The Good and Evil of Humans
A famous philosopher Socrates once said, 'the unexamined life is not worth living.' With that idea, the question 'Are Human Beings Intrinsically Evil?' has been asked by philosophers for many years. It is known as one of the unanswerable questions. Determinists have come to the conclusion that we are governed by the laws of science, that there is nothing we can do about ourselves being evil because we naturally are. Evil is simply the act of causing pain. In this essay I will argue that human beings are born with a natural reaction to 'fear and chaos' to be instinctively evil.
The primary evidence that people are generally evil is evident by the number of wars. Most countries have experienced their share of wars. World War One was the first war that affected many countries such as Serbia, Germany, Britain, France, and North America. It demonstrated for the first time how brutal people can be to each other. This war was fought because of tension between countries for years that blew up in 1914 with the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. The quote, ?Guns don?t kill people, people kill people? highlights that machines did not kill all these people, people kill those from different countries in order to further their cause and do not stop unless they are successful. World War One was also known as ?the war to end all wars? obviously this wasn?t true. A few years later, another war took place. World War Two demonstrated that people will kill to satisfy themselves. Hitler in World War Two was the main aggressor; he wanted to make his people, the pure Germans, the master race. He was threatened by other countries and wanted his superior to all others. When other countries became aware of this, naturally, the war began, killing people by the millions. By the number of wars, we can conclude that the natural human reaction to the threat of war and great power released human evil.
Youth cultures are evidence that even youths can be evil once they allow themselves or if they are raised in a chaotic community. An example of youths being evil ?Lord of Chaos?, the young boys involved were not necessarily thought to be likely to cause harm. All of these teenager were very good students. One an amazing artist, another superb math student, another a musician, all on the honour roll. So why did these boys shoot a teacher. These boys need...
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... the books are not filled with evil. There is good that happens in history. Leaders such as Hitler have done good things for his people, or rather had the right intentions. It is difficult to argue that he was evil all the time. A person that is universally known for being good is Mother Teresa. She was seen as good for the majority of her life, but there is not actually proof that she was good her complete life.
In conclusion, people that believe themselves to be good have a different perspective about what is good. The people that go to war believing they are doing the right thing greatly have the wrong impression of what is good. If good is killing off thousands or millions of people, something is definitely wrong. If that is true that killing is right, then what is evil? In almost every case, people become evil when they are in a chaotic environment or if their lives are in jeopardy which is seen in history, scientist and philosophers, youth groups, and literature. The natural reaction to cause evil, in response, fear and chaos cannot be controlled therefore human beings should not be blamed for their actions because scientifically human nature is already determined.
Good and evil make the world we are living in today. However evil stands out more than good and people tend to focus on the evil behavior of humans more often. Human nature tends to decide that if someone looks evil they will be evil. The good and the bad make up the goodness in life. It is impossible to always be good or evil but there are things that can make us better or worse as a person. For one to be free, one must live in a world of evil and good.
T.C. Boyle uses immorality as a central idea to tell the story. Jeremy tells China to end her pregnancy: ‘“You have to get rid of it…go to a clinic’, he told her” (). Here one sees that Jeremy is not a responsible person.
“Inside each of us, there is the seed of both good and evil. It's a constant struggle as to which one will win. And one cannot exist without the other” (Eric Burdon). People do not think they are doing good or evil, they just think that they are doing the right thing. Evil comes from within each one of us. You just need to something to bring it out.
Rather, he should always protest for his autonomy. Thoreau expands on this subject in Civil Disobedience. After expressing his desires for a small government, he questions the idea of government itself: “Must the citizen ever for a moment...resign his conscience to the legislator?...[W]e should be men first, and subjects afterwards” (Civil Disobedience 171). Placing the individual over the government, Thoreau shows his passion for the self. That person’s actions may go awry, but, at least, the person still has the right to learn from his or her wrongs. Thoreau likens a meaningful existence with unyielding trust in a person’s inner voice. Without nurturing this voice, an individual loses his or her personhood. Such unwavering loyalty to the self best characterizes the transcendental ideal life, where one only needs to follow intuition to be
Thoreau establishes a conscience for America within this passage; that the government cannot be trusted and they tend to portray such injustice for no means. Through such statements made by Thoreau, the American audience can see that he is trying to illustrate the corruption of man by the government in which he wants to restore with more humane ways. The “nature of Thoreau’s character was that he lived from his heart, his intellect, and from what he believed was the unimpeachable truth. [And] for America in those turbulent times of crisis when our nation struggled to define its true identity, Henry David Thoreau was the conscience of [our] Nation” (Bank). We can see why Henry David Thoreau is such an important role model throughout American Literature; His push for humanity and historical change during the nineteenth century brought about new perspectives and ideas as a way to benefit our nation and establish more humane ways of living to the American audience, which is why we see his work as so important in American
“Civil Disobedience,” written by Henry David Thoreau – originally published as “Resistance to Civil Government” in Aesthetic Papers (1849) and motivated by slavery and the Mexican-American War – discusses the hold government has on individuals in a society and the potential risks, as well as solutions, to overcoming the majority consciousness. Thoreau opens his essay with words he believes every government should live by: “That government is best which governs least.” Thoreau expresses that traditional government is often an inhibitor to the fluidity of justice and the desires of the majority, as well as the minority. As detailed, the American people have established a desire for some complicated concept to derive their government in order
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was a philosopher and writer who is well known for his criticism of the American government during the time. During Thoreau’s life, there were two major issues being debated in the United States: slavery and the Mexican-American War. Both issues greatly influenced his essay, as he actually practiced civil disobedience in his own life by refusing to pay taxes in protest of the Mexican War. He states that the government should be based on conscience and that citizens should refuse to follow the law and has the duty not to participate and stay as a member of an unjust institution like the government. I argue that the notion of individualism and skepticism toward government is essential in the basis of many important reform movements in the modern society.
Summary of ACTE's Recommendations for strengthening career and technical education through reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins vocational and technical education act. (2004). Techniques: Connecting Education & Careers, 79(3), 10-11. http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.net.ucf.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=01e29e4c-3b2a-4906-8d7e-5d13a7a04be1%40sessionmgr198&vid=7&hid=122
The lines that define good and evil are not written in black and white; these lines tend to blur allowing good and evil to intermingle with each another in a single human being.
How exactly does the human brain work? Are humans evil by nature or are they good samaritans most, if not all, the time? As studies throughout history have shown, this is not the case. Humans are inherently evil because they are always seeking as much power as they can, revert to challenging authority and selfishness in times of peril, and become intimidated easily by “authority” figures egging them on, which is reflected in The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, as well as The Zimbardo Experiment conducted by Psychologist Phillip Zimbardo.
In his essay, “Resistance to Civil Government,” often times dubbed, “Civil Disobedience,” Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) argues against abiding to one’s State, in protest to the unjust laws within its government. Among many things, Thoreau was an American author, poet, and philosopher. He was a firm believer in the idea of civil disobedience, the act of refusing to obey certain laws of a government that are felt to be unjust. He opposed the laws regarding slavery, and did not support the Mexican-American war, believing it to be a tactic by the Southerners to spread slavery to the Southwest. To show his lack of support for the American government, he refused to pay his taxes. After spending a night in jail for his tax evasion, he became inspired to write “Civil Disobedience.” In this essay, he discusses the importance of detaching one’s self from the State and the power it holds over its people, by refraining from paying taxes and putting money into the government. The idea of allowing one’s self to be arrested in order to withhold one’s own values, rather than blindly following the mandates of the government, has inspired other civil rights activists throughout history such as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Both these men fought against unjust laws, using non-violent, yet effective, methods of protest. From these three men, we can learn the significance of detaching ourselves from the social norm; and instead, fight for our values in a non-violent way, in order to make a change in our government’s corrupt and unjust laws.
“In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.” (Eleanor Roosevelt). This is just one of the infinite examples of how human nature has been explored by so many different people. Each and every human is born with the capability of making their own choices. The decisions that they will make in the future will determine how evil they are viewed by others. Although one’s nature and nurture do affect their life, it is their own free will that determines whether or not they are evil.
Career and Technical Education has its roots deep in the early days of United States history, dating back to as far as 1776. The idea that we needed to train young people to be useful citizens, in productive careers, which would help eliminate poverty was paramount at that time.
Are human beings born to be good? Or are we naturally born to be evil? A person’s nature or essence is a trait that is inherent and lasting in an individual. To be a good person is someone who thinks of others before themselves, shows kindness to one another, and makes good choices in life that can lead to a path of becoming a good moral person. To be a bad person rebels against something or someone thinking only of them and not caring about the consequences of their actions. Rousseau assumed, “that man is good by nature (as it is bequeathed to him), but good in a negative way: that is, he is not evil of his own accord and on purpose, but only in danger of being contaminated and corrupted by evil or inept guides and examples (Immanuel Kant 123).” In other words, the human is exposed to the depraved society by incompetent guardians or influences that is not of one’s free will in the view of the fact that it is passed on. My position is humans are not by nature evil. Instead, they are good but influenced by the environment and societies to act in evil ways to either harm others or themself.
Technical education has evolved over the last hundred years corresponding with the expansion of society, technology, and the everchanging workplace requirements. Today’s economic situation demands better trained individuals to successfully acquire a steady job in modern technologically advanced workplaces. Naturally, when a better education is being sought, educators are needed to guide these individuals into the world of job skills and complex knowledge needed to thrive in everyday work-related situations. As society and technology has developed, the demand for technical education has increased as well.