something completely innocuous. I don't think it would be preposterous to think that Dig and Pat Robertson mean something different when they use the word "evil". In fact, you might completely agree.