Khmer Rouge Prison, Cambodia,
What is the nature of humanity? Why is there torture, genocide, and terrorism in our world? Why do some people delight in tormenting others, as we recently saw in the Amanda Todd case? And is there such a thing as "evil"? If there is, where does it come from and how do we stop it as a society?
Evil shows itself in the deliberate act of hurting someone or allowing someone to be hurt. It is describes as immorality or being wrong. Sometimes it is just defined as "the absence of good" or the absence of god, however you perceive that to be.
Cambridge professor Simon Baron-Cohen has explored the neuroscience between evil in his book "The Science of Evil." Read an interview with the professor as broadcast on National Public Radio in the U.S. or watch the clip below. His studies have shown that evil sometimes comes from an absence of empathy, or the inability to recognize the feelings of others.
Evil shows itself in the deliberate act of hurting someone or allowing someone to be hurt. It is describes as immorality or being wrong. Sometimes it is just defined as "the absence of good" or the absence of god, however you perceive that to be.
Cambridge professor Simon Baron-Cohen has explored the neuroscience between evil in his book "The Science of Evil." Read an interview with the professor as broadcast on National Public Radio in the U.S. or watch the clip below. His studies have shown that evil sometimes comes from an absence of empathy, or the inability to recognize the feelings of others.
If we accept Edmund Burke's statement that Edmund Burke stated "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing," how should we respond to evil? Incarceration? Prevention? The death penalty? No matter where you believe evil comes from, dealing with it comes at the place where the common good intersects with individual rights and freedoms.
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