Morals

Before you dive into this philosophical question, I must ask another. What does it mean for a person to be evil? The google definition of evil is “profoundly immoral and wicked.” By definition, for a person to be evil, they must violate morals. Morals are standards of behavior or beliefs concerning what is and is not acceptable for them to do. Therefore one person’s understanding of what is evil can be different from another’s. This leads me to conclude that nobody can be born evil because morality is taught and variable based on several factors including religion, culture, and history.

Another question I have heard before is, was Adolf Hitler indeed an evil person if he honestly believed that what he was doing was God’s will, morally justified, and the best thing for his people? My answer is yes because he manipulated the clearly defined morals of his religion to justify amoral actions.

Are cannibal tribes evil if they believe it is respectful to eat their ancestors? My answer is no. They are not evil because their actions are common practice and respectful within their culture. Whereas a cannibal that grew up in the US is evil because they learned that eating people is morally wrong and still chose to do it.