This is where I get confused. If mankind (or womankind) is inherently evil, that means by definition that I have a gene in my DNA that says I'm evil. Doesn't that slant more towards predestination?
2006-10-17 20:27:37 · 9 answers · asked by Too Cool For Me 4 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Key word is inherently! That means genetic!
2006-10-17 21:00:02 · update #1
In itself this hypothesis is unobjectionable. Insofar as psychological traits are inheritable (and some will be) then they would have a physical basis (in the brain) and so would have been subject to the same evolutionary selection as the rest of our bodies. The argument is about precisely which psychological and behavioural traits might be heritable. However, geneticists and neuroscientists are nowhere near discovering the mechanisms by which any personality traits would be inherited, let alone which are and which aren't. So any claims in this area at the moment are highly speculative.
The extremes of behaviour of which men are capable, human beings' being one or the other, either good or evil, will never really be prooved to a point where it is likely to become common fact, because humans cannot be entirly good or entirely evil either, there will always be some element of either selfishness and or selflessness involved in each and every action carried out.
2006-10-17 21:06:12 · answer #1 · answered by Mintjulip 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think mankind is inherently evil. Some men definitely are (serial killers, rapists, anyone who tortures or kills others). One might argue in the case of evil (or any other character trait) that it is a combination of nature & nurture. Some people seem to be born evil (warning signs as a child might be violence, hurting animals etc). They also could be made evil by their upbringing, life circumstances (if someone is beaten & sexually abused it could certainly mess them up & may lead to them becoming violent toward others, though I think the predisposition for violence would have to already be there since many people that are abused become the opposite of violence, very loving, gentle people who would never do to others what was done to them.)
Evil isn't a gene in your DNA. It can't be measured. It isn't tangible. It's in the soul. In the mind.
Not predestined, but a unique part of you, just as eye colour & personality traits (introvert or extrovert etc) are determined at the moment of conception.
You still have freewill. You may be born with certain tendencies but you can still choose not to follow them. Although if someone is criminally insane they may not be capable of distinguishing right from wrong...
Ok now I'm just babbling...
2006-10-17 20:43:22 · answer #2 · answered by amp 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
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RE:
Define inherently evil for me. I'm confused?
This is where I get confused. If mankind (or womankind) is inherently evil, that means by definition that I have a gene in my DNA that says I'm evil. Doesn't that slant more towards predestination?
2015-08-18 08:45:22 · answer #3 · answered by Maximina 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think you must distinguish between religion and science here. You're mixing them up: according to religion, DNA doesnt' exist; according to science, you can't have an evil gene! Simply, some scientists state that survival of the individual and of his species may be written in your DNA, and this may cause egoistic beahaviour (I'll save myself first, then we'll see); but it also cause generous behaviour (I'll save my 98 years old granpa, then myself). What is more interesting is what religion has to say. Catholic religion hasn't said anything new since Saint Thomas settled the question in the Middle Ages: God gave us the freedom to choose whether to be good or evil, and of course the Devil is there to tempt us; but in the end, every decision is ours. Hope this helps.
2006-10-17 21:16:38 · answer #4 · answered by chrusotoxos 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you believe that mankind is inherently evil, you start down the road of having all sorts of rules to base your life on, judgments to make, and paradoxes to resolve. (How about the tragic death of an innocent (but inherently evil) child during birth...)
As you might guess, I don't believe that.
I find greater strength in believing that we are one people, and that everyone is a special and unique child of God.
2006-10-18 03:16:17 · answer #5 · answered by ccSteve 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mm... we have what's called human nature, and I think that's the DNA bit. However, it is how society or the individual chooses to view objective incidences or actions with a self-developed concept of morality that colours actions good and evil.
2006-10-17 22:04:37 · answer #6 · answered by boo! 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You're confusing genetics and ethics; the first is science, the second is philosophy. What I mean is, there is NO SUCH THING as a "gene for evil"!
2006-10-17 20:58:48 · answer #7 · answered by backinbowl 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It may not be genetic. It may just be such an important part of your personality that you can't be seperated from it anymore, even if there was a time when you once could have.
2006-10-17 20:32:38 · answer #8 · answered by Kacky 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We are all born into sin, all sinners, all inherently evil....That is why being "born again" in a spiritual sense makes so much sense to me! It is our way of redemption, a second birth that takes us away from that evil, ideally.
2006-10-17 20:37:07 · answer #9 · answered by gracefully_saved 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The word does imply 'inherited' .
2006-10-17 21:11:34 · answer #10 · answered by Spiritualseeker 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋