I think at the least there are things that every society in the world agrees are evil, such as murder. We may disagree on whether circumstances would excuse killing another person--e.g., Hitler--but the act is evil even though we disagree on whether it can be excused. The medieval Church, not very consistently, stated this is the form of the "just war" doctrine--that war was intrinsically evil, but sometimes a war was just because conducted in defense. Even then, the participants in the "just war" were supposed to do penance afterward. Of course, this did not prevent practice from drowning out the theory, as with the Crusades--but the idea was a good one. Similarly, you can argue that people around the world recognize that stealing is evil-- but may be excused by circumstances such as starvation. Then again, there is spam--no acceptable excuses.
On Jun 28, 6:47 am, Vamadevananda <[email protected]> wrote: > " Take that first premise: who would grant that "perhaps some X is > evil and some X is not evil"? For this is seems to simply assert there > is no such thing as an intrinsically evil act." > > No, Alan, it does not " simply assert there is no such thing as an > intrinsically evil act." It could be that there are intrinsically > evil acts AND those wherein some are evil and some are not. > > On Jun 28, 6:13 am, Alan Wostenberg <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I'm afraid that conclusion "...therefore your proposition is invalid" > > does not follow. You need to connect X, Y and P in a valid argument. > > And show that the premises are sound. Take that first premise: who > > would grant that "perhaps some X is evil and some X is not evil"? For > > this is seems to simply assert there is no such thing as an > > intrinsically evil act. And that is is just another way of stating > > your central premise that "evil is based on the subjective individual > > perception of what evil is". But why would one believe that? > > > On Jun 27, 5:01 pm, Slip Disc <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Perhaps some X is evil and some X is non evil while all Y is evil and > > > all P is non evil in which case your proposition is invalid. Evil is > > > not subjective because there is disagreement on the identification of > > > an object as being evil or not evil but subjective based on the > > > individual perception of what evil is. You say X is evil and I say X > > > is not evil but your perception of evil is contrapositive and > > > therefore subjective. > > > > On Jun 27, 6:33 pm, Alan Wostenberg <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Lee, I'd point out that the very fact people disagree is what > > > > indicates the question is objective, not subjective. About matters of > > > > taste we don't dispute. About matters of truth we should dispute. If > > > > you say X is not evil and somebody else says X is evil, I'd say one is > > > > mistaken. What would make no sense is to say "we disagree about the > > > > matter of X; therefore, X is subjective". > > > > > On Jun 25, 1:22 am, "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > > > > wrote: > > > > > > Hey Alan, > > > > > > I can see by this that what ought not to be is highly subjective. > > > > > Abortion, stem cell research are just two cases where differance of > > > > > opinion do occour. So If I say neither of these are evil and somebody > > > > > disagress with me, then what is the truth of the matter? > > > > > > On 25 June, 06:42, Alan Wostenberg <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > Evil is what ought not be. > > > > > > > On Jun 24, 1:51 am, Lee <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > A simple question, or is it?- Hide quoted text - > > > > > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Minds-Eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
