Topics Ethics

Question I think my question was rejected so I'll try to ask it differently. Can I, or anyone, ever accurately make a judgment as to whether another person is 'good' or not? Can I call someone a 'bad person'? For example, I assume Hitler is accepted by (mostly) everyone as a bad person, but I can also assume that there were moments in his life where he acted with genuine love and concern (maybe towards his dog). Does this mean that I can call him unequivocally a bad person still?

Accepted:
June 27, 2007

Comments

Yes, I think one can call Hitler an unequivocally bad person. But that doesn't mean he was never nice to anyone. Just as it's not the case that good people never ever put a foot wrong; nor is it the case that bad people never do anything right. Saying he was an evil man is to hold him responsible for the unbelievably evil things he did.

There is surely a balance to be drawn here between two extremes: (1) indulging moralistically in calling people bad, and perhaps essentializing evil as if there is a secret in people's hearts as to whether they are thoroughly Good or thoroughly Bad (which is surely a moralistic fiction), and (2) refraining altogether from calling evil by its proper name. We must be honest about the reality of malevolent motives, and horrific crimes, yet at the same time realistic about the causes, which are often social (people who commit the most appalling sexual offences, for instance, are often themselves former victims). Understanding the causes of wrong-doing underpins our capacity to pity wrong-doers, while never necessarily excusing what they do.

The philosopher Raimond Gaita has written wonderfully about these issues. You could try his book, Good and Evil: An Absolute Conception, or alternatively, his more recent collection of essays, A Common Humanity: Thinking About Love and Truth and Justice.