Do you think people are inherently good, inherently evil or somewhere in between? Why?

Question

I think that people are inherently evil. Although I don't think good and evil are absolute values, we usually label people as good when they care about others and obey the laws of the land, and we usually label people as evil when they are selfish and malicious. But we have to be taught and socialized to be compassionate and law abiding. While our animalistic urges are inclined towards selfishness and agression. The urges predate and can overpower what we've socialized to be, so I think people are inherently evil.

Your thoughts?

Answer 1

WE are all human whether others like it or not.

Answer 2

I think you're right for the most part, but then again, there are plenty of children who begin to make the right decisions on their own at a very early age. Because although our nature is aggressive and dominating, our social standards repress it so that we can live in relative peace and as human beings instead of animals. And calling people inherently evil means that you can say the same of the animal kingdom...who don't mourn for their loved ones, celebrate birth or (and this is contested), experience love. So I'm pretty much on the fence, I guess, LoL...guess I'm thinking about it too much! =P

Answer 3

We are neither good nor evil; these are both subjective opinions applied after the fact. We primarily operate out of a will to survive and a"will to power." If life is experienced as a time/place reality, then all things are conditional. All things are referenced on "this vs. that." To go beyond the distinction of this and that is to move beyond the distinction of good and evil. God is neither, and if we are made in the image and likeness of god, then so are we.

Answer 4

great question! I believe that i think of all and sundry is inherently undesirable, besides the shown fact that it truly relies upon on the prevalent of which they are being measured. If we are judging via a biblical prevalent then all and sundry falls short. If the prevalent is a cultural prevalent then it's going to be a sliding scale in line with social norms of the day, regrettably human beings can cover their intentions and modern-day themselves as stable and loving, yet of their hearts are continuously undesirable speaking others and plotting an enemy's loss of life. regardless of if this is purely of their mind's eye that's what's certainly of their hearts . stupid because it sounds that's what determines if somebody is quite stable or not. GOODNESS COMES FROM the indoors places OF OUR HEARTS and spills out to those around us.

Answer 5

I agree somewhat. But in that case, the terms good and evil lose the meaning that we are used to assigning to them, since good is supposedly everything we are supposed to be and evil is everything that we are not. It's time to go beyond Good and Evil the (the title of a book by Nietzsche who talks about the same thing.)

I think Eastern religions and philosophy who don't make an absolute distinction between good and evil come closer to the truth of how things are. Human's are a mix of both, and that is natural.

Answer 6

All people are good people. We just call the people who do the things that we don't like, bad or evil.

We of course are only seeing the situation from our own limited perspective. To us it fits the definition of bad or evil.

From the perspective of the other person it always looks like the correct or logical thing to be doing.

To the British in the 1700s George Washington was a terrorist commander.

To Americans he was a hero. All ideas of good and evil are point of view specific.

We are just silly enough to believe that our idea is always the only possible correct way to be thinking.

Silly little dream of superiority we are having isn’t it.

Love and blessings.
don

Answer 7

No one and nothing is inherently good or evil. Good and evil are just judgments we pronounce, along with many others...a perception, like right and wrong or ugly and beautiful. Every society has it's own rules of what is appropriate and what is taboo...and there is little that is universal among them when you look at the details. People like to use conditions to justify or condemn one another and themselves. For example, in US society, killing another human is okay, as long as it's in self-defense, it might be okay if God tells you (as long as it's the right God, called by the right name), however killing another because they angered you or because they harmed someone you care about (vigilante killing) is generally frowned upon (hence why it's illegal). In other places, other societies, it is more or less acceptable.

Answer 8

Being evil is a learned behavior and people are just not born evil. You learn these traits as you grow; basically by those around you the most.
Remember, children are like sponges; they soak everything up - good or bad.

Answer 9

Neither. We are our minds interpretation of outside influeneces. We feel and react the way we do because of how our parents taught us to act. We are who we are because of experiences alone. If some event, major or minor did not happen/was different in your past, you would not be who you are right this moment.

Answer 10

I think that all humans are born inatly neutral and it is our experiences and choices that we encounter in life that make us either good or evil.

Answer 11

We, as are all created things, are intrinsically good, for they are rooted in the source of all goodness - God.

I am who I am, I am made in the image and likeness of He who put me here.

-Kerplunk288