Rational conscious human beings want things to make sense. This is another way of saying that they want things to have some meaning. To have some meaning is to have some value, for to be meaningful is to be valuable, and vice versa. The converse is true also: what we find to be valuable is at once meaningful to us.
One way for an individual to have value is for him/her to create value. In each situation in which one finds oneself one may ask: how can I add value here and now? How can I upgrade this; how can I improve, innovate, make for more harmonious human relations, boost someone up, give a sincere compliment, make someone smile, make some arrangement that is mutually beneficial, is a win/win for all concerned? How can I be more efficient and effective?
What does it mean to be “effective”? In Ethics, the new paradigm proposed by the Hartman/Katz frame of reference, to be effective is to act so as to contribute toward a Quality Life for one and all. This, they propose, is the ultimate purpose of Ethics …the provision of a Quality Life, one of well-being and flourishing, for one and for all. This makes sense to me, for one.
Now you may say, this is all well and good but there is evil out there. There are bad people, malicious people who in seeking their own ends, are ready and willing to hurt folks of good will. These evil-minded “jackals” don’t care about anyone else as they pursue money, or comply with dogma and ideology, and believe that violence will help them achieve their ends-in-view.
For example, on March 24, 2015, this man, Andreas Lubitz, was a mass-murderer, killing 149 people at once, in addition to himself. We learn from new stories some facts, as in the report following:
[size=92]“It’s been a week since Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz crashed a commercial plane into the French Alps — and much of the conversation since has focused on his mental health and medical record, especially at the time of the incident.
We know that Lubitz visited an eye doctor just before the flight for an apparent vision issue, and was deemed unfit to operate the aircraft. No medical professionals have reported Lubitz was suicidal at the time of the Airbus A320 accident, although a European official said he did complain to a neuropsychologist about work stress earlier this year. We also know Lubitz had a history of depression and suicidal thoughts, with a depressive episode in 2009 that halted his pilot’s training for several months. As Duesseldorf public prosecutor Christoph Kumpa told BBC News, he “had at that time been in treatment of a psychotherapist because of what is documented as being suicidal”— something it seems Lufthansa was informed of when Lubitz rejoined the program.” [/size] Also see cnn.com/2015/03/30/europe/fr … rash-main/
In the “free enterprise” economy money is necessary to survive, to pay one’s rent and to buy food. Toward the end of getting money desperate people do desperate things – such as withholding rather-vital information from one’s boss at work in order to keep a job. So Andreas did not inform his employers that he could not see well-enough to go to work the day of his murder-suicide. On top of weak eyesight he had Generalized Anxiety Disorder which his psychotherapists finally revealed. Was Lubitz a “bad” person, a malicious evil-doer, or did he have mental-health issues? Is the latter a euphemism for mental disease, which is a terrible-sounding condition which no one wants to admit one has. Should brain-damage be stigmatized any more than is kidney-dmage?
Is it possible that many if not most people who do bad things of a ‘really evil’ sort have a brain condition? We don’t know the medical status of Irma Grese who contributed her skills to the S.S. in Nazi Germany as a camp guard - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irma_Grese - or the example of the female surgeon, commissioned by the Nazis, who injected ground-glass into the wombs of pregnant concentration-camp prisoners to measure how long it would take to kill the new-born baby. To her this was a scientific experiment. Were these women just “good citizens” doing their part for their nation as a patriot? Was either of them a habitual sadist? Is sadism a sickness? Was the surgeon compliant out of fear and intimidation? She definitely committed evil. There is no question about that.
So many “good Germans” went along to get along once the Third Reich was voted in. Most of the voters were likely ignorant of who their new leader really was, ignorant of his background and his deeply-held anti-semitic, and race-purification, beliefs.
How many bad things are done to good people by others who believe that “violence is a way to solve problems”? Such a belief is held by those with a criminal mind, by military personnel, and by many ordinary citizens. Those who live in the ‘Muddle East’ do not have a monopoly on this concept. It is currently shared by many the world over.
Millions currently sanction vengeance as a form of justice; they speak of it as “getting even.” This concept of retribution was also held by the Hatfield clan and by the McCoy clan. Where they “bad” people? They were only trying to settle the previous score. Scoring points is a very common practice even within otherwise loving families. Also today people frequently “dis” one another; they show disrespect by casually tossing an insult, by name-calling, or by, in some way, putting an individual down. Is this ethical conduct? Is this worthy of one who intends to live a moral life?
After much consideration I have concluded that most all immoral conduct is the result of ignorance or of madness or due to some kind of brain damage - and this is a matter of degree. Some have more severe damage than others.
There is a lot more to be said on this topic, but I have made some points, and asked some questions, for you to comment on. How do you feel about these matters? Let’s hear your views.
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The argument as to why this is so is available in the o.p. of this link: 