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I just got it back today. I was high as shit on blueberry when I wrote it, but it was on The Nature of Evil, so I tore that shit up. such a cool subject. but yea, i got a friggen 98 on a paper worth 40% of my grade. put that in your pipe and smoke it boi!
dude...can you post a copy or just a general outline? i wanna READ THAT SHIT!!! lol
{fuckin blazed}
Good job!
ok, it is kinda long, but if you wanna read it, here it is...
Dirty Deeds, Done Dirt Cheap
Lord Voldemort, Darth Vader, Saruman, even Satan. All easily labeled evil, and dismissed as innately bad guys who are just out to ruin the day, right? Or are they simply frightened and looking for an answer? Are they seeking a solution to their problems, looking for a way out? According to Anicius Boethius, evil is a parasite upon goodness, and that means goodness is prior to evil, because evil cannot exist on its own (Harry Potter and Phil. Pg 149). This means that no matter how evil a person is, they do not choose evil for the sake of evil, evil is simply a parasite upon the good the person desires. No one wakes up, tents his fingers and plots to destroy the earth that day. Evil is simply choosing a lesser good over a greater good.
Humans are unique in their ability to choose the greater good over the lesser, or personal good. Now many believe that the greatest good is true happiness. Evil could be considered pursuing that goal, but through the wrong path. Happiness by its nature is good, and attempting to reach that goal through evil acts cannot work. An example would be a bully. This person is usually insecure or weak, and as a result seeks a solution to their problem. The act of bullying to intimidate others would be an example of pursuing a goal along the wrong path. The person seeks to not be controlled, by controlling others. This normally results in a generally unhappy person, because they are attempting to reach a good goal through evil means.
Now it can be argued that the ability to distinguish good and evil is a defining human characteristic, but what happens when a person chooses evil acts?
??An Individual??s choice for good or a choice for evil shapes this person and brings lasting consequences for oneself and for others (Harry Potter and Phil pg 146)?.
If a person no longer has one of the human characteristics, should they still have the same status as a fully functioning human? By abandoning the human nature of being able to recognize good and evil, and choosing evil, a person looses their humanity, and their status as a fully functioning human. A fully functioning person has the ability to recognize good and evil, and choose the good, the true path to happiness.
??All men, according to Mencius (c.371-c.289 B.C), have a mind which cannot bear to see the suffering of others. For example, if you suddenly see a child about to fall into a well, your first reaction is to save him. You don't do this for the sake of befriending the child's parent or to gain praise from the public; you do it out of your original good nature. According to Lau: because we are caught off our guard, the case is therefore a true manifestation of our original human nature?(the-philosopher.com.uk).
When a person deviates from the path of good, they lose their natural goal of happiness, because happiness can only be obtained by good actions. They are in essence ??broken?, because it is human nature to do the right things, and to love the right things, the same as all other normal humans, and to do otherwise shows they are not functioning as a normal person would. If a person can no longer tell the difference between good acts and evil acts, then that would make them even less of a person, because they are abandoning one of the main things that makes them human, by choosing evil acts over the greater good acts. By dividing themselves like this, evil people can never be truly happy.
But how can you know happiness without knowing suffering? This seems to be an argument in favor of evil. Evil is needed, because you can??t be courageous without danger. You can??t be self sacrificing if you don??t suffer. The values we hold highest are only possible because of the obstacles we must overcome (Philosophy pg 88). Besides, who is to say that evil is wrong when suffering is so prevalent in nature. Nature herself is violent and bloody, why should we veer from that path? Human inflicted suffering can be dismissed as free will??s negative side effects, but what about the innate suffering brought on by nature? How can the universe be so cold and callous? The question becomes especially pointed when you bring God into the equation. Evil is one of the most commonly used arguments for the absence of God. The fact that evil exists goes against the very idea of what most consider ??God?. Not counting free will created suffering, if God is Omniscient, Omni benevolent, and Omnipotent then he should not allow any other suffering, and since natural suffering occurs, God must not exist (Philosophy pg 83)
So evil is a parasite, it tries to disprove God, and is generally bad to everyone it comes in contact with. Why then would anyone choose this path? In The Lord of the Rings, Saruman abandons the side of Good to join Evil. He does this because he becomes disheartened and cynical, eventually loosing his grasp on what is wrong and right. This is a perfect example of a broken person. He has lost his ability to distinguish good and evil, so he is no longer fully ??human? in terms of his moral development. You can also see similar development with Darth Vader in Star Wars. It is the story of a good person that, in a search for power, becomes morally lost and strays into the territory of ??Evil?. In both cases their evil is represented by a negative physical change in their appearance, in a sense marking them as less than human because of their choices. Saruman??s change is not him personally, but the orc creatures he breeds that represent the ugliness now in his heart, while Vader??s change is his crippling injuries that force him into his infamous suit. It maybe is a tad simplistic, but as the physical change mirrors their moral change, they become less then human based on their choices, and it is reflected in their appearance.
Unfortunately in real life there are not always physical markings of evil, so it is hard to judge people just by looking at them. The reason most evil people in movies or books are physically marked is to give the viewer a clue as to the characters intentions since there usually is a need to reinforce the notion of an evil person, because movie-goers sometimes need it spelled out. But are evil people as easily identified in real life? The way an evil person is identified is through their acts, because their acts do not coincide with those of a normal person. The very essence of what evil is, the deviation from normal human ideals and views, is the way that evil acts are judged as evil.
So evil is defined by the evil acts that are a result of the broken moral compass of the person, and that means that the whole concept of evil comes down to the basic way a person acts. By acting evil, a person becomes evil, no matter their intentions. If someone follows a dark and twisted path, it is obviously going to affect him or her. Gollum is another great example from Lord of the Rings. This character started out almost exactly the same as the characters Bilbo and Frodo. He was basically a hobbit, and was basically a good person until he made his first bad decision. He murdered his friend and took the evil ring, and was rewarded with misery and a twisted appearance so foul he disgusts normal people that happen to see him. He is revolting and foul as a direct result of his evil choices. Now it can be argued that the One Ring influenced him, but he is still judged as evil because of the evil acts he commits.
Now while Star Wars and Lord of the Rings are great examples, my personal favorite example would be Lord Voldemort from the Harry Potter series. The characters of Vader, Saruman and Gollum are pretty simplistic, and no real motive besides greed is given for their decisions. Sure Gollum had the ring, Vader had his Wife, and Saruman had Sauron, but there is little time spent on their reasons, just their actions.
In the Harry Potter stories, Voldemort is detailed and described to the point that it is almost understandable how he came to his evil ways. He obviously had issues from a young age, and those issues would shape his decision-making processes. Growing up in poor conditions, feeling lost, having no one to care for him, Voldemort soon became twisted in his views and lost the ability to distinguish good from bad. At such a young age it is not hard to see how he went down that path, but the negative effects are illustrated early on in the stories through the murder of Harry??s parents. We know that this character is twisted, but when you look at the reasoning, it is hard not to pity him as well. He is terrified of death, possible due to the death of his mother after his birth, and the negative results upon his own life as a result. Having friends, and improving the world around him could help him overcome this fear of death and powerlessness, but instead he recruits soldiers and tries to bend the world to suit his unrestrained desire for power and control.
His fear is so great he is willing to sacrifice his very soul to ensure his power, and does not hesitate to live a cursed life, as long he is still alive. Voldemort is willing to kill as much as needed to ensure his on life continues. He also fits the description of a parasite, having to feed off of others to continue his existence (Harry Potter and Phil pg 138). Voldemort too is subject to the media method of evil being ugly, his appearance brought on by his efforts to extend his life. The steps he was so eager to take ended up disfiguring him, and this can only be described as taking the lesser good over the greater good.
If only all evil men were ugly, and marked for easy recognition, then perhaps there would be less to worry about in our daily lives. One of the most sinister aspects of evil is its ability to blend in. In the real world, there are no markings evil men get as punishment for their deviation from the path. You don??t end up with a ??Light Bright? torso, and asthma if you deviate from the path of good like Vader, and that is one of the reasons evil is so hard to identify. You aren??t marked out for your bad choices; the only ways to tell evil are by the actions and decisions a person makes.
Maybe today??s environment of dispassion and apathy can be held partially responsible for the evil acts taking place on a frighteningly regular basis. If the only way to identify evil is by looking for the signs, what happens when society no longer cares about the individual, who will be there to watch for the signs? If no one is keeping an eye out for warning signs, and the person is being ignored and kept at a distance, how could anyone possibly know anything about the content of that persons heart? Perhaps if evil could be marked by a flash of red light, like in the story The Land of Certus (Philosophy pg 91), we wouldn??t have to worry, but if we are ignoring the signs of evil that we actually have, who should be held responsible for the results?
Bibliography
C.W. Chan. Good and Evil in Chinese Philosophy. Good and Evil in Chinese Philosophy. 4/11/07.
Baggett, David and Shawn E. Klien ed. Harry Potter and Philosophy, If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts. Chicago and Le Salle, Illinois: Open Court Publishing, 2004.
Davis, Thomas D. Philosophy. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004.
Dude.. NICE!! That essay is awesome!! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and it made sense. It was very well written and very thought out. I cannot wait until i get to college :)
aw, you guys are gonna make me blush.
Very good example that the propaganda the goverment says about weed is bull shit.
wow that essay rocks bro
keep on tokin that magic shit up :thumbsup:
I take philosophy...people think its boring, but it's really a very interesting subject.
This thread would fit pretty well in a Philosophy sub forum eh? ;) :thumbsup: jokes
yeah, i love philosophy, especially when high
weed helps me to see things objectively and both sides of things so talking about philosophy and shit can really be fun