[EVA] The EoE Situation

[Michael Camilleri]

Carl Gustav Horn wrote:

> The problem with this, I feel, is that so many who do evil think of
> themselves as good. We have an image of villains rubbing their hands
> and cackling over their evil, but real-life villains, large and
> small, tend to believe they're doing the right thing, and that it's
> their victims who are wrong or evil. Hitler and Stalin are just the
> most extreme examples of this; the abusive parent is a more common
> one. Therefore I feel it's better to judge evil by actions and
> results, rather than by self-image and intent. Self-image and intent
> may be mitigating circumstances, but they shouldn't be confused with
> the issue of whether a crime has been committed.

Well I didn't suggest that the actions of SEELE et al weren't evil, just that the person who commits the action requires a degree of intent before they can be properly characterised as evil. I should note that I think, and perhaps this is my legal training talking, that a reckless disregard for others can be characterised as evil. The abusive parent who doesn't think he/she is being evil but also doesn't much care about the consequences of their actions towards their child could still be correctly classed as evil. The parent who kills their child rather than let them grow up and become 'corrupted by society' is delusional.

However, I take Gwern's point that this is a very particular Kantian view of good and evil which not all might share.

Still, at the risk of this veering completely off-topic for those that believe in either actions or people being evil what evil things do you think happened in the series?

Michael.