Most Evil

[oggbashan]

People who oppose capital punishment generally believe all punishment is evil, and attribute crime to society failing the poor oppressed criminal.

That is too wide a generalisation.

In the UK most of the argument against capital punishment was that 1) It didn't deter crime, and 2) If the wrong person was convicted there was no possible redress after execution. There had been a couple of high profile cases where the executed person was possibly innocent or not the main culprit and several where the jury would not convict because capital punishment was mandatory.

In the UK execution followed within days or at most a couple weeks after conviction and all the allowable appeal processes were completed in that time. We had "condemned" cells but no equivalent of Death Row.

The European definition of "cruel and unusual punishment" includes capital punishment. Our courts would not allow extradition to a part of the US where capital punishment is legal.

Og

 

[lesbiaphrodite]

"Evil is absence."--Plotinus

The third-century Egyptian philosopher, Plotinus, found evil in absence. The insight of Plotinus has special resonance after the events of September 11, 2001. Writing in The New Republic, Paul Berman had this to say: "In the skyline now, there is an empty space where the twin towers used to be. I gaze out my study window, where I am used to seeing the towers, and I can hardly believe what I see. I see nothing. Smoke and sky. It is the symbol of absolute evil." (excerpted from the website Evil Examined)

 

[lesbiaphrodite]

In Taoism, everything has it own course of nature: those who follow their own courses of nature or Tao will become good; those who don't will become evil. For example, to lengthen what is supposed to be short or to shorten what is supposed to be long, as in the following passage, will bring only discomfort.

'For this reason, although the duck's legs are short, to lengthen them with stilts would be worry to him; although the crane's legs are long, to trim them would hurt him. Therefore what is long by nature is not something to trim, what is short by nature is not something to lengthen.'

Thus, by nature, man's orginal nature must be good. Man's original nature becomes evil when his occupation goes against nature.

In the Great Appendix of the Book of Changes, it says:

'The alternation of yin-yang is what is meant by the way. What follows next to it is goodness; what has it complete is our nature. When the benevolent see it they call it benevolent, when the wise see it they call it wisdom, the peasants use it every day without knowing.' (Excerpted from http://www.the-philosopher.com)