Can I consider this topic an ethical issue ? Are evil people born evil or are they made one ?

Question

I am thinking of what ethical issue to pursue to make a position paper . Can this pass for an ethical issue ?

Answer 1

This certainly can be considered an ethical question as ethics can be defined as "that branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions. " (dictionary.com)

Since the question relates to human conduct, your position can be either that it is inherent in human nature to be evil or it is conduct that is a product of environment.

Answer 2

Well I don't know if that constitutes an "ethical issue". Ethical issues would be something like euthanasia (allowing someone to die with dignity rather than continue to suffer if it's their choice), capital punishment (killing a guilty person who killed others), cloning (artificially creating humans) etc. Where there is a question whether something is morally right are wrong. You are talking about whether evil is innate or learned, this isn't an "ethical issue" it's more of an examination of nature/nurture. It isn't asking whether something is right or wrong, rather it's questioning how we learn right from wrong or why someone people choose wrong.

In answer to whether evil is born or made, I think it's a combination of both. You are born with certain personality traits, tendencies & characteristics, but the way that you are raised, the experiences you have throughout your life will impact you & push you one way or another. For instance if someone is born shy, distrustful of people and with a tendency toward anger but they are raised by loving nurturing parents & have a stable life they can overcome shyness, learn to trust & control their anger. If however that same child is raised by abusive parents who are violent, alcoholic, neglectful, if he is picked on by other kids, if he faces cruelty & rejection at every turn, he will become more withdrawn, hateful of others, furious, violent & possibly homicidal. Show me a serial killer & I will show you a man who wasn't shown love as a boy, but was abused by those he was supposed to trust. Teach a child that the world is a cruel & evil place & they may become cruel & evil just to survive.

Look at dogs. Some breeds are naturally more vicious. A Rottweiler or pitbull is a little more prone to attack than say a cocker spaniel or poodle. However, it is also how these dogs are raised that makes them vicious. People train rottweilers or pitbulls to attack. If they were raised in a loving home that didn't mistreat them or train them to be violent, they may be loving pets.

Good luck with your paper whatever you decide.

Answer 3

I think there are both born evil and created evil. Some have a disposition towards being bad and progress to evil. Others I think are made by unfortunate experiences in life and were not able to handle it.
I have met a couple of people that went through horrendous childhoods and teens but became very caring adults. Depends on the person, personality and mental strength and inner strength as well as surroundings and experience.
I can't see this as an ethical question. More of a psychology and environment issue.

Answer 4

I wouldn't choose this as an 'ethical issue.' It's more like, a person's answer to this question affects how one applies one's ethical principles (principles that found ethical systems include things like the golden rule, and 'if it harm none do what thou wilt')... but the question is answered based on beliefs and/or analysis, not based on ethics.

Maybe I don't understand your assignment right, but it sounds like you should choose something specific -- like the issue of whether & how to punish victimless crimes, or the issue of whether it's okay to test sperm and eggs for certain genes before using them to conceive a test tube baby. Then you can take a position and defend it rationally using an consistent ethical system ... rather than just trying to explain why you happen to have come to *believe* people are born evil or made that way.

Answer 5

According to the bible we are born in sin. However, it does claim that some are born of GOD and some come from their father the Devil. People who are born from GOD are constantly bombarded with temptations which can cause them to become evil. For example, someone who is beat up everyday because they don't beleive in violence may get tired of getting beat up and be tempted to, go out, get a gun, and kill someone. If that happened they would be submitting to the temptation of evil. Hence, they would become evil.
Considering that religion is only taught in some private schools I'd say that would not be a good ethical question. A better one would be is it ethical to coherce someone into signing a contract that a person knows the other cannot commit to? Take cell phones for example, they want you to sign a six month contract and if you are late on your payment they will shut off your service but, still charge you for a service your not receiving for the duration of your contract. By law this is 100% legal but is it ethical?

Answer 6

Do notions and beliefs of them form ethical differences? I think so. The notion for the innate evil concept is the more popular and typically grounded in a religion whereas nurture failures are modernistic. Certainly the turns of religion and atheistic science produce different imperatives or commands for which actions are to be done and which actions are to be not, even if from positive and or negative utilitarian philosophy. every belief for a kind has its diagnostic symptomotology and procedures for positive and or negative diagnosis and prognosis. If the principle 'treat people as end in themselves rather than means to your own ends' is to be actually realized, then our beliefs for them are determinants for our successful completion and execution for them or our failure.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitarian

The Will is positive, the Judgment is negative. The tension in and between the two for each other is life of mind. It seems to me the forms for the Will are universal, but the Judgment is peculiar for individuality or religion. A damaged Will would certainly give the Judgment imperative rule to each peculiar individual. The Judgment is negative. That which negates is negative.

Answer 7

Everyone is born to make mistakes and bad choices but Evil, loss of the human soul, is something that is made over time. As to responsibility, it's kind of 50/50. Most people who comment horrendous crimes had such crimes done to them as well. I'm not excusing, just explaining. It's not a genetic flaw, because we all have the power to do Evil, but a sickness that has plagued humanity since the beginning of the World.

Answer 8

I think people are made evil,but then there is this part of the brain that causes people to do horrendous random acts of violence which I believe is in the frontal lobe if I'm not mistaken I guess they are born with that, but I can go on,
its how you are brought up that makes the person that's why
as a baby parents need to pay close attention to their children
and give lots of love,attention,and discipline if you research
the murderers they sometimes have been orphans or neglected,or in some cases abused.

Answer 9

If you give examples, it can become an ethical issue... for instance,

How about looking at a good person whose car broke down in minus 40 degree weather right next to a house.

Now, the good person needs a place to stay warm, but the residents won't allow him to go inside for fear of the unknown. Are the residents evil?

If the good person breaks into the house in order to survive, is that an evil act of a person born good, or person born evil who has found himself?

Answer 10

I don't think for one minute that people are born evil.
God instills in us all from the day we are born with a free will.
Some where along the way some people either by example .
or someone in their lives makes them bitter . the anger build up inside of them.they see no light at the end of the
tunnel .So they take the wrong way to get what they want one way or the other! anger breeds more anger