Once you are done with a partner look at the following questions and answer them together. Your answers need to be in complete sentences and you need to provide what you and your partner discussed. PROVIDE AT LEAST A PARAGRAPH PER ANSWER. Please list who your partner is.
- Is evil ingrained in human nature? That is, are some people just “born evil,” or is evil caused by circumstance or environment?
No, evil is not ingrained in human nature. At birth we are all born innocent and are blessed with tabula rasa or a blank mind as John Locke once said. As we grow older we become accustomed to the cruel realities of our society. We observe and witness the happening world around us as we too become victims of the evil in our environment. It becomes a habit for us to act as others do therefore we allow the evil to ruin the pureness of our childhoods and in exchange fill it with evil and hatred.
- Are our lives determined by fate, or by the acts of our free will?
Our lives are determined by our free will because if we had a “fate” we could easily change it. We don’t know how our life is going to turn out in the end, but we are the rulers of our own. Fate is the development of events beyond a person’s control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power. Unlike free will, it’s the ability to act at one’s own discretion. We write our own story, by the acts of our free will.
3. Is redemption truly possible? That is, is it possible to commit an act of genuine evil and truly recover from it?
Depending on the severity of the evil they committed, we think that redemption may or may not be possible. A person who committed an act of genuine evil may not have been in the right state of mind and was just acting reckless to cope with the hardships they were going through at the moment. On the other hand, the person could have fully understood the consequences of their actions and probably intended for evil to be done. Therefore, a person may be able to recover but it all depends on the person and if they truly feel guilty about their actions or if they feel justice has been served and stand by their wrongdoing.
4.Is it possible to admire or respect a person whom you know has committed acts of genuine evil?
It’s not possible to admire/respect someone who’s committed acts of evil, but wouldn’t we wouldn’t despise them. Everyone’s not perfect, but we decide on how we act upon situations. Although if someone has committed multiple acts of evil we wouldn’t be able to have respect or trust for that person. You do it once, you could easily do it again.
5. Do “the ends justify the means”? That is, if one uses morally evil methods to acquire a goal, is that goal forever tainted or polluted by the actions one has taken to achieve it?
No, the ends do not justify the means. Your goals can only be truly attained and justified by hard work. Any other means of reaching that goal will only set you further in your guilt and will trouble you forever. Using morally evil methods to acquire your goal will only lead to grave consequences therefore, you will never be fully content with yourself, because the burden of guilt will eat at you. The goal will forever be tainted and polluted by your actions, because what’s done is done and you can’t change the past.
Useful page, thank you
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