Serendib Isle recently made a comment on this post about people being evil in nature or inherently evil (perhaps even being born this way). This is a response to that using the fictional character of the Joker from the 2008's 'The Dark Knight' as an example.
First off, what I argued in that post is that there is no such thing as good or evil, only motivations. People who do evil things do so out of some kind of compulsion. Let’s take the Joker who might be classified as being just plain evil. I however disagree. While his actions are all designed to cause damage to others and generally bring about chaos there is still a motivation behind his actions.
The Joker is a twisted individual who has become this way due to reasons that are not known to us. He makes up constant stories about his origins, but what is clear is that he enjoys messing the plans of others and generally causing chaos or anarchy. You might say this is being inherently evil, but I say that his motivation is simply doing something that satisfies or pleases him. You might also say that is sympathizing with a psycho but I once again disagree.
Most of us do things that we enjoy. The problem with psychos and other crazy people is that the things that they enjoy doing are detrimental to society or just plain dangerous. The fact that such people ignore the negative aspect or even enjoy it is what allows us to deem them psychos in the first place.
So I say that everything is motivated one way or another, whether through reason or irrationality. Good and Evil are just labels we attach to events and actions to classify them in our minds.
Giving money to the poor = Good
Stealing = Bad
Stealing from the rich to give to the poor = Good if you’re poor, Bad if you’re rich
After all during war... the psychotic killer is our hero.
Please Note: This is not a flame on Serendib Isle
