[QUOTE=Windwalker]
My definition of evil is quite simple:
An evil person is someone who, for selfish reasons, commits evil acts, knowing that they’re wrong.
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That definition doesn’t really help much. A wide river is a river that is wide.
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[QUOTE=Windwalker]
My definition of evil is quite simple:
An evil person is someone who, for selfish reasons, commits evil acts, knowing that they’re wrong.
Applying this to Hitler, I would only really consider him evil if he knew that what he was saying was bullshit. If he really believed that the Jews were the spawn of evil, etc., then I would consider him only grossly misguided, not evil. He still did immeasurable evil acts, but if it truly was for a cause that he believed in, then he doesn’t pass the Evil Test.
[/QUOTE]
So by your definition of evil the Final Solution wasn’t evil because it was a misguided attempt to make the world better?
A better book than Goldhagen’s, I think, is Christopher Browning’s “Ordinary Men”, which is a look at Reserve Police Batallion 101, one of the units that rounded up and shot Jews. It looks at how the members of the unit, mostly policemen from Hamburg, came to (and sometimes failed to) reconcile their actions with their notions of right and wrong.
Definition of evil? That’s a toughie…
Attempt 1: An evil person believes that attaining power over others is all that matters. Someone beneath them in power (underlings/powerless/weak/helpless) are beneath consideration and should be able to be dealt with as the person desires.
Ok…maybe not the best but an attempt.