Evil: Are Humans Inherently Evil?

“Human nature is evil and goodness is caused by intentional activity” - Xunzi. Humans by nature have natural tendencies to evil however not everyone acts on those emotions.

It is a very arguable subject on whether or not people are born with good intentions, and therefore taught by others the ‘evil’ side of their personality. Whether it is the absence of ethical conduct in human nature, or just the way one perceives a situation, evil seems to be prominent in our everyday lives. Humans seem to have a moral code that follows them with every decision they make, yet despite the laws of morality and society, people of this world still seem to behave inhumanely because of the act of self-preservation, human interest, and who exactly the authority figure is at the time.

To say that someone or somethings is evil, we first need to understand what evil is, and if it even exist. Evil according to the dictionary means malevolent or wicked. So yes evil exists, but can we be truly evil? Yes, the deeds we do can be evil, but does that make us evil? To answer these questions, we look to psychopathes, historical politicians, and psychological experiments to really find out if someone can really be evil.

William Golding was born in England, and joined the English Navy in 1940, at the crux of World War II. As a result of the carnage and violence of the fighting, Golding established a new view of the human race. In his own words, “the horrors of World War II can only be accounted for on the basis of some kind of innate human evil”. Golding expressed his ideas of an innate human evil in his novel, Lord of the Flies. Using mainly symbolism to articulate his ideology, Golding first introduces the reader to a group of young boys stranded on an island after fleeing a war in England. The boys quickly select a striking boy, Ralph, as chief, and an ugly redhead, Jack, as the leader of the hunters. Within the first chapters, it is clear to the reader

Genetics are the main factor when it comes to humans being inherently “evil”. They play a big part in our life, see as how our genes determine everything about us before we are even born. Before humans are they are selfish and have evil tendencies, they want everything to themselves and will do anything to achieve it. Genes have been proven to be a

Colin Flynn Mr. Woodworth English ACC 4/2/2024 Are Human Beings Inherently Good or Evil? The debate on whether human beings are inherently good or evil is a tough one. There are two perspectives you can look at from. One is that humans are inherently good, but the environment can make them evil. The other is they are inherently evil, but need society to keep them tame.

“Is evil something you are? Or is it something you do?” (Easton Ellis). Are we considered evil by our action or thoughts? If we are constantly contemplating evil and horrific thoughts but do not act upon them, the initial thoughts may still influence our unconscious minds, which can then, in turn, affect our conscious thoughts and actions indirectly. Compare that to those who act upon their evil thoughts and therefore are more authentic to their natural and uninfluenced personality. Humans are strongly related to our savage animal brothers; however we do everything in our means to appear separate and civilized. Regardless of our attempt at separation, we still remain savage beasts by nature and suppressing our natural state only makes our

In today’s society, it’s incredibly easy to find bad news. Reports of the wrongdoings of humanity are constantly circling through the media. “Three women were kidnapped and held captive for ten years, a teenager shot up an elementary school, and a teenage girl was shot for wanting to go to school.” Many believe that mankind is born with a special form of evil and we do what we please with it. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible says otherwise.

In the world of the living, evil is not inherent and can change or influence a person’s aspect of the world based on the community they are in. Evil is the force of things that are morally wrong and the matter of suffering, wrongdoing and misfortune (Merriam Webster). Evil is not inherent because an evil community can change or influence a person’s way of thinking, can consume people the more they are relinquished to it, and can mold a person when a person has power or feel a certain way. Furthermore, evil can be claim as not inherent from reading about Josef Mengele, Stanley Milgram, and the Stanford Prison Experiment. I will persuade my point that evil is not inherent from the sources that depicts the claim of evil.

Many of the major concepts in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD revolve around this statement - people are generally either good or evil. Antagonists like Mr. Nathan and even Ms. Dubose and protagonists like Ms. Maudie are an example of this. Throughout the novel, Mr. Nathan is referred to as scary and stoic. Ms. Dubose ridicules the children and their father, spouting insults. Scout sees these characters as evil and keeps her opinion firm and unmoving. Her first thought is to fight back and this is displayed when she fights Francis. This is vice versa with protagonists such as Ms. Maudie. Since, she is the narrator this is a key factor that drives the novel. Her outlook and take on the past is what makes TO

Evil people are found throughout the entire world. Young or old, small or large, evil people exist all around the world. Rather hurting other people or animals, these acts are inhumane and abnormal. Any act of violence is wrong, but actually harming or killing other people or animals is over the line. Evil has been studied for thousands of years, and the root question is always, is evil born or made? Children can be completely normal and be a great child, and as they reach middle adulthood they could fall off the deep end.

There are many theories why people could do evil things. Is it because they were abused or had a rough childhood? What if the society isn’t to blame at all for their behavior? (Olivia Goldhill “Are Some Humans born evil?”) People say people are born evil or people who are born good turn evil. This topic has been studied for many years and many people have different opinions about it. A person may say they don’t believe that people are born evil. Another person may think that people are born evil or good people turn evil. An example is babies aren’t born evil. Their minds are wonderful. Their minds are innocent and they don’t know much. A person can’t possibly be born evil. It really depends sometimes how a person is raised or what that person experiences in life.

Whether human beings are instinctually good or evil in an elementary natural state is a question that has been boggling the minds of even the greatest philosophers. There is a spectrum of theories that support both good and evil within the human race, each with valid points that explains the range of our interests, being either for ourselves or for others. However, my personal stance is the sensible theory of Altruism. Past experiences and observations allow me to take the stance, and support the argument that humans are caring and genuinely good individuals and have the will and desire to help those around them.

 Evil doesn 't necessarily have to be an action by a human; it can also be a result of a natural disaster such as: hurricanes, earthquakes, illness, etc. A hurricane can take away everything from thousands of humans. This causes the people to have no home, clothes, or food. This is also a form of evil, due to the suffering it causes. This is called natural evil. People can bring about moral evil upon themselves, although, they rarely can bring natural evil upon themselves. There is a distinct difference between the two, and one evil does not cause the other. The reason I point the

The world is an intriguing place. Most might say the world is good, but the world is an evil place. Mankind has took a turn for the worst with creations and evolutions. Throughout history people have chosen to be evil. There has been many incidents that mankind has chosen to be evil, three things that prove this are the creation of the atomic bomb, the killing that abortion does and the uprise of genetically modified animals. Maybe the world is starting to sound like a dystopian novel.