Good And Evil: Are Normal People Capable of Evil?
Gloria — 12880165
The contrast between “good” and “evil have long been a topic that sparks up debate within society. Good moral itself, is an ideal state of a person’s beliefs and values that is considered most beneficial to society, for example helping others and telling the truth. On the other hand, evil is the act of humans which is considered wrong, which includes lying, cheating, and harming others. This concept was originally created as a moral compass for children. With that said, despite this concept being widely spread all around the globe for every person alive to hear, why are certain people still capable of doing evil?
Thomas Hobbes claims centralized authority provides an ethical and social system that controls human nature. But on the other hand, Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s opinion clash against that very statement. Rousseau trusts human nature and advocates opportunity for its free expression. Hobbes then proceeded to claim that humans are brutal and society and rules are necessary to thrive. But Rousseau argued that men would be gentle and pure had they not been corrupted by greed and inequality caused by the class system within society.
More often than not, the situation is not as simple to judge. Humans are made to be social creatures. Over time, we have evolved to live in groups within society and learned that cooperation and empathy are two essential things in order for to survive. A study involving infants who are less than a year old show that they are more inclined to helpful and “good” behaviour. This shows us that compassion and empathy are not things we can learn, more so something that we already have the moment we were born.
However, there is no question that somewhere deep within us, there lies evil tendencies as well. War, colonisations, genocides, and murders done in history are proof enough that humans are capable of harming others as well. Interesting enough, the very people who commit these very crimes often do not consider themselves to be evil. Within a glance, humans are quick to judge and are more than willing to throw these people in jail without a second thought. But had we taken a look at the situation through their perspective, we may just start to understand the reasoning behind their actions.
In history, war and colonisation often happen because of a country’s incapability to feed their people and live in prosperity. In order to live in such a state, they often need certain elements that are unavailable in their country. Hence, why they decided to take it forcefully from another. On that note, there is nothing that can excuse such cruelty but this reasoning does, however give us a new perspective to ponder.
Finally, with that notion, to sum up everything that has been stated, I presume it safe to claim that we, as humans were born with the tendency to be both, good and evil. Every single person is. There is no definite answer as to which of the two we truly are. Good and evil are not two different sides of the coin. Good and evil is a line, and humans are located in the grey line in the middle, free to explore both sides. The environment we surround ourselves with will indirectly influence what action we will take.
