Board index › Topical Discussion › Politics, Philosophy, and Religion

Evil: free will or insanity?

Page 2 of 2 [ 22 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2

Previous topic | Next topic

donnie_darko
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 26 Nov 2009
Age: 34
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,981

31 Jul 2011, 4:09 pm

I define evil as negative actions committed by people for selfish or pathological reasons.

And I think the question of insanity negating free will is a very good one. I ask the question again: are we not to have sympathy for people with personality disorders? Can people choose whether or not they want to suffer from a personality disorder?



Ancalagon
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 25 Dec 2007
Age: 45
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,302

31 Jul 2011, 4:16 pm

donnie_darko wrote:
I ask the question again: are we not to have sympathy for people with personality disorders?

You can have sympathy for someone while also disapproving of their actions or punishing them for their actions.

Quote:
Can people choose whether or not they want to suffer from a personality disorder?

No, but they can choose to not do illegal and/or evil things.

Suffering from a disorder is not evil or illegal.


_________________
"A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it." --G. K. Chesterton


donnie_darko
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 26 Nov 2009
Age: 34
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,981

31 Jul 2011, 4:19 pm

Ancalagon wrote:
donnie_darko wrote:
I ask the question again: are we not to have sympathy for people with personality disorders?

You can have sympathy for someone while also disapproving of their actions or punishing them for their actions.

Quote:
Can people choose whether or not they want to suffer from a personality disorder?

No, but they can choose to not do illegal and/or evil things.

Suffering from a disorder is not evil or illegal.


But how can you realistically expect someone with no conscience to be law abiding? How can you say they have free will?



Ancalagon
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 25 Dec 2007
Age: 45
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,302

31 Jul 2011, 4:59 pm

donnie_darko wrote:
But how can you realistically expect someone with no conscience to be law abiding?

Someone who has no conscience is likely not to be law abiding. If we take away all possible fear of punishment from them, they are likely to be even more so.

Quote:
How can you say they have free will?

They can choose to do something or not. That's what free will is (barring any deep, hairy philosophical interpretation of what free will is).


_________________
"A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it." --G. K. Chesterton


donnie_darko
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 26 Nov 2009
Age: 34
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,981

31 Jul 2011, 5:05 pm

Ancalagon wrote:
They can choose to do something or not. That's what free will is (barring any deep, hairy philosophical interpretation of what free will is).


But what causes us to choose things? Is it some mystical God-given 'x-factor'? Or is it emotionally and logically weighing the consequences and incentives in your head?



Ancalagon
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 25 Dec 2007
Age: 45
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,302

31 Jul 2011, 6:17 pm

donnie_darko wrote:
But what causes us to choose things?

You could say we cause ourselves to choose things. I think the idea of causality kind of breaks down at this point.

Quote:
Is it some mystical God-given 'x-factor'? Or is it emotionally and logically weighing the consequences and incentives in your head?

I'm more-or-less inclined to say yes to both questions because they are the same.


_________________
"A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it." --G. K. Chesterton