Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Is Socrates’ Idea that Every “Evil” Act is Committed Involuntarily True?

I don't think that Socrates is correct in asserting that every "evil" action is committed involuntarily. I think that "evil" actions can be committed voluntarily. The question then is, what are we considering "evil?" Something sinister like murder? Or something more small scale like bullying? Either way whether or not you act upon these things is a choice and once choice is involved, the action cannot be anything but voluntary. One of the first things you learn as a child is right from wrong. Once the understanding is there you have the ability to think over what ever it is you plan to do, regardless of its intention to be good or evil, and then execute it. Looking back at the terrible occurrences of the past, there is no way to say that they happened involuntarily. In there somewhere someone made the voluntary choice to set things rolling. From there the choices of those participating and joining in sharing the same ideas, voluntarily continued these events. For example the Holocaust, seen as one of the most evil of acts in the human history. How is it possible to argue that that was started involuntarily? I don't think it is possible, even if you were to argue that the personal thought of Hitler was that he was not doing anything evil. However, in a society where majority rules, irregardless of personal belief, if the majority thinks the actions taken were evil, it is ruled evil. Every action you make is voluntary, regardless of whether or not you intend it to be evil. The only involuntary aspect about the action you take is how others will see it. I would say it is possible to unintentionally commit an evil act, but it is not correct in any way to say that every evil act is committed involuntarily.

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