Philosophers: Is self-love the source of evil of man?

Question

Thank you for giving time to answer my question. Have a wonderful day.

Answer 1

Hi Third P.

If self-love becomes too strong, egotism, it can certainly lead to evil. I do not believe it is the source of ALL evil in man; but it is one way that evil can manifest.

Another way for evil to manifest is the flip side of the same coin — self-hate. People who hate themselves tend to project that hate onto others & create harm. Actually, self-hate can produce far more evil than can self-love.

Those who are filled with self-love are usually inconsiderate of other people's feelings, so they can cause a lot of pain that way. But it is more out of neglect than outright evil.

On the other hand, those with self-hate, when they project that hate, will actively seek to do harm to others. Whether that harm is emotional or physical depends on the person.
We often hear about men who abuse their wives. This stems from self-hate, which they project onto their wives.

There are also the extremes of both types, self-love & hate. If someone is so absorbed in self-love, he can become evil. For example, if a person like this were to become a nation's leader/ruler, he could cause a lot of damage because of his self-love.All decisions would be based on what makes HIM happy, not on what is best for the country.

The extreme of someone with self-hate would be a serial killer. They have become so empty & filled with hate that they project it onto other people. This is acted out by murdering people who fit the profile of the person they hate, often their very own mother, or someone who may have abused them as children.
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Self-love is also called narcissism. This is a personality disorder. Narcissistic personality disorder usually begins by early adulthood and is marked by disregard for the feelings of others, grandiosity, obsessive self-interest, and the pursuit of primarily selfish goals.

A person with narcissistic personality disorder:

• Reacts to criticism with feelings or rage, shame, or
humiliation.
• Takes advantage of others to achieve own goals.
• Has feelings of self-importance.
• Exaggerates achievements and talents.
• Is preoccupied with fantasies of success, power, beauty, • intelligence, or ideal love.
• Has unreasonable expectations of favorable treatment.
• Requires constant attention and admiration.
• Lacks empathy.

From this, you can see that those with self-love are able to hurt others. For example, if they take advantage of others to achieve their own goals, they certainly can cause pain. Basically, all of these symptoms can hurt others. The narcissist is only interested in himself, so others just fall by the wayside. However, they do not purposelly strive to cause pain. They are not a cause of evil, per se.

On the other hand, those who are filled with self-hate often live to hurt others. They become sadistic, taking pleasure in the pain they cause.

People who lose their temper are classic examples of those who are overflowing with self hate. Losing your temper is an example of blaming something outside of your self for the problem that seems to be facing you. In actual fact, any person or situation that you encounter in life has come from a projection from within yourself so losing your temper is nothing else but self hate.

Self-hate can also be a form of personality disorder; but if left, untreated, can manifest itself as evil.
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Worse than self-love/hate, as far as evil goes, the person who feels nothing either way is called a sociopath (or psychopath). This type of person has caused far more evil than any person filled with self-love/hate ever can. There are some similarities & differences between sociopaths & psychopaths, the psychopath being far more malevolent.

Shared traits of the psychopath and sociopath include a complete disregard for the feelings and rights of others. This usually surfaces by age 15 and may be accompanied by cruelty to animals. These traits are distinct and repetitive, creating a pattern of misbehavior that goes beyond normal adolescent mischief.

Both the psychopath and sociopath fail to feel remorse or guilt. They appear to lack a conscience and are completely self-serving. They routinely disregard rules, social mores and laws, unmindful of putting themselves or others at risk.

Of the more distinguishing traits, some argue the sociopath to be less organized in his or her demeanor, nervous and easily agitated – someone likely living on the fringes of society, without solid or consistent economic support. A sociopath is more likely to spontaneously act out in inappropriate ways without thinking through the consequences.

Conversely, the psychopath tends to be extremely organized, secretive and manipulative. The outer personality is often charismatic and charming, hiding the real person beneath. Though psychopaths do not feel for others, they can mimic behaviors that make them appear normal. Upon meeting, one would have more of a tendency to trust a psychopath than a sociopath.

Because of the organized personality of the psychopath, he or she might have a tendency to be better educated than the average sociopath, who probably lacks the attentive skills to excel in school. While psychopaths can fly under the radar of society, many maintaining families and steady work, a sociopath more often lacks the skills and drive for mimicking normal behavior, making “seemingly healthy” relationships and a stable home less likely. From a criminal standpoint, a sociopath’s crimes are typically disorganized and spontaneous, while the psychopath’s crimes are well planned out. For this reason, psychopaths are harder to catch than sociopaths, as the sociopath is more apt to leave ample evidence in his or her explosions of violence.

Hence, while similar psychological traits might fall under the antisocial personality heading, from a social and criminalist point of view, the differences between a psychopath and a sociopath may be significant.

One can say that psychopaths are truly evil. Because they seem to be normal, well-adjusted people, others trust them, never believing they could do anything that is evil. However, they are being constantly fooled & manipulated. The psychopath , one could say, lives for evil.

For example, look at Ted Bundy. He appeared to be a perfectly normal young man & was well-liked by everyone. But no one realized that he was murdering dozens of young women. All these women were easily manipulated by Ted Bundy and, thus, never suspected what was underneath his "cool" exterior.

So, I would say that the psychopath is more the source of evil than those who are filled with self-love.

Thank you.

Answer 2

This can be understood with the idea of citta or chitta or mindset. The self has many mindsets in different times. A greedy mindset may make a person do theft etc. An angry mindset can make a person commit violence or murder and so on . So the self is anyway associated in every act. It is the mental attribute / emotion / feeling which make a person act like that. So there is no such thing a good self but possessed by an evil spirit which does bad acts. Rather we can understand gospels better if we translate the evil spirit possession as an evil tendency or emotion . I have never seen a person who thinks like I am a good person but some thing else possessed me which did something wrong. This is all a play of bad emotions & feelings which make people act badly and this is same as karma or samanskara . And self is responsible in all cases because it is the duty of self to control the emotions & feelings .

Answer 3

Evil is negative, the Judgment is negative therefor a mans Judgment is the seat for a mans evil. The Will is positive and in its self has not of what evil needs. Destruction follows the Judgment, not Love, not a positive aspect of the Will.

Answer 4

Self-love isn't the source of evil of man. Greed is the source.

Answer 5

I would suggest reading Rousseaus work on mankind in the state of nature. He has some interesting things to say on Amour-Propre, or self love. It develops only when primal man started socialising and living around other humans apparently, and gradually leads to competition, comparison of yourself with others, hatred and finally conflict and the urge for power. Mind you he also thought the Arts and Sciences rather dodgy, so don't get too carried away.
Interestingly a good deal of serial killers display narcissistic tendancies, or have superiority complex's....

Answer 6

not at all, you have to love your self to able to love other people because people who does not has a thing cannot give that thing to others.so you love your self to can love others and to be a good part in their live.but some people love their selves to love their selves and this called selfish and this is totally different .so the nature self -love is a means and not an end ,the selfish is the contrary.
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Answer 7

Self-love is generally taken to mean "narcissism." But self-love is the justice one pays oneself for his existence as a good man. One could not live without justified pride and so long as it is justified, it is the root of much good.

Answer 8

No, actually, I think the source of evil in humans is self-hate. If you hate yourself, then it is so much easier to hate everyone else.

Loving yourself is the first step towards inner peace, and if every individual can find inner peace, then that will create world peace.

Answer 9

Jean-Jacques rousseau: 'amour de soi' (self-love) developed in his book: "EMILE ou de l'EDUCATION".

My own explanation about his concept 'amour de soi':
His philosophical approach has link with stoicism; so, 'amour de soi' is but (nothing else) a virtue. Men must live in harmony with their inner-nature in order to reach his happiness. From this approach Rousseau had built a utilitarian principle within his educational aims. This principle doesn't result from rationalism, but 'amour de soi' respects the child's natural inclinations in order that the last will be able to develop his self- sufficiency, which aims to keep his self-esteem in the future.

"The love of men derived from the love of self is the principle of human justice"
"And it is from the moral system formed by this double relationship to oneself and to one's fellow-men that the natural impulse of conscience (self-esteem) is born". (EMILE)

Answer 10

Yes. Prefering yourself to others all the time is the source of most of our troubles.

Answer 11

Self love is the height of development of the spirit.
You cannot love others if you have not yet learned to love yourself with honor and respect and esteem.

However, all things can be corrupted such as love of self when it becomes narcissistic, when it becomes dominating and controlling, when ego takes control of it, when it excludes all others but itself.