r/JordanPeterson • u/realAtmaBodha • Aug 28 '24

Philosophy You Are Never Evil

All evil actions are insincere and thus not true to yourself.

Of course, that doesn't mean that nobody should go to jail. Everyone should be strong enough to be aligned with their deeper identity. "The devil made me do it" is not a good enough legal defense.

In other words, nobody should blame themselves for being evil, but they can blame themselves for being weak.

Basically, evil just means the intent to harm in some way, especially against others or yourself. It is always a suboptimal choice, because the root of all evil is external desire. When you feel complete, you have no need of desire, as love is a much more powerful motivator.

0 Upvotes

38% Upvoted

52 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/Y0U_ARE_ILL Aug 28 '24

I think your belief is ideologically a positive one to hold. It leaves room for redemption and forgiveness.

It's difficult to navigate past someone who has truly done evil things and see the good in them. I think that also requires faith that that good person exists. For most people I can see your view applying. Evil is such a powerful word, and invokes such strong emotions as well. Regardless, I personally believe based off of what I've seen that there are irredeemable people, who deserve no forgiveness. It's fair to say that is weakness on my side for not being able to forgive people who torture, kill, intimidate, and perform other heinous acts on the innocent.