Was talking to my friend earlier about the idea of Evil and what it actually means..
I told him that there isn't an Animal on earth that is truly Evil besides human beings, he adamantly disagreed and tried to insist that cats can be Evil, because they "kill for fun".
My rebuttal that cats act purely on instinct, yes they don't always kill humanely and may play with their prey for a while before killing it, but i see that as mainly a lack of experience coupled with their inate instincts.
So what level on intelligence is actually required for Evil?
The dictionary defines Evil as "profoundly immoral and wicked."
I would suggest that true Evil is when a being knowingly inflicts suffering, mental or physical to another being whilst being fully aware of the damage it may and most likely will cause to that being or the people who care about that being.
So would it be possible for say a person with severe downs syndrome to be evil? Can they truly understand the feeling their actions may have prior to commiting said action? The same could be said for somone with severe autism.
It seems to me that Evil and malevolence are things that require a high degree of intelligence.
Bit of a pointless thread, but i thought i'd get GD's opinions.
I told him that there isn't an Animal on earth that is truly Evil besides human beings, he adamantly disagreed and tried to insist that cats can be Evil, because they "kill for fun".
My rebuttal that cats act purely on instinct, yes they don't always kill humanely and may play with their prey for a while before killing it, but i see that as mainly a lack of experience coupled with their inate instincts.
So what level on intelligence is actually required for Evil?
The dictionary defines Evil as "profoundly immoral and wicked."
I would suggest that true Evil is when a being knowingly inflicts suffering, mental or physical to another being whilst being fully aware of the damage it may and most likely will cause to that being or the people who care about that being.
So would it be possible for say a person with severe downs syndrome to be evil? Can they truly understand the feeling their actions may have prior to commiting said action? The same could be said for somone with severe autism.
It seems to me that Evil and malevolence are things that require a high degree of intelligence.
Bit of a pointless thread, but i thought i'd get GD's opinions.