There are several levels in which humans can be bad or evil:
Doing bad things because they believe them to be good
Doing bad things while not caring whether they are bad or not
Doing bad things because they believe them to be bad (Kant calls this “devilish”)
I guess when humans are bad, they usually do 1). Even Hitler may have genuinely thought he is doing the morally right thing.
Humans also sometimes do 2), for minor things. But rarely if the anticipated bad consequences are substantial. People who consistently act according to 2) are called psychopaths. They have no inherent empathy for other people. Most humans are not psychopathic.
Humans don’t do 3), they don’t act evil for the sake of it. They aren’t devils.
There are several levels in which humans can be bad or evil:
Doing bad things because they believe them to be good
Doing bad things while not caring whether they are bad or not
Doing bad things because they believe them to be bad (Kant calls this “devilish”)
I guess when humans are bad, they usually do 1). Even Hitler may have genuinely thought he is doing the morally right thing.
Humans also sometimes do 2), for minor things. But rarely if the anticipated bad consequences are substantial. People who consistently act according to 2) are called psychopaths. They have no inherent empathy for other people. Most humans are not psychopathic.
Humans don’t do 3), they don’t act evil for the sake of it. They aren’t devils.